Now we've had a bee can we have an elk?

Osterley Park in Hounslow

The colours is your photo, Flopsy are gorgeous!

All the bee photos have been lovely.

have to go away for a few days for a school thingie so will catch up with your pics on the weekend!

Pauanui Wharf looking across Tairua Harbour towards Tairua in the Coromandel Peninsula on a moody day. A small ferry travels between Tairua, Pauanui and Paku on occasion or you can drive which takes longer though I don't mean driving across the water....

I quite liked these little statues, to be found in the walled-town of Guérande (home of the salt flats, which I didn't get to photograph):

Those statues are really neat! Do they represent anything in particular? Some local event/activity?

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When I was deciding on how to plant my front garden after it had been landscaped, I had three main parts to consider - the purpose-built flower bed, the two areas of gravel, and the largest area of all, the mulched slope that goes down to the road. Some of it slopes quite steeply so I was concerned that the mulch would simply slide downhill, particularly when it rained - which in this country it does quite a lot. So I put some shrubs in the steepest area and just below them I tipped some topsoil on top of the mulch. It's only a strip, about half an inch deep and a foot wide, but I figured that if my plan didn't work that would be easy enough to lose in the mulch with a bit of raking. Anyway, onto that topsoil I sprinkled some wildflower seeds... and this is what I got:



The flowers start out as dark blue buds and as they open they go through a purple phase and then turn pink - a bit like some teenagers I know. This afternoon when I went out with my camera, they were covered, and I mean covered in bumblebees, honeybees, hoverflies - you name it, if it buzzed it was there. I took three or four pics, but when I got them on to the computer there wasn't an insect to be seen!

That elk is very well camouflaged, Satguru.

As are Flopsy's bees, it seems!

I'm sure many people know about the elk Chavs! There's even a theory about it.

As people go to so much trouble with their front gardens the least I can do is take a picture of them, this is in Crouch End

Thanks, Flopsymopsy & Christina. I went and looked up Cosmos and it does seem to be from that family. Here's a dahlia.

And in response to satguru's request for an elk, here is one.... (from our time living in Calgary)



And yes, it is an elk, not Anne Elk as there is no sign of any brontosaurus (apologies to those not into Monty Python, but I assume that's what David was hinting at!)

I couldn't find any explanation about the display, but I suspect they represent either people working on the salt flats, or people collecting mussels and shellfish (another local hobby). Many of the figures are holding tools which could be used to rake over the sand or the salt.

Here's a closer look at one of them!

No brontosaurus here either (always found them to be somewhat camera shy) but saw this
little darling in Torquay, hiding (unsuccessfully) behind a bush & frightening the tourists.

I can't provide any elk photos but I can provide one of a python called...you guessed it...Monty.

My daughter is a belly dancer and occasionally dances with Monty (who belongs to one of her dance friends).

Don't make me bring out more variable oystercatcher photos.....oh wait, too late....lol

These two were walking along the beach last Monday, not yet breeding season so I was able to get right to the edge of the Washdyke Lagoon without being warned to keep away by a number of birds.

Whereas I sneaked up on this pair of poppies and they didn't even cheep!

Thanks for the elk Mike. In case anyone's not familiar with Ann Elk here it is Ann Elk

It's been a while since I added a path, here's one in Hornsey

I enjoy your path pictures, David.

I like the path pictures too. Here's another path, this one in Cooperstown, NY, leading to a cafe/patio (which was closed...)

I went to a flower arranging class once (please don't tell any of my friends that, they'd all die laughing) and only remember two things about it. One: Use a mix of short- and long-stemmed flowers so that the surface of the arrangement isn't smooth or flat. After all, the tutor said, plants don't grow in completely straight lines.

Yah think?



Oh, the second thing I remember? Flower arranging is not for me.

That's pretty, and I see a nice blue lupin at the back.

It's very dark purple, my fourth lupin!

Thanks everyone, where I used to live was all connected with paths, all with privet hedges either side. They can be magic passages from one place to another.

I've passed this quite a few times but never noticed it before, go figure. Enfield Civic Centre.

The last of the photos of Braunfels Castle in Germany that I will be posting.

About to become a flying fish?

Love that fish photo!

And I love the collection of exotic animals from elks to snakes to poppies.

I often think we should all get together to make a few photo quizzes. With such a wealth of variety between us, we could do something very interesting, I am sure.

I want that fish!

All I've got is another bee.