A new thread for July - one photo per day please.

My aquilegias flowered all through May and June - this morning all the flowers have gone, presumably baked off by the heat. Ah well, this one posed while it was still flourishing:

My mom and I have been dog sitting this little guy for about six months. He is a very lovable dog.

Countryside and mountains south of Oamaru taken from the car as we were heading to the Moeraki Boulders.

I like the way this rose fades off from yellow to cream, smells gorgeous as well

The goods railway that goes through my local park in Cricklewood

The A1 in Borehamwood which ends up in Edinburgh

Last Saturday we flew to Darwin in the Northern Territory for a week's holiday. Unfortunately the holiday had to be terminated after a couple of days as my husband fell ill and ended up in Darwin Hospital. We are home now and he is okay but he has to undergo further medical evaluation to figure out exactly what happened and why it happened.

Despite this hiccup, we had a great couple of days' sightseeing. This photo is of a giant termite mound, called the Cathedral Termite Mound, in Litchfield National Park. To give you an idea as to size, I made Maymooth stand there with his back to the camera (as we aren't allowed to post recognizable faces). Maynooth is 6'5".

So sorry Carol , Let us know how he is doing. It is difficult to know what to say except that he is in good hands and that we are thinking of him here.

This is another type of termite mound located quite close to the Cathedral mound previously posted. These mounds are called "magnetic" mounds because they are thin with flattened sides, and with a north-south orientation, which apparently helps with heat reduction at the extreme heat at midday.

Maynooth seems to be doing okay but we won't really know what is going on for at least a week.

Walking over Charles Bridge in Prague or at least trying to push my way through the hordes of tourists. Thankfully most are looking the same way as I am so no one should be recognised....

MotherGoose, firstly I do hope Maynooth is better soon an they get to the bottom of the problem.

Those termite mounds, are they actually lived in by termites or are they abandoned ones. We have nothing like them here so I'm ignorant about them. Very impressive though, especially the Cathedral. If they are lived in how many thousands of termites would be in a mound?

The honeysuckle by my front door is going for world domination!

While watching fireworks in Fredericksburg, VA, last night.



I'm hoping to find something job-related while in Virginia if I can't stay in Dallas.

Shall we have another bird photo? I think this could be a native keruru or New Zealand (wood) pigeon, possibly a juvenile as the usual white chest is a grey.

That's a great photo Howie, and I am struck by the similarity to our wood pigeons. Ours aren't quite as iridescent on the neck, they tend to have a white collar, but they have the same sort of overall colouring and look to be about the same size. I'm not sure if I have any photos of them or not, have to have a dig through and see what I can find

Throughout the park, there are hundreds of these termite mounds (both types); some are active and some are not. The Cathedral mound is not currently active with termites but ants have taken it over. (I got bitten on the neck by one while I was crouching down to take a close-up shot of the structure). I did a bit of quick Google research regarding population numbers but all I could find that was a mound can be home to "tens of thousands" of termites. They are quite impressive though. The Cathedral Mound is over 4 metres tall (over 13 feet).

Every morning, about 3.30, you can find a wood pigeon on my roof. And sometimes two. If I could get a shotgun licence there would be holes in the ceiling for sure as I aimed at the incessant cooing. The dawn chorus is supposed to be about robins, blackbirds, wrens, thrushes, the chirping of various shades of finch, and the twittering of sparrows, dunnocks, and other charming accompanists to a serenade for the sleepless... and then there's the wood pigeon! Someone stop the cooing!

I hope Maynooth's on the mend now Carole. I've liked to know what's underground all my life. These are new electrical wires in Arkley.

Can't say I blame you on that, flopsy...pigeons are a nuisance in Dallas as well. If I permanently move to Virginia, I may be away from them...this is my third time here, and I have yet to see one...so far.

One problem I have is that a neighbour used to feed a bunch of local doves and therefore encouraged them to breed. Now a dove is just a pigeon in smart togs so they bred with their poor pigeon cousins like there was no tomorrow and now we have some nice-looking pigeons with smart feathers and some weird looking doves who look like they stole collars off a homeless vicar - and they ALL coo!

The neighbour of course moved away...

Virginia sounds like a smart move. Let us know how that pans out - think they'd give me a visa? Just kidding.

You will be pleased to know that the ones in NZ are generally quiet and they are also protected from hunting. If caught you face a maximum fine of $100 000 &/or 2 years in jail. There is a case now before the courts of a Northland Maori leader who had 5 dead keruru with him at Invercargill airport. Going to be interesting to see if he will be convicted like non-Maori would be.

A really exciting view of Borehamwood from the flyover.

My strawberries have done well this year. Getting a bowl full like this every day for the past couple of weeks. Can't beat the taste of something just picked

More from the snow storm a few weeks ago, the latest snow storm over the last couple of days did not do much in the Timaru area. However, more harsh frosts to come over the next few nights.