Wednesday 12 August 2009

It's a jungle out there!

Well........maybe not quite a jungle but the warm weather we've been enjoying, mixed with the odd shower here and there, has allowed everything to flourish. Garden weeds especially!

The paths on one of the dogs' favourite walks have almost disappeared in places and the grasses are at my head height (5'2" in case you were wondering). I can push through it but imagine what it must be like from papillon level! Sadly, although the grasses are not impenetrable, the same can not be said for the nasty, sharp gorse, which is slowly but surely closing up many of the trails that we used to walk through. The keener rabbit hunters of my pack may be prepared to brave it but I'm certainly not! I can see a time when we won't be able to walk there at all.


Where did the path go?


Leaping skills come in handy here


Definitely a jungle for Louis




All that wildness makes for insect heaven

A Six-spot Burnet moth


Small Tortoiseshell butterfly


This Bumblebee was covered in pollen



Lots of seed production happening too



Doesn't the seed head make a lovely pattern?


****************************************


We've been to a few shows over the last two weekends and father and son, Louis and Desmond, kept up their run of success. At Turriff just over a week ago, Des won his class and Louis was Best Toy Veteran. Last Saturday was Tayside and Lochee Open show at Carnoustie where both boys got the same result and at Keith on Sunday Louis took Best Veteran in Show.


The boys with their winning rosettes

23 comments:

Achieve1dream said...

Congrats on the wins! And I really enjoyed the pictures of the bees and butterflies. They turned out so well. :)

Prospero said...

Your butterfly and bumble bee pictures are great.

My Angelina does the same in the tall grass (and always manages to find a path - preexisting or not).

Congratulations on the ribbons, boys.

Woodrow, Luna, MJ Campanella said...

congrats on your show wins - and sorry about your trails

Woodrow - Sweetie - MJ

Sylvia K said...

Love all your shots! And congratulations on the show wins! They are cuties!

sylvia

Esther Garvi said...

Jana, Go! Jana Go!!

Astrid Keel said...

Congrats to Des and Louis on their wins! What cuties!

Hope it cools down!

Chris said...

I know what you mean about the tall vegetation,I may have to resort to a machete when I go out. Love the dandylion, and well done to the boys

Julia said...

Wow, beautiful photos! I feel like that's what I always say to your posts, but it's so true.

And congrats on the ribbons!

Tina. said...

Wonderful pictures! I've never seen that type of moth or butterfly here, but they are beautiful. And the close up of the dandilions gone to seed remind me of ferry wands! Great post! Congratualions to your pups too on their wins, great job guys!

Gail said...

Wonderful wins and pictures.

I was wondering about your honorary Papillon, what breed is it?

karensbrae said...

Well done at the shows! Your nature pics are super. xx

Unknown said...

Did you use a different lens for those insects? Very cool.

And for once, Louis stole the show from Jana (for me, anyway). Poor little thing is having too much fun in those tall grasses. =8)

Pyatshaw said...

There's that moth ----again!

Well done Louis and Desmond.....must come from good stock!!

Samantha ~ Holly and Zac ~ said...

I know what you mean about this shower/sun/shower weather and it making things grow very quickly. Our lawn is growing really fast at the moment.

I love that red moth, it is really beautiful.

I hope that long grass gets cut down so you don't have to stop going there.

Samantha ~ Holly and Zac ~ said...

oops, forgot...

Congrats! :-)

Gennasus said...

Jen - sorry to take ages to reply - yes I have two lenses and the one that I used for the insects has a macro facility.

ms toast burner said...

What wonderful photos! I especially love those macros close ups of the fluffy dandelions (I'm guessing dandelions) and the hairs or fur or fuzz on that butterfly! I've never seen that before!

Congrats to your dogs! :-)

Unknown said...

Macro lens. Need one. :)

Speaking of... Have you seen www.pioneerwoman.com/photography? Her life and shots are so interesting, and I love how she shares tips. Great site (not just the photography section).

Suldog said...

I rather like it when the grass gets high. It's nice seeing the bugs and whatnot flitting about (so long as they don't land on ME.)

Congratulations on the ribbons!

Gayle said...

Love the way the pups "disappear" in the tall grasses. They are amazing beautiful, and I can see why they win so many awards. I wish my dogs would sit still for a portrait.

Claire said...

aw, they look so proud of themselves!

Dawn said...

Those are absolutely beautiful pictures of your dogs in the field. Wow. And the butterflies? Fantastic. You have some great "action" shots, if you want to call them that. Spectacular. I wish I had a camera that could get an excellent macro of a dandelion...

Unknown said...

Oooh - missed this post earlier! Congratulations on the great wins! Don't they look proud of themselves!! :-)

And gorgeous pictures as usual - AMAZING ones of the butterflies! But my favourite is the one of Jana in mid-air! I just LOVE action shots! I don't know how you always get such crisp, clear action shots - my holy grail - I think I should have come to take lessons from you instead of going to that 'camera school'.

Oh, and LOVE your new header picture too! Again, I wish I could take photos like that - with the background all blurry and the subjects nice and sharp - just never seem to be able to get it. Maybe it's my camera? It's not a proper DSLR but a hydbrid sort of thing which has some advanced features, like Manual mode and you can adjust various settings but you can't change the lens like a DSLR. I like it, though, because it can take video as well so I find it very handy when I want to capture both types of media during an event - quicker to switch between the 2 modes.

Hsin-Yi