Tattoodave

Wonderful stuff for first attempts Russ, you can almost see the mites on the bees

If there was a flying anteater I'd plump for it Russell, especially if it could be radio controlled. A bit cloudy here, but still too hot for some, I'm working, so indoors with air con and endless drinks. Was supposed to have a 1.00 appointment, but he's running late, loses his deposit if he doesn't show.

Yes, but then I am considerably more south than you are. I keep an eye on the ants, I secretly want a pet anteater, and they aren't flying here yet, so there's still swifts, martins and swallows in abundance. However, from the beach yesterday I did notice a small family of swallows head out over the sea towards north Africa, it's only a short flight, the mountains are visible on clear days, so I can imagine there'll be a slow trickle daily now. We do get a few swifts and martins stay all winter as it's never that cold here, and there's always mosquitoes not far away. Just to make you all a little jealous it was 33C yesterday, we had 38C last week for a couple of days.

Bought off him a couple of times, always a gentleman, RIP Joe

IMHO a far nicer looking bird in juvenile plumage

A milestone in the Freebasing thread, 10,000 entries, not just on this topic of course.

Monkey World lemurs, fuzzy because I couldn't get closer

Three from Salisbury fair a few years ago, I've always been fascinated by fairground art.

Three of the Greek islands from holidays in previous years of hopping.

Don't be too sure about that Steve, I saw a pair in Nottinghamshire two years ago, they hitched a lift with some plants that were imported from the continent, they were living in a poly-tunnel when I saw them.

an old photo, but my first attempt at a lengthy exposure, it was stopped short by the car owner that the camera was resting on returning from his meal.

Buda side of Budapest, an interesting city, full of culture and a goodly amount of pickpockets

J Just to prove that I don't just grow Mescal button cactus, however, I am waiting on a delivery of San Pedro cactus at the moment

01 I'll Be Gone.wma this is it, though you might find it doesn't play, I can assure you it is Freddie Scott on Shout

They hold a big fascination for me, don't see many butterflies on them here, they prefer the scabious, though they aren't flowering now, the bees and sawfly enjoy them though. The only chance of seeing anything in flower round here that isn't a garden escapee or in a garden is on the high slopes of the Sierra Nevada where the alpines will be in flower. A 6-7 hour round trip, and that's without climbing time, the summit takes about 3 hours to reach, and is quite an effort in this heat, we should see 36C by the sea today.

I saw Enter the Dragon in Stamford and it was quite a mental time afterwards with lads aiming kicks at each other, most weren't soulies, just bootboys. I remember it was a Friday night and I was going to Wigan on the Saturday night, the Chinese influence didn't last as we still opted for the fish and chips at the Dolphin fish bar in Nuneaton on the way, the train change facilitated our choice of food. Probably one of the last times I ate fish.

That's a shame as it'll become well known on the grapevine and the Northern Marsh Orchids will probably get trodden on as the ones that want to photograph a rarely seen hybrid brush them aside as commonplace. It happens in Spain a lot, they even try and dig them up. Let's hope there's not many find it.

Well spotted Suze, a rarity, hybrids do occur, but not that often. I hope it's well hidden.

If you'd pay my return flight I'd come over, haven't been to Birmingham since Mick's 60th

I jumped off the balcony once at the Casino as I couldn't get down the stairs quick enough when Johnny Vanelli was being spun, only the once, couldn't dance for the rest of the night as my ankle went over. Used to dance in Dr Marten's that were worn down to smooth on the sole, inevitably because I'd probably got on the train up there straight from watching Peterborough play (and mostly lose) and the only attempt at high kicks were made if we bumped into visiting supporters. I'd seen Enter the Dragon, but I can't say it influenced my dancing, just made me fancy a sweet and sour meal with boiled rice.

It's really amazing what the plant breeders are doing to try and find the next big hit with garden plants, it's a huge market if they hit it right. Recently I've seen a white flowered Plumbago capensis for sale, and when you consider the specie is actually a pale to mid blue which in itself is a scarce enough colour you wonder why they bother. Having said that, I prefer it to the pale blue, though there are some more intensely blue cultivars available which are stunning.

Now available with red, orange or yellow flowers, though the orange is the specie. The yellow variety is called "Flava", the red variety is called "Flamenco" both are still hard to find, whereas the specie is readily available.

Could also be Nigella sativa, hard to tell without the seed head in hand, both have edible seeds.