Photographic Scavenger Hunt, May

Another enjoyable month for the scavenger hunters set by the lovely Kathy of Postcards from the P.P., here are my submissions.

1) Butterfly - Real ones seem to be few and far between at the moment, this one sits in my lounge, it came with a bouquet of lowers that Alex gave me on Monthers Day last year.



2) Bicycle(s) - the cycle park outside Tesco in Devizes



3) Red door - Devizes Labour Party Offices, although sadly this area is a real tory stronghold so I dont know that this door is used very often!



4) A cartoon character - (taken with a pinch of salt) for those of you who remember Popeye the sailor man, his girlfriend was called Olive Oyl (sorry!)



5) Emergency Vehicle - The Wiltshire Police/Air Ambulance helicopter, based close to my home.



6) Think Vintage - well, I know most people think of old cars or other items, but I think wine!



7) Something blue - my local bus shelter



8) A street light - Devizes Market Square



9) Texture - rock from the Clearwell Mines, Forest of Dean



10) Sign of the Zodiac - Taurus, the Bull (me)



11) Interesting local building - The road I live in used to be the main drive to Roundway Park, later renamed New Park, and this is the Lodge House at the London Road entrance.



12) Black and White portrait - of my sister's black and white dog

Week 4/52 22-28/365

This week has been really manic (well manic by comparison to our usual slow pace of life anyway). I have been a lot of places, seen a few people, done a few things. So busy, in fact, that although I always carry my camera with me, I just forgot to stop and take photos. This time next week, all will be revealed, but in the mean time, here are some of the pictures I DID remember to take this week.

22/365
I am making this blanket for my dear friend Kate's first grandchild, due in November.



23/365
Here's one I made earlier, lots of pink squares, waiting for the most tedious part of the process, stitching them all together.



24/365
Despite the best efforts of all the local pigeons, we have some new grass growing on the bald patch.



25/365
A new clutch(?) of ducklings appeared on the pond, as I tried to get the right shot, Mr. Drake decided to come and see what I was up to.



26/365
This isn't all of them, there were probably about 12 altogether (ouch, mummy duck!)



27/365 We had some very welcome rain, and this little man was happy to stand out and have a wash.



28/365
Oli is home from Uni for the summer, along with the better part of his wardrobe in need of a wash.

Limerick (and no, its not rude!)

Dad, Mum and the kids lived in Surrey
surrounded by bustle and scurry.
The family downsizes
and moves to Devizes,
Where NOTHING is done in a hurry.

Week 3/52 15-21/365

15/365 Strawberries, in my garden, almost ready to eat.



16/365 Foxglove, in my garden - not to be eaten!



17/365 Yoga, my second ever session today, really enjoyed it.



18/365 The Emporium, this little shop in Devizes is an absolute goldmine for unusual gifts.



19/365 Strawberries, I cant remember ever having eaten my own strawberries in May before.



20/365 Gipsy, spotted whilst going through town, only just had time to get the camera out and no time for adjustments, which is why the camera focused on the steering wheel! (No I wasn't driving at the time).



21/365 The mighty Rog, at Avebury (with a spot of editing!)

Forest of Dean, days three and four

Day three and we started by climbing to the top of a hill at the New Fancy Mine, where there was a bird observatory and we were told we would be able to see buzzards. This shot shows exactly what we saw in the way of birdlife - a big fat zero, they must have heard we were coming.



We had worked out a nice circular route, about 4.5 miles in all, with a stop in Parkend, about 2/3rds of the way round, for lunch. The bluebells were amazing, at their very peak, and no way does this shot do them justice.



Our walk took us through mixed woodland, mostly deciduous but the odd managed area of pine. All along the route were self seeded saplings, more oak than anything else.



Sheep are allowed to roam free all over the forest, we saw them mostly at the sides of the roads, where gazing (and even grazing) was more plentiful than under the trees, they were quite oblivious to traffic and walkers.



We had a nose around Parkend Station, currently the northernmost station on the FOD railway, no trains running today, I loved this sign. Can you imagine seeing this at Paddington or Waterloo?



We stopped for lunch at the Fountain Inn at Parkend, but to be honest the breakfasts we were served at our digs were so enormous we didn't feel the need to eat at lunch time, so we just partook of a couple of alcoholic bevvies, then made out way back to the car, passing this magnificent oak just outside town.



As it was still fairly early afternoon we decided to do another activity, and made our way to the Clearwell mines.



We started out having a look at the museum, then made our way down underground - it was quite claustrophobic so instead of completing the walk we backtracked and returned to the museum.



A quick trip into Coleford for some sarnies for supper, and spotted this in the supermarket carpark - not sure what happened, but the driver must have been going quite fast, he(she?) took down a metal pole and a few feet of brick wall.



This lady pheasant was in the front garden of the digs when we got back to our room.



Day four, after some very heavy overnight rain we made our way back along the misty Wye Valley, over the Severn Bridge, a slow meander through some of Wiltshire's beautiful scenery, stopping for lunch in Malmsbury and then home (sweet home).

Week 2/52 8-14/365

8/365 Lots of birthday cards to open when we got home



9/365 Last year my friend Jean gave me some bulbs, I put them in my front border, and now here they are, cant remember the name of them though, so if anyone can help?



10/365 A lovely paeony in my back garden after a shower of rain



11/365 One of my sister's dogs, Dilys, a gorgeous Tibetan terrier



12/365 Market day in Devizes



13/365 From the top of Roundway Hill, looking across to Milk Hill, the highest spot in Wiltshire, the camera couldn't quite pick up the hanggliders that were taking advantage of the thermals



14/365 The funfair comes to town

Forest of Dean, day two, the climb

It seemed a bit silly to put pictures of the bottom at the top, and pictures of the top at the bottom, so in order to view the climb in chronological order you need to scroll to the bottom of this blog and work your way up, its only approximately 500 feet, and took us just over an hour to complete. Sometimes I was in front, sometimes he was in front, we saw no more than six other people on the climb, two coming down and four young lads passed us almost running up! Strange to think that it was over a week ago now, the muscles in the back of my legs are still complaining!
It took me an age to upload these pictures, so please at least take a look, thanks.