Early morning dew

I took these photos on 1st April as it dawned lovely and sunny and dewy. I can't resist that combination as it seems quite rare here. So off I went into the garden as soon as the sun came up, still in my dressing gown, to get some pictures.

Nice reflection in a droplet on the same tree as below.

This is my Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy'.
This is its 3rd spring here and so far not a single flower has opened up.
Unfortunately the buds just drop off. :-(
Cross fingers that I get just a few blooms this year!

A variegated Weigela with an orb web.

Dewy tulips.

Greengage tree with a lovely web.

Greengage tree again in front of another plum tree.

This borage survived winter and is flowering now. It is very
hairy around the flower buds which hold the dew beautifully.

On the sunnier side of the garden this is a Horse Chestnut leaf that was just unfurling.
A few days later they were all opened up.

Prunus subhirtella again in the early morning sunshine.

Then I found these amazing droplets on some rose leaves. I could have really done with the tripod I'll be getting next month for my birthday present from my Mum!

Dewdrops on a rose leaf.

They were so perfect!

Webby Wednesday

There I was yesterday morning, both marvelling at and cursing the 11 webs that had appeared on the outside of my large living room window just two days after cleaning it, when suddenly the sun broke through the light mist, lighting up webs galore amongst my Bronze Fennel, Verbena bonariensis and other plants. I just had to grab my camera and go outside and try to capture some of this.

I was ducking under silks galore running from one plant to another, and whilst it hadn't appeared to be particularly damp or dewy, it was amazing how many webs were suddenly visible - and even more amazing was that through my macro lens I could actually see moisture falling in the mist!

This first shot shows a pumpkin ripening on my living room windowsill. A bit Halloweeny - just a shame about the sofa in the background but I'm not going to rearrange my living room just for one shot! 

Here hidden in amongst the rose petals you can just see a little spider. I can't tell what it is so don't know if it is responsible for the web here.

No webs here but had to try to capture the rose with some dew on it. The little blob at the bottom is exuviae from an aphid - that is, the shed exoskeleton after a moult. 

Many of the orb webs here with a v-shaped missing section are built by a species known as the Missing Sector Orb Weaver (Zygiella x-notata), many of whom live around human habitation and build their webs around windows.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygiella_x-notata

This will be my last post this month as I'm away soon and no time for any more blogging. Potential burglars forget it because as usual, there will be housesitters here looking after the menagerie! 

A dewy sunny morning

When I think about it, we don't have many mornings like this, where there is heavy dew and the sun rising together! Heavy dew makes me think of October, when I notice spiders' webs galore in the grass and don't know where to put my feet. So after letting out the chickens one morning last week and noticing the beautiful orb webs, I had to rush in to get my camera.

Most of the images apart from the last two which are of Valerian, are in a patch of my lawn which we've left unmown so that the wild flowers have a chance to flower for the benefit of the butterflies and bees, and other little critters. The majority of weeds flowers are Hawkbit, Wild Carrot aka Queen Anne's Lace, and Common Knapweed. The flowers in the pictures here are mostly of Hawkbit gone to seed or not yet opened with the sun, and Wild Carrot.

I was amazed at how quickly the light changed in just the 10-15 minutes I was outside with my camera. Easy to understand why Monet was so fascinated by the same subject under different light!

Still have family here and our weather is set to be hot and sunny for the next 5 days so am going to make the most of it. Normal blogging will be resumed in about 10 days..... Take care all!