Won't You Join Me For A Walk...

A fern frond loaded with Sporangia just about ready to burst and allow their spores to spread.





The wonderful Bilberry bush, got some lovely wild Bilberries today.




These fleeces have been shawn from the sheep and then left, i suspect they would sell for about 50p each, less than the cost of cleaning and transporting them which is a real shame.









This quality of picture is what you get when you rely on a wonky fencepost to take it!

Apologies for this being sideways, another view from the bench.


This commemorative bench is one of my favourite places to sit in the whole valley. The views are wonderful, and on summer days it can be fantastically hot, there are often queues of cars, people just looking at the view.

A beautiful white butterfly which kindly sat still long enough for me to get a nice photo.
(On Himalayan Balsam which isn't so nice)




I think these are probably Longhorn Cattle but i may be mistaken, those in the States maybe be able to give me a better idea on this.




I had a beautiful walk today, it is about 3 miles altogether i imagine and it took me about 3 hours today because i kept stopping to photograph.

Note: All of my photos are currently hosted at www.flickr.com

The Balcony is My Territory.

My recuperation/post-propagation house. The first floor has young Dicksonia antarctica on it as they like the shade and protection from wind, the second layer has Wisteria sinensis 'Alba' on it. They were outside until today but due to the fairly constant heavy rain recently they have become heavily waterlogged, so today i top dressed them all and placed them in the shelter where they will be allowed to dry out for a week or two before being watered heavily but infrequently.


My aim in life, at the moment, is to one day open my own specialist plant nursery, mainly selling native trees, shrubs and ferns. For a number of years now i have been buying and trading for seed and plants that will help me accomplish this. For instance, i recently purchased 10x 1 year old Dicksonia antarctica. Our house has a balcony and for a while now this has been my territory for propagation and potting on. Today i did a lot of tidying up and thinning out, no before pictures as it was a real mess.

I Spoke of My Interest in Water Photography...

This is one of my favourite shots as i think it shows the real activity that water undergoes when falling over rocks. It does not portray the flow as being smooth as one might expect with a slower shutter speed.

Again, another favourite, not necessarily for the focus on the water, but for the bleak impression that the rusted fencing gives in the rear of the picture.




This photograph was taken on a slow shutter speed and exhibits the flow of the water well. Towards the top of the fall however, the photo loses focus, especially just above and to the left of the flat rock where, although this flowing effect is purposeful, the flow should retain a crisp edge.

The above photo was taken on a very fast shutter speed in order to capture the activity of the water, and were it not for the grass obstructing the view of the water it would be a very interesting shot.

I spoke of my interest in water photography in the post entitled 'A Walk Through The Local Woodland...'. This series of photographs was taken whilst in North Wales (Somewhere near Beddgelert for those who know it) 2 years ago, almost to the day (26.08.05). This was when i first had my camera and was practicing with different settings for water photography as i had a bit of time whilst others were resting during a walk.

A Walk Through The Local Woodland...

This is an old factory, not used anymore, on the edge of the woodland and was frequently fodder for ghost stories when i was younger.

It's a shame really, Beech and Ash overtake the woodland, shading out beautiful trees like the Silver Birch. These Silver Birch are all dead i think.

As part of the training for Territorial Army, recruits used to have to crawl through this gap, i think it has gotten too small now though.



The mycelium network of the fungus that killed this tree. Likely to be Honey Fungus.



Tranquility, the only person in the entire woodland...


This is the only King of British Ferns (Dryopteris affinis Cristata 'The King') that i have ever seen in local woodland, although it is indigenous as far as i know to the UK. I suspect it maybe a garden escape, but it is truly stunning and will hopefully spore itself around to vary the fern life in the woodland.

There have been a lot of falling trees over the past few weeks with the weather the way it has been and this one is new, it should continue to grow as it has effectively folded over, leaving the majority of its root system in the ground.

I have a real passion for water photography, in any form, i love the mountain streams of wales but also the gently running river that meanders through the woods across the road from our house.