Thistles... I think?

Spotted these walking the furbys.  At first glance, it was just a weed on the edge of the field. On closer inspection, it is really rather beautiful.

Orchids at Wisely

And last, but not least, the Orchids.. I am passionate about Orchids. They are, quite simply, magnificent.

Enough said!

Wisley Butterflies

The butterflies were just stunning!  Walking into the exhibit, you couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder as you stepped into a sea of colour and movement... they were fabulous, huge, stately creatures who seemed utterly unfussed by our intrusion and cameras.  When they did settle, long enough to pose, I didn't like to get too close for fear of scaring them away so relied on my lens and am blown away by the depth of detail that it captured.  Sorting through the photos was punctuated by all sorts of murmurings and mutterings: "But just look!  Look at the detail!  How does it do that?" All much to the amusement of the far more technically minded boyf!

See what I mean?  I was 6ft away!  How does the camera pick up that level of detail?!

On a more prosaic note, we learnt that butterflies both poop and have sense a humour ;o)  If you ever get the chance, they are well worth it, the Wisley Butterflies.

RHS Wisley Gardens, 16th February 2013

It's half term, the first hints of spring, sun and warmth are in the air and, to celebrate, we met my parents and Godmother at the Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Wisley.  It was a lovely day out.  We were there, really, to see the butterflies, which for a couple of months at the start of the year take over part of the 18thC greenhouse, but the gardens were fascinating too.  Even at the end of a pretty bleak winter, there was interest and beauty all about and it was the perfect opportunity to test the D90 out on something other than the dogs and fields! 

I may have gone a little overboard, all 270 odd photos later... and then there was "deletegate" where I turned the air blue and had a crash course in SD card recovery programmes.... but, finally, here are some of the shots that I am truly happy with.  I warn you now, there are still quite a lot (30ish?!) but, for all our sanities, they are posted in separate groups; starting with the Gardens and Greenhouse.

I rather love cacti, who would think that lumpy green spiky things could be so beautiful!  Shame they don't grow in Essex...

The Owl and The Camera

One of the lovely boyf's stipulations, when presenting me with my Christmas present, was to use it to get a good photograph of the Barn owl that we are occasionally lucky enough to see in the back field as we walk the dogs.  Yesterday afternoon I was planning to take my camera on our walk but it was bitterly cold and sleeting and didn't really seem like the best plan.  The snow is (slowly) going and I couldn't imagine there would really be anything photo and bone-chilled fingers worthy.  Famous last thoughts and all that; not only do we have a Barn owl, we have two.  Two, very unfussed by the crazy lady and her dogs, owls who, for a delightful 20 minutes, showed me exactly why we are so keen on getting a good photo of them  They were positively showing off, swooping, hunting, posing and preening and all well within range of the D90's lens.

Unfortunately, not so the camera phone's, but I tried... so here you are hon, one owl pic.  I've given you a little hint, I'm sure you'll agree, it's obvious when you know where to look!

Flowers from my Mum

I had a lovely surprise on Thursday, flowers for Christmas from my lovely mum; tulips and anemones, just beautiful.

A winter wonderland

Overnight, our little spot on the planet was transformed.