The Moon and a Clear Blue Sky

If you were to have looked skywards into the clear blue yonder this afternoon you would have seen this:

The Moon as seen from Thanet at 4pm on Sunday 31st May 2009

The moon as waxing gibbous at the moment but I was surprised to see it so clear and bright. The features, such as the Maria, and the terminator (the The Lunar terminator is the division between the illuminated and dark parts of the moon. It is the lunar equivalent of the division between night and day on the Earth’s sphere) can be seen on the surface. The Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity) can be identified.

This was taken at 4pm (BST) on Sunday 31st May 2009 with my Canon 350D and 600mm Telephoto Mirror Lens at 1/800 at f1.8 on a monopod.

A Walk in Tankerton

Today we, with our friends Karin and Steve, went to Tankerton near Whitstable, Kent, for a walk along the seafront.
It was a glorious day for it. A bit of a chilly wind though but a clear blue sky.

Seafront, Tankerton, near Whitstable. Kent

The Seafront at Tankerton is well known in the area for it’s beach chalets that are built on a slope and command a spectacular view over the Thames Estuary.

Beach Chalets, Seafront, Tankerton

Most of the Chalets are colourful and well maintained (some are not, unfortunately). This was my favourite Chalet.

Beach Chalet Number 42, Seafront, Tankerton

The high wind brought out the kites.

Colourful Kite at Tankerton.

I tried an ‘arty shot’ of the groynes

Beach Groyne at Tankerton

For Lunch we went to the Marine Hotel on Marine Parade and I had a welcoming pint of Shepherd Neame Master Brew Ale and Ham,Egg and Chips (which was delicious).

A lovely day.

My only gripe about the Seafront is the bicycles.

Cyclists on 'No cycling' footpath.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not against cyclists per se but there were so many of them and they expected the pedestrians to move out of their way although at regular intervals along the FOOTPATH there are signs showing that cycling is not allowed.
It is probably the retired policeman in me that makes me wonder why local byelaws are so willingly flouted by people and allowed to be so by a lack of enforcement by the authority that activated the byelaw in the first place.

As usual though, I got into trouble!
“Why don’t you walk with us for a change instead of stopping to take photographs all the time”
My “you could have waited for me” response did not make any difference!
But I am pleased with the photographs I took so the scolding was worth while!

Itzy-Bitzy Spider . . . . . . . .

Looking lost and all alone.
Where is he going?
He is going home!

Itzy-Bitzy Spider . . .all on it's own

He did make it back – but he missed out on the group hug!

Spiders having a group hug

But as soon as he returned they split up – there were HUNDREDS of them!!!!!!

Spiders running around

I have quite a few of these these pockets of baby spiders around the garden. I have yet to identify them.

Really cute though, aren’t they?

The Most Colourful Invasion – Ever?

There has been a mass invasion to our shores since the weekend.
Millions of exotic Butterflies are entering Britain.
It is the Painted Lady Butterfly (Cynthia cardui).

The Painted Lady Butterfly (Cynthia cardui)

Millions have flown from the deserts of North Africa into Britain: 50 arriving every minute according to Natural England nature reserve staff.

The mass migration began last Thursday when large numbers were seen off Portland Bill in Dorset.
Painted Ladies reach our shores every summer. The last major migration was in 1996.
So, go out into your garden or local park and see how many of these beautiful ladies you can see – I lost count in our garden!

In September, the offspring of these Painted Ladies will be off again, back to land of their parents and who knows when we will see a mass invasion like this again.

I also found this little fellow in our garden.

Red-Tailed Flying Insect

I have not seen this insect before. It isn’t in my Insect book. I think it is an insect of the fly variety but if anyone can help me identify this I would be most grateful.

Blue Tit Family Photo 2009

Not the best of days weather wise in Ramsgate today. I didn’t go to Croquet because it is not much fun when it is wet, cold and windy. So, instead, it was the washing and ironing while keeping an eye on what was occurring in the garden. I was not disappointed.

I looked out at the bird feeder tray regularly and was lucky to see a Blue Tit on it. My camera, as always was set-up, and so I was by the back door in a flash (opening it as quietly as I could) but the Blue Tit flew into the trees so I sat myself down on a garden seat and waited. I was rewarded with these pictures

Blue Tit on Feeder Tray

The parent was soon joined by a chick.

Blue Tit Parent and chick

The parent then proceeded to feed the chick.

Blue Tit parent feeding chick

A second chick then appeared;

Blue Tit family group photograph

The parent eventually flew away but one of the chicks stayed behind:

Blue Tit Chick

It started to drizzle so I went back in doors, my day having been made but not the bed!

Photographs from Godstone Farm

I took quite a lot of photographs while at Godstone Farm (see previous post) and as promised, here are some of them.

The goats are really tame and love being stroked

Head of Goose.The white and red against a dark background makes a striking image.

Head of a Turkey. I was attracted by the red against the green and thought it would make a great image.

An eye of a sheep in close-up. The colours within a sheep's eye are really beautiful.

Small White Butterfly. It was not all animals. This little butterfly was fluttering around and had to be photographed.

As you can see from the above photographs, I love taking portraits, be that an animal, insect or fowl!

Added 4th August 2009
The ‘goose’ above is in fact a Muscovy Duck.Thank you Nathan for putting me right.

A Day Out at Godstone Farm, Kent

On Saturday we met our daughters, Janet (with Tony) and Sharon and the Grandchildren, Callum, Joseph and Henry at Godstone Farm. This was to celebrate Callum’s 9th Birthday.

These are just some of the photographs I took (click on a photo to see it full size):

It was a great day out.
Godstone Farm in Kent is very good. Lots to see and do for young and old. There is an extensive play area where the children can run around and climb and generally get rid of lots of energy. The farm has goats, pigs, Llamas, sheep, horses, chickens and rabbits (which can be handled by the children). There is an indoor play area and tractor rides. I was able to indulge myself in taking lots of photographs of the animals and the boys. I will show a few of my ‘snaps’ of the animals in a later post.

Warning on the SatNav though! Because it is rural the post code covers a wide area. I put the post code shown into the SatNav and followed the directions it gave – it took us to another farm one mile down the road! I knew it was taking us a different route off the motorway (M25) than anticipated but I was going to see what route it actually chose. Wrong! We quickly recovered but I was a bit miffed as I had assured Mae that it knew where it was taking us.

The ‘sick’ making experiment is, just as it sounds, completely disgusting. The boys loved it!

Thank you Sharon for a great day and the lovely tea.

The SatNav got us back home without a hitch – yes, I do know the way, but if I have the technology then why not use it (bearing in mind what happened earlier!)

The ‘I’m not bothered’ Fox

Dusk was falling.
Light was fading.
Long shadows were on the grass.
The fox was slowly wandering around.

Fox in the garden

Looking for food.
Stale cake it was.
With cherries.
It was meant for the birds.

Fox eating cake

The Fox wasn’t bothered.
It was tasty – I recall.
It ate it all.
Every crumb.

I had to include this.
He/she was in our back garden about 6pm this evening. I took a quick shot with my ordinary lens. Although the fox saw me (I was looking through the closed Patio doors) it wasn’t bothered at all so as it continued eating the stale cake I had earlier thrown out for the birds I changed to a zoom lens and snapped a couple more shots.

I think this is the same fox that is a regular visitor as I am finding little ‘mementos’ of it’s visits on our lawn.

I don’t mind the fox visiting but I wish it would ‘go’ elsewhere!!

Is this the most colourful Newsagent in Thanet?…….

Nethercourt Farm Estate in Ramsgate has the most, probably, colourful newsagents in Thanet – Sprawling Newsagent, Rydal Avenue.

The forecourt is a riot of colour due to racks of bedding plants and other flowering plants.

Sprawling newsagent and Sweet Shop, Rydal Avenue, Nethercourt Farm Estate. Ramsgate

The racks are bursting with colourful flowers and the scent of them is a pleasure when you visit the shop.

Racks of Bedding plants at Sprawling's Newsagents

It is what is needed on this estate. I remember when, in 1973, this row of six houses were shops. There was a baker; greengrocer – now a monumental stone mason; newsagents; ironmonger; grocer; I cannot remember the 6th one – Mae will tell me when she gets home, unless some-one out in blogland knows?

The chip shop that was opened last year didn’t seem to do well (it is now closed).

The down-side to all these racks is that it is like a maze – I have advised Mick that a map and flag to wave if lost would be useful!
I jest of course – except when he has a ‘move-around’ and then a new course has to be plotted. I think it is done on purpose to make us pass all the displays.

If your newsagent can better this – let me know (photo would be nice).

Mae has just returned home.
There was (in 1973): Grocers; Newsagents; Hardware Shop; Greengrocers; Butchers – became the Stone Masons (got that wrong!); Hairdressers.

If it’s Wednesday, it must be . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . Croquet!

Yes, the Croquet season is underway and that is what I can be found doing every Wednesday morning (other duties permitting!). Playing Croquet.

I belong to the Ramsgate Croquet Club (RCC) and we have four lawns on the Royal Esplanade, Ramsgate.

Equipment required for a game of Croquet

It is a great game and not the ‘old mans’ game that it has a reputation for being.
An outline of the game is:
The game is played by two players (or sides) each with two balls. The objective is to score 12 hoop-points and a peg-point with each ball before the other side does the same. Through careful play, a player can keep the tactical advantage, hence improving his chances of winning by making life difficult for the opponent. More importantly, he can earn additional strokes, so allowing breaks to be played and scoring many hoop points in a single turn. This is a very simplified description!
The lawn is laid out like this (not your garden style lay-out):

Lay-out and 'route' round a Croquet lawn

Reading the above description you can see it requires not only ball skill but tactical thinking and playing.

If you fancy playing croquet ‘pop along’ and see us – especially on a Wednesday morning. We will be pleased to introduce you to the game.