Recent Reading, an Unwanted Moth and an Exciting Caterpillar

 

Recent Reading

I loved this book and it was one of those non fiction books that really resonated with me.  If you like ancient landscapes, stone circles and long barrows etc I think you would enjoy this book.

The latest and probably last Ruth Galloway book finally came down in price.  Knowing it might be the last we read about Ruth I did put off reading it for a while.  I know others are reading the series so if you haven't yet read it I won't say too much.  I do hope Elly Griffiths writes another book with Nelson and Ruth at some stage in the future. Its been a brilliant series with  Ruth being such a lovely character and I suspect I may re-read them all again one day.

I can't stop reading the Faith Martin books. In this one Hillary Greene returns in a different role.  It took me a while to get used to her no longer being a DI but again it was a gripping book full of suspense especially the ending!

Having visited Wigmore Castle in Herefordshire  - home of the Mortimers - I have become fascinated by the family.  I've been reading this at the caravan for quite a while now but I finally finished it on the last visit.

I still can't stop reading these books!  The ending of the previous book was such a cliff hanger I had to read the next! I will have to slow down a bit because I don't think there are that many left in the series.

I am still not sleeping well and with that and the hot weather I've been reading a lot.  The trouble is that means the Kindle needs recharging every day so I re-read a story in a hardback book by Mary Wesley called The Vacillations of Poppy Carew.  I do like her books and they make easy unputdownable reading. The author was a remarkable woman - she had her first novel published at the age of 70!

Moths and Caterpillars

B spotted this rather pretty moth inside the back room a few days ago. In all my years of moth trapping I had never caught this species. A bit of research revealed its a Box Tree Moth which is regarded as an invasive species as its caterpillars can decimate box trees and shrubs.  B has box cuttings in the back room and outside on the patio!!!  Anyway I can't bring myself to kill it so it will be released well away from here.  Interestingly enough I heard of two other people on Twitter who had seen this species on the same day. One came from Yorkshire so the moths which only appeared in Kent, England in 2007 must be spreading north.  The species tends to peak around this time of year.

I was thrilled when B spotted this Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar on the patio a week or so back.  I used to trap Elephant Hawk Moths so I always thought we might have caterpillars on the fuschias or Rosebay Willow Herb but this was the first time one has been seen. I am not sure if it was looking for somewhere to pupate but I put it back on a fuschia. The caterpillar looks a bit like an elephant's trunk and the eyespots are to warn off predators.  I know Bovey Belle found one in her garden too recently.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would appreciate an email first - thanks).

National Herb Centre and my Garden

 A few days after we returned from Herefordshire we visited the National Herb Centre near Banbury.  D and I have been several times before but it was B and E's first visit.  We hoped to walk the lovely nature trails there. I'd checked the weather forecast which suggested 15% chance of rain well you guessed it just after we arrived it rained so nature trail walks were abandoned especially as there wouldn't have been any butterflies around which are the highlight of the walks.

So we had a look round the herb centre and nursery.

I fell in love with this dragon garden ornament last year and it is still there but far too expensive to buy as a treat.  

I am not so keen on this one.

Many pots for sale. After I was annoyed I hadn't bought one of the half hooped barrels they had for sale as it would have been ideal to plant the herbs we bought to take to Herefordshire.

There are a lot of herbs for sale and many many varieties of each type. They are not overly expensive either unlike many of the nurseries nearer home.

On the way to the nature trails there are colourful borders and about 7 individual herb gardens - sadly I didn't look at these this time as the rain was getting heavier.

Timothy keeping dry in the car!

These are the herbs I bought along with a lavender and nasturtium.

Garden

Back at home the Christmas Tree in a pot has a lot of new growth.

Valerian and Sage in flower

There are lots of buttercups in the wildflower area this year and yellow rattle is doing a wonderful job of controlling the couch grass so that other flowers can thrive.

Posy picked from the garden.

Honesty is now going to seed and I was really pleased to find three Orange Tip Caterpillars.

I should have mentioned a few posts back that coming back from Herefordshire a few weeks ago we found the blue tit nest box full of dead chicks. It was really upsetting especially as they had seemed to be thriving and both parents were taking in food. It was distressing to see the female trying to remove the chicks.  I did wonder if she might make another nesting attempt (I know it is rare but not unknown) but she hasn't.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (If anyone ever wishes to use any of my photos or my son's I would be very grateful if they could email me first - thanks).