Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday and apologies for not replying or commenting anywhere either.
What a difference a week makes to life when the cold wind went away from us in the East last weekend and we had a week of sunshine and warmth instead. The world suddenly seems a better place! Although looking at the forecast for next week seems we will be cloudy....what a shame ....perhaps they are wrong.......although we do need rain.
Yesterday, greatly excited, I rushed in for my camera to try for a photo of this.......
A Hummingbird Hawkmoth. Only my second ever sighting. I took eight photos but this was the only one giving any sort of idea of why I was so excited to get a photo.
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| Summer visitor, breeding regularly in the UK but not so easy to spot and very hard to photograph. |
It was a 'bit' warm at the exercise group - goodness knows what it would have been like if our group had been running during last summers extra hot heat wave - might have been a bit much even for our most energetic 80 year olds! I detoured on my way home to steal a few strawberries from BiL's garden - I did have permission and there were plenty- I'll be back for more soon as he tends to leave them too long.
This week I started shredding my way through all our old tax self-assessment stuff from the smallholding and campsite. Never had an electric shredder before - what fun it is! Years ago I owned a small manual shredder but mucked it up shredding some foiled paper to make shred for the Christmas hampers. On the smallholding with two fires to light indoors and Col's love of bonfires it was easy to burn unwanted paperwork. Not possible here in a village.
Instead of galivanting around this week I've been at home more (mainly because son borrowed the car for two days). Had time to make tomato and herb rolls, orange and ginger marmalade, peanut biscuits plus cheese straws to swap for the strawberries from BiL. And to sew badges on Youngest Granddaughters Rainbows zip hoodie (Rainbows are the 4-7 year old version of Brownies and Guides).
The tomatoes have been tied up and this is my first cucumber from the greenhouse.
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| Orange and ginger marmalade made with a tin of the prepared oranges plus some finely chopped pieces of stem ginger-in-syrup and some ground ginger. |
And the plea...............
Lots of bloggers have my blog in their reading list on the side of the blog - thank you everyone. But some are still down as "The Cottage at the End of A Lane" and it's more than 2 years since I moved. If you still have this, please - when you have a spare minute - could you go into Layout and then the Blog List gadget edit function and take out " The Cottage at the end of a Lane" and then add it back by copying the title again and it should then come up as " My Quiet Life in Suffolk". Many Thanks. But if you don't have time or can't be bothered or it won't work - no problem.
Hope you all have a good weekend
I shall be back Monday
Sue
Thanks for the reminder Sue…I’ve been meaning to change it for a while now. Job done✔️
ReplyDeleteOh and I’ve been meaning to say how much I like your new header. A room with a view plus a book to read…old fashioned luxury!
Thank you.
DeleteThe header is a photo of a postcard that I'd had around for ages
Done. Changed the title heading on my blog. Sewing on badges, my grand daughter is in charge of Beavers in her scout group, so I have the same problem of sewing on badges - she likes collecting them, wonder if you could not just glue them on with fabric glue.
ReplyDeleteI had to google where to put them as Cub Scouts had special places for all badges but it seemed not to matter for Rainbows so I hope she approves.
DeleteI've never seen a hummingbird hawk-moth - I live in hope.
ReplyDeleteYou've had a very busy, productive time at home - your kitchen must have smelt wonderful.
One very hot summer at the smallholding was my one and only previous sighting. I moved very fast to get my camera!
DeleteCracking photo of the Hawkmoth, Sue, cracking photo indeed!!! only ever seen one once. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll send it in for the Country file calendar!
DeleteI use all our shredded paper in my compost, but not the shiny pages like in magazines. Love your photo.
ReplyDeleteYes same here for the shreddings
DeleteFantastic photo Sue. Your reward for being at home. We are seeing more hawk moths round here too, but none so far this year. Great excitement last night as we came home from an evening out and had a wander around the meadow and our female glow worm is back! I was feeling a bit deflated about the garden this week - the heat, the sharing of crops with the animals - but that cheered me up no end and makes me feel I should just let the garden rewild itself! Please take a photo of your BiL’s strawberry patch if you can. Sarah in Sussex
ReplyDeleteCaught the moth by luck as I happened to look around the corner of the house and dashed for the camera
DeleteAmazing photo and well done on having the patience to snap it. I have spells of shredding up old paperwork but we have to put it in the black bin as it’s not suitable for recycling in our local authority. Catriona
ReplyDeleteThey don't stay still at all so I kept missing!
DeleteI've just tried to change as you ask but it doesn't seem to have 'taken' which is annoying - I'll try again later. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteFab photo of the moth - absolutely wonderful. Thanks for sharing it. xx
Don't worry if it doesn't work .
DeleteI had this problem as well Joy, I had to redo it altering the url/name choice on the drop down box. It was picking up the new link but dropping Sue down to the bottom of the list with other blogs that had no updates.
DeleteWell it could be worse what they call you Sue.
ReplyDeleteI've been called all sorts in the past!
DeleteMine already shows you as My Quiet ... so no change needed. we have a similar moth here I've always called a hummingbird moth. Though come to think of it haven't seen one here in NH but there were many in MD.
ReplyDeleteThere are all sorts of hawk-moths here - difficult to photograph this one
DeleteA very productive week with your Marmalade making. Envious of your first cucumber - mine was bought in, I lost one of the pair and the other is still climbing and thinking about flowering! Well done actually getting a photo of the Hummingbird Hawkmoth in flight - they are so QUICK. Have changed your blog name on my blog list.
ReplyDeleteSeem to have been cooking all week!
DeleteI thought if I took enough photos one might be OK -
Thank you for changing the name
I'll have a look and try! x
ReplyDeleteDon't worry if it doesn't change
DeleteWow, my cucumbers have a bit of catching up to do, they are about 2 cm long! I'm making another batch of rhubarb and ginger jam today, despite the recent heatwave our rhubarb continues to do well. You can't beat homemade preserves, and those tins of prepared oranges are brilliant.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Greenhouse cucumbers are always early but they stop producing earlier too whatever I do.
DeleteThe hummingbird hawkmoths are a favorite and we see them pretty often. I love them because unlike butterflies and hummingbirds, they stay long enough for pictures!
ReplyDeleteHow good to see them often - they are fascinating to watch
DeleteThat's a fabulous photo of the Hawkmoth, I've never seen one but live in hope! Despite living on the edge of the countryside I've been pleasantly surprised by the variety of animals and birds caught on the security camera. We often have footage of a local fox, a badger, and then last night there was a muntjack deer. We're hoping for many more insects too now that our garden is developing.
ReplyDeleteI love the new header Sue 👍
Right place at the right moment!
DeleteThat's a great photograph. And thank you for the blog update reminder. I hadn't realised how many had stopped blogging since the last time I amended my list. X
ReplyDeleteSo many people no longer blog- which is sad.
DeleteAnd even worse is when someone has died - Deleting their blog seems so final
That is an amazing photo of the hummingbird. They move very quickly and getting a photo is quite something. You've done lots of cooking and will be well stocked. The first cucumber looks terrific.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a hummingbird but a moth that moves like one .
DeleteNice to have my first greenhouse 'harvest'
What a gorgeous picture of the hummingbird moth. We used to have the caterpillars in our yard, but since we removed the Virginia Creeper they are no longer around. I loved seeing the moths as I was weeding the flowerbeds.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thank you - a lucky spot
DeleteChanged it :-) Gorgeous photo of the moth, I'd never heard of it before!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI just happened to look round the corner of the house and spotted it - thought it would be gone by the time I got there with the camera. Very Lucky
Gallivanting! Fabulous word 😂
ReplyDeleteI do a lot of gallivanting!
DeleteNice hummingbird flying to your flowers that are lovely! I am on your current blog. We finally got some rain and some on Monday. It was down pouring rain when we were in church during the sermon. I hope to get some jam made soon as I bought two Sure Jell pectin for jams. I have some strawberries in the freezer I need to use soon.
ReplyDeleteNext year, you should enter THIS competition! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-65876963
ReplyDeleteMy sidebar is updated, sorry I hadn't noticed this for so long! We go through at least one shredder a year for our company shredding, it's a good job we never have to shred foil. :-)
ReplyDelete