A SURPRISE VISITOR!

A little while ago we noticed a baby plant growing in a pot of old, used compost which stood by the back door. This door opens into the garden, and there are 8 awkward steps down into the garden, which explains why the pot of used compost was still there!

We left it alone, and it grew and grew, and soon became obvious it was a sunflower. We didn't think it would get to bloom so late in the year, but now look at it!

I grant you it is not one of those giant sunflowers, but it is very pretty. The seed must have been dropped, either by a bird or one of us, as we feed the birds with mixed seed.

Talking of strange plants, in the winter we feed the Siskins and Redpoll on Nyjer seed, and every year we have a fine crop of Nyjer plants, although they never come to anything, as it is too cold here for blooming and setting seed.

But the birds seem to have disappeared this week. I don't know where they have gone, but I imagine there is such a lot of natural food, they don't need ours. It is strange though, last week the sparrows and various sorts of tits were fighting over the peanuts, but this week - zilch!

IT'S MARKET TIME AGAIN!

Today (Sunday) was the monthly Treacle Market in our Market Square and adjoining street. Sadly, the "real" antiques seem to have disappeared, but there are still a lot of stalls to search



there was a lot of pretty crockery on this stall, but I wondered if anyone ever used the traditional wicker hamper for picnics? They must have been terribly heavy - you wouldn't have wanted to carry them too far!




There were a couple of bookstalls, and I was very pleased to find a book illustrated by Charles Tunnicliffe. I love his drawings, painting and all artwork of his, and the black and white illustrations in this book, which is devoted to country matters, are delightful. The book is written by HE Bates, another old favourite of mine. Sadly both Charles Tunnicliffe and HE Bates are dead now.

There was one book I didn't buy - though I did wonder if there were any other sort of slugs other than terrestrial ones!




There was a stall with lovely coloured ribbons.......




........and one that was all sorts of bits and pieces. It actually was a very windy day, but you can't see it from the photographs.




On the next door stall there were some old bears and other animals.......





.........and a stall with all sorts of floaty scarves and things.





The food stalls were all together down a street leading off the Market Square. There were two bread stalls, both were loaded with really yummy-looking bread. I bought a loaf that I was promised was full of seeds and goodness!



There was also a stall selling Fungi. This was a new one for the market, and although there were plenty of "ordinary" mushrooms, there were boxes of mixed fungi, which I really wouldn't have liked to try without positively identifying them first! And then I might err on the side of caution and not eat them!




And lastly, in case you needed a sit down and a cup of tea or coffee, this maiden was there to direct you down the ginnel!

BUTTERFLIES

We have had more butterflies in our garden these last few days than we had the whole of last year! These two are Tortoiseshells, but we have also had Peacocks, Red Admirals, Spotted Wood, and of course, the usual Whites. At this time of the year they love our Sedum. We have two huge clumps of this, but they are getting a bit too big for their boots now and will have to be dug up and slimmed down!




This last is a dahlia I thought would never bloom! I planted it in a tub, and then put the tub in a space in the border where there was a gap, but it sulked for weeks, until this lovely orange bloom appeared.

Sorry this is a short blog - what with one thing and another, there doesn't seem to have been much time for writing blogs!

HEATHER TIME

I've been longing for ages to get up in the hills to see the heather. We finally made it on a lovely day last week.



First we called in at a reservoir I hadn't been to for at least 10 or 12 years. I was amazed at how much it had changed, and couldn't recognise where I used to walk! Trees had grown, and paths altered, and it looked a very strange place. I was also very surprised at how low the water is. Considering how much rain we have had this summer, I thought the reservoirs might be full!




Our destination was the Goyt Valley, and Errwood Reservoir. Again, the water was very low. If it gets any lower, the remaining bits of the village which was flooded to make the reservoir will be showing!




One of the little streams that feed the reservoir. Makes a lovely sound, rushing over the stones!




But there was definitely heather there. It looks so lovely against the grey stone.




And just to prove it really is heather - its here!




There are lovely places to stop and you can walk for miles from here, right across the moors. Not for me now, alas!




We drove through beautiful countryside. You can maybe get a peep from the window and see why I love it up here.

Unfortunately, the road we were on is a very dangerous road, with lots of bends and steep downhill bits. So we couldn't stop, and I had to peer past Mr.G to take it!

It was a lovely day out - I really must get us out more!

If you want to see more of my photographs, on all sorts of subjects, go to my other blog