It’s been a while since I posted a picture of the speckled bush crickets in my garden. They seem to have disappeared now – this shot was taken in July. I think it is an adult, although I am prepared to be corrected on that. Here it is taking a well-earned rest from the tiring task of peppering my mallow flowers with holes.
“Light always follows the path of the beautiful.” (Anon.)
Certain iconic locations for landscape photography are known as ‘honeypot’ sites. Kimmeridge Bay on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast is one such site. I visited it for the first time on holiday this summer. Sadly, I was not treated to one of the spectacular sunsets one sees so often captured at this location but I made the best of what I had. There was only one other photographer on the beach, a local, who told me that if there had been the merest whiff of a good sunset the beach would have been heaving with tripods etc. Perhaps I was lucky after all.
A helpful friend on Facebook suggested the mystery plant from yesterday might be a member of the mint family so I went outside and did the leaf-rub test. Low and behold, and without a shadow of a doubt, it is spearmint. Thanks, Harry.
I was pleased to find the following interesting, and apposite, minty mythology:
“Mint has been regarded as a symbol of Hospitality; ancient Romans strewed it around at feasts and banquets as a sign of welcome to guests.
The genus name Mentha comes from Greek Mythology. Legend has it that Menthe was a nymph who loved Pluto; when Pluto’s wife Persephone discovered this she turned the nymph into a mint plant.
It is also believed that the Ancients scoured their tables with this herb when preparing for the gods. Furthermore, the gods had fields of mint that bees used to make honey.
According to an ancient legend, Demeter drank a special drink called cecyon (kekyon) at Eleusis. This sacred drink of the Eleusine Mysteries was made by blending wheaten gruel with mint. Female initiates carried vessels of cecyon bound to their heads. The Greeks also believed that mint increased love-making. Moreover, mint, rosemary and myrtle were used in the final preparations of the dead in ancient Greece.”
www.modeflowers.com/flower-varieties/mentha-flowers
I like it that the gods grew fields of mint for bees. They knew a thing or two, because the bees really do love these flowers! (Although I haven’t noticed any honey bees on them yet.)
Carder bees are smallish bumble bees and they make their nests in old mammal burrows or tussocks of grass. They have a reputation for being feisty if their nest is threatened but while foraging in the garden they are as harmless as any other bumble bee. In fact, even more placid in my experience.
For more information on carder bees see here.
It has been several days since a buggy post! Most unlike me. But never fear, the carder bees are here! They have been very happy this weekend, enjoying the lovely warm weather among the late summer flowers in my garden.
I have forgotten the name of this purple flower but no matter; it shall henceforth be known as carder bee heaven.
Making a bee line
It was rather special, sitting in the border surrounded by gorgeous late summer colour and hordes of very happy bees.
Nearly there!
These small bumble bees are very cute. Or is that just me?
My favourite
This last shot isn’t quite as sharp as I would normally like but I just couldn’t help include it: geronimo!
Heavy lifter
If you want to know my technique for shooting flying bugs, see my earlier post, In-flight entertainment where I reveal all my secrets!
Our visit to Jersey gave me an opportunity to add to my castle series. Grosnez Castle was built in the 14th century. Little remains of the castle but it makes a very atmospheric ruin, perched atop the headland at the Northwest corner of the island.
‘Grosnez’ comes from the old Norse, grar nes, meaning ‘grey headland’, rather than the French for ‘big nose’. According to an interpretation board at the site, the castle was probably built in around 1330. It was taken by the French in 1373 and 1381 and was likely demolished during or shortly after the French occupation of 1461-8.
The castle certainly has a commanding view of the Jersey coast. Just along the headland stands another martial construction taking advantage of those views, a German WW2 range-finder tower, part of Hitler’s ‘Atlantic Wall’.
It is a strangely forbidding construction, a stark contrast to the tapestry of heather and wildflowers at its base. The two structures together are a reminder of Jersey’s history of occupation, straddling some of her most beautiful landscape.
This image is a little more arty than my usual style but, despite appearances, it is still a photograph. It is made from three exposures, one sharp:
one panned:
and the third, a ‘texture’ made from a close up of the whitewashed walls of the cottage:
The cottage is Le Don Hilton, also known as La Caumine de Marie Best. It stands on the wall above St.Ouen’s beach with spectacular views of the surf and sunsets. It can be rented from Jersey Heritage and makes a charming, if basic, base for surfers. A more straightforward shot of the cottage appears in my earlier post, Jersey Shores.
This is St. Aubin on Jersey, the next town west of St. Helier. Named after Saint Aubin of Angers, it is the principal settlement of the parish of St.Brelade. It is also very picturesque, especially in the “blue hour” after sunset. A panorama from three exposures.
Most photographers out to capture the sunset go home once the sun has dipped below the horizon. My fellow photographers during my session at La Corbière last week were no exception. But it is always worth waiting around for a little longer. If they had, they would have seen La Corbière lighting up. A different mood from yesterday’s shot, taken at exactly the same location only minutes earlier. Doesn’t the landscape at low tide look otherworldly?
This is La Corbière, the lighthouse on Jersey’s South Western tip. It is the shot I was taking when I posted this: Waiting for the light. Of course, there was a much better sunset the night after I was here. Hey ho.
Focused Moments 