Mint moth

As I cast about the oregano flowers with my macro lens, looking for bees, I came upon a small (very small) moth that I don't recall ever seeing before. It was about half the size of my small finger-nail, mainly dark purplish red with yellow spots, and appeared to be a mint moth. This moth, as its name suggests, often uses mint as a food plant. In our garden, which has no mint, it seemed to like the oregano. But then that's true of many insects.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

The wren

One of Britain's small birds that are widely recognised by name is the wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) or, as it is colloquially known, "jenny wren". It is brown, short, rounded, with a relatively long beak and legs and a short tail that sticks up. It also has a much louder voice than you would expect. The wren is a regular visitor to gardens and, being small, suffers in harsh winters. Looking at the bird you can see why the designers of the farthing chose it to decorate the coin in circulation that was of the smallest value (see previous post).

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Thatched cottage, Deeping St James

This unusually small thatched cottage (named Clematis Cottage) stands by the road in Deeping St James, Lincolnshire. It sits uncomfortably next to a taller, later neighbour, with a narrow space between the two buildings to allow maintenance work on the walls. Like many thatched or timber-framed buildings it has a brick chimney for safety, this one relatively tall and braced with a strip of metal. The keystone/datestone shows it to have been built in 1819 using local stone featuring the area's "signature" courses of irregular width. The thatch has wire netting over it to lessen the impact of weather and birds. Access to the back of the cottage is via the gate which is probably shared with the adjacent neighbour. There appears to be a (necessary these days) extension and I wouldn't be surprised if the narrow plot stretches back quite a way.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus E510   2009