Skip to main content

Dragons, Damsels and Distress.

Tadpoles and damselfly larvae - click to view larger.
 
 
The pond seems to have become home to damselfly larvae!  I was doing a bit of pond dipping this afternoon, to see how the taddies are coming along and in the bowl were some fragile, insect-like critters which seem to have three tails.  Later, I did a quick Google search to find out what they might be, and quickly found photos of them.  I am genuinely surprised to find damselflies in a pond that's not even one year old yet - a pond which needs more plants to lift oxygen levels as algae is having a field day right now.  I wonder when the damselfly eggs were lain?  I love damselflies and dragonflies!  So I'm grinning like a big kid right now.
 
I once saw a HUGE emerald green dragonfly flying down Village Road, level with Mariner's Point in West Kirby.  I heard it before I saw it - a loud, droning buzz which caused me to look behind me in case it was a hornet heading my way.  Instead it was a magnificent, enormous dragonfly whose head was about 1.5 inches wide - I could see its mouth open and it looked at me as it flew passed!  Its glittering green body was at least 5 inches long, and its four wings were probably around 6 inches long, maybe longer.  It has been suggested that this was an Emperor dragonfly but photos I've of those show a blue tail, and I'm sure this one was bright green all over.  I've never seen once since, by the way.  And no, I didn't have my camera with me - isn't that typical!  The day the camera is left at home is the day you see something you really, really want to photograph.
 
Richard looked a bit worried, this week, when through the post I received a generously-sized squidgy parcel of second-hand dolls clothes which I'd bought for a couple of pounds off eBay.  There were some good items but several were looking a bit distressed.  My aim is, when I get around to it, is to carefully unstitch some of them and create sewing patterns for the clothes I actually want my dolls to wear.  Meanwhile, our dog Emily happily modelled a spotty beret...  Well, a girl's gotta play sometimes, hmm?
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hеya i am fοr the first time here. I came acгoss this board
and I fiÕ¸d It truly useful & it helped me out a lot.
I hope to give something back and aid others like you helped me.


My pаge: Nike Sb
2 May 2014 at 16:19
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Cure for Aging?

"All that we profess to do is but this, - to find out the secrets of the human frame; to know why the parts ossify and the blood stagnates, and to apply continual preventatives to the effort of time.  This is not magic; it is the art of medicine rightly understood.  In our order we hold most noble -, first, that knowledge which elevates the intellect; secondly, that which preserves the body.  But the mere art (extracted from the juices and simples) which recruits the animal vigour and arrests the progress of decay, or that more noble secret which I will only hint to thee at present, by which heat or calorific, as ye call it, being, as Heraclitus wisely taught, the primordial principle of life, can be made its perpectual renovator...." Zanoni, book IV, chapter II, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, first published in 1842. Oroboros keyring - Spooky Cute Designs The idea of being able to achieve an immortal life is probably as old as human life itself.  Folklore and mythology ab
15 comments
Read more

Feature & Follow Friday

The Feature & Follow is hosted by Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog. How does this work? First, leave your name on this post, (using the Linky tool at the end of this post).  Next, create a post on your own blog and add the Linky code.  Thirdly, visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments, (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you! What sets this Hop apart from others, is the Feature. Each week Parajunkee and Alison will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is their Feature today? Find out below, using the links to their sites. There is also a set project which people can participate with.  This week's asks:  If you could choose any character from a book, who would it be?  What do you think that character looks like and what do you have in
16 comments
Read more

Ancient Rock Carving in Stapledon Woods, Wirral.

Richard on top of the rock, to give an idea of its size.  This strange carving can be found on the Caldy side of Stapledon Woods, facing farm fields which are separated from the wood by a low sandstone wall with a castellated top.  In summer, the rock face is hidden from casual view by trees covering the slope which leads up to it from the path running alongside the sandstone wall. Has anyone got any information about this carving - what it is, its age and purpose?  I've been given several theories; one that it was made for shelter, (which seems dubious as it wouldn't work very well); or that it was somekind of ancient relinquary relating to pre-Xtian religious beliefs.  Any further ideas or documented evidence would be most welcome.
1 comment
Read more