2.50 p.m., 75°F, 28°C: By the time that I’ve strimmed a path around our meadow area, there’s just a tuft of tall grasses left in the middle, the size of a double bed. Knapweed, creeping buttercup and red campion (not yet in flower) are holding their own amongst the Yorkshire fog and cocksfoot grass.
In spring I added two plants of birdsfoot trefoil from the garden centre which are scrambling up amongst the grass stems and just beginning to show a few flowers.
A blackbird which is nesting in a dense holly in the hedge makes a circuit of the newly trimmed path.
A larger than average female wolf spider rests under the cover of a chicory leaf, holding her pea-sized cocoon of eggs so that it catches the afternoon sun.
A large skipper, Ochlodes sylvanus, rests in the sun on a blade of grass, its wings half open in characteristic skipper fashion. It’s a male with a dark band of scent cells across its forewing.
Love your ‘sketch’ posts and your pen/watercolor style.
It’s great to have my own little wedge of meadow when the mood takes me. Too hot to work out there today though, even here in the studio with both windows open it’s 80F, which is why I’ve got a rare chance to catch up on posts today.