Author Archives: JDO

Where are you, ladybirds?? And after I gave you a nice little wooden house to overwinter in! Time to wake up and do some work now, you ungrateful things… For those of you who are now itchy, please avert your … Continued

Whenever I see wisteria I’m reminded of the Stanley Baxter line in his skit on Gone with the Wind: “Wisteria on the outside, and hysteria on the inside” – delivered in an appalling mock-Southern drawl, while dressed as a Colonial … Continued

This Clematis montana ‘Elizabeth’ sprawls across the corner where the wall of our front garden meets the fence dividing us from next door. It’s been covered with buds for a couple of weeks, and today the first ones opened. This … Continued

So here’s the thing: I seem to have bought another new lens. I know. Really, I’m as bemused as you – I just don’t know how it happened. But anyway, there’s a knock on the door this afternoon, and the … Continued

I realised at dinner time that I hadn’t touched the camera all day, so I set off a little early to choir practice so that I could stop en route and get a shot for Wide Angle Wednesday. The extra … Continued

Stratford-upon-Avon held its annual celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday last Saturday.  A major element of the event is a parade through the town; CH and I missed this, because we were travelling back from holiday – we stopped in the town … Continued

Things I Have Learned Today: 1. It’s surprisingly difficult to set fire to a safety match with a gas lighter. 2. The high-speed burst shoot on my camera only takes about fifteen shots before buffering. This was my favourite flame, … Continued

I know that this plant is often regarded as a weed, but I love it – I let it roam around my garden as a self-seeding biennial. But in fact this is a wild one: CH spotted it in a … Continued

CH and I have just arrived home from our four days in Budapest, and of the few shots I took today this is the one I like best. Londoners will immediately recognise Kensington; for those who don’t know this area, … Continued

In the morning we walked down to the Danube, then half way across the Margaret Bridge before turning down onto Margaret Island. For many centuries the island was a centre of the religious life of the country, and it still … Continued