Tattoodave

I'll remember his smile at Crossfire, a cross between bewilderment and pride, a very humble man, RIP.

Had a walk along the beach in the fading light and saw a kingfisher, though it was too fast for me, saw some Turnstones and some Sanderlings

Took my camera out with me when I walked the dogs after spotting Lapiedra martinezii flowering at the roadside about a mile away, took a few shots of the various types of Hibiscus in flower at the moment, and this is just locally.

I have a mate in Hawaii that lost two fingers to a seal when he came to the UK, he thought they'd be cuddly as that's how they appear, big mistake. He was used to gentle creatures like green turtle and manta ray that will let you tag along as they swim. I did the manta ray thing off the Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, 25' wide manta rays pulling me along as if I was nothing, very humbling.

Can't sleep Suz?

I guess that's all that matters Pete, I had my dogs portrait tattooed on my side, he was 24 when he died of kidney failure, probably due to his liking of rum and blackcurrant, he was called Jock, a Wire Haired Fox Terrier of almost impeccable manners.

I worked on an eleagnus in the San Fernando valley in 1990 at a bonsai nursery on Glenoaks Drive, enormous trunk on it, must have been 10 inches across and only about 2 feet tall, so when you can dig it up and get it in a pot you'll see better results

Sadly though Pete the sycamore is a very difficult species to bonsai as the leaves always look too big to be convincing. Better off with Field Maple (Acer campestre), much more forgiving and nicer leaf shape and autumn colour

I've made bonsai out of trees that have been 5 metres tall, just prune it down to about a foot and watch it sprout in the spring

Could well be Pete, though doubtful as a self sown seedling, good call though

What's the colour of the underside of the leaf? Looks like it could be an eleagnus, if so it'll be silvery. Makes a good bonsai if you want to give it a try.

It was the Collins Complete Mediterranean Wildlife Photoguide that did it for me

Saw this little chap in Berlin a couple of years ago, never realised the city was so green, would like to go back sometime, especially if there's soul involved

You can actually see the brown lip on it, it's the base of the shell where his head would come out

It's a Brown Lipped Snail though Russ

The Euonymous family are marvellous, deciduous and evergreens, variegated foliage on some, different coloured seeds and seed cases, some with outstanding autumn colour, great for bonsai, and believe it or not they used to make spindles out of them for lace making.

Saw a crested tit this morning, we had heavy rain Saturday and Sunday, first real rain since February, not ideal, but at least it'll do some good for the flowers to come. Found these from Monkey World on a flash drive, lovely little chaps, reminded me of my brother

Just beat you to it Steve.

The first one is a geranium, but impossible to tell without better foliage photo, Second is Euonymous europaeus, or common Spindle, very brittle wood but great autumn colour, Third is a snail, but I guess you knew that? Fourth I have no idea without seeing more of the plant Fifth is a Campion/ Catchfly, but I'm not sure which Sixth is a cornflower of some sort. I know more about Spanish flora!

looks more like Shaggy Ink Cap Steve, but what do I know?

My last foray into the mountains today before I fly to the UK for a week, I found this large bee idling on a Daphne gnidium waiting for it to warm up. This was one of the reasons I wanted to go, though I didn't expect them to be in flower because of the lack of rain, however they were plentiful and looking wonderful with no snails or slugs to munch on them. Quite a few butterflies still about, mostly too quick for me, but I think this is a Silver Studded Blue. This is the main reason for my trip today, the foliage is evident during the spring, so the plant has to be located then, and a good memory lets you know where to look. As none of my books have a photo of it in flower, and only two of them mention it, one giving a line drawing, and a note saying they're in flower from September to October I decided to risk a trip and hope for the best. The first location was hopeless, but persistence paid, and I've bagged Lapiedra martinezii, it smells faintly of lilac, and as it doesn't appear in the books has to be scarce, I'm one happy bunny.

Ordered my copy a while ago, it'll take about 6 days to get here though

My pleasure Swifty, it's a lovely family of plants, some mightily colourful and some quite plain by comparison, make a very impressive border plant if you can keep the slugs and snail at bay.

I'm reading "Mist Over Pendle Hill" at the moment, set in days of yore, and full of things that I don't understand, very confusing for my mind, but I plod on without getting too involved in the history of costume, it's enough to have to cope with the social niceties of the time. I probably would have "Cross Model Synchronisation" too if it wasn't for the deafening Tinnitus