Common Vetch

Just a nice image from the garden

Bee Orchid bud

Coming along nicely

Honeysuckle

Smells lovely!

Christmas Tree looking unwell

One of the Christmas trees I planted out in the garden is looking a bit poorly and has produced these three pine cones at the top of the lead stem. Not sure it is for the long haul!

Edit: Tree did fine!

Around the garden

A day of pottering round the garden. The three hot days in February got everything started and all are growing nicely now.

Here's the central flower enlarged

We lost the mistletoe ladened apple tree last summer in the drought so we've planted about 18 new trees and I've put mistletoe berries on the apple trees. At least three have taken:

And this set of leaves is growing around about the place where the Bee Orchid flowered last year so looking hopeful

And the ornamental cherry tree is going crazy

Foxburrow Wood

A wander round North Lowestoft while the car had its rear discs and pads replaced. Foxburrow Wood, a sliver of ancient woodland between the A12 and housing estates

This set of trunks were from the stump of a previously fallen/felled single tree.

A nice caterpillar on a footpath approaching the wood, under an oak

Still some very old trees left

A sunny day at Ellingham Mill

A day of pottering at Ellingham Mill yesterday. Water flow is so low that none is going over the sluices so the launch point is completely current free and fine for children to mess about from...

Bee Orchid probably growing on a mole hill

More stuff around the garden

Just the one plant

Growing mostly in the shade

A walk around the garden

First real day of Spring. Cloudless sky, gentle breeze, probably over 22degC. There are a few Violets

Acres of Forget me nots

Lots of Ransoms or Wild Garlic

Cowslips

Lesser Celandines

Primroses

And more Forget Me Nots

Hundred River outflow at three pumps

Hundred River outfall Kessingland 3 pumps from Petro Dobromylskyj on Vimeo.

We've had a couple of days of heavy rain with a background high water table. The Waveney is well above it's flood level of 0.9m and is currently around 1.2m. So a lot of water needs to be pumped out from the Hundred River over the sea wall at Kessingland. Children and I walked down the beach to have a look. We were all suitably impressed.

Last day of Feb, soon be Spring

We had a little snow. This is from yesterday, 28th of Feb. Hard to imagine we had lunch on the patio last Sunday!

Our friends' sheep were not best impressed

Today the East wind has set in, it's rather more unpleasant outside and not so aestheically pleasing with all the snow blown off the trees. Lots of work to keep thawed water and food available for the sheep and chickens.

Good sunny day at home

Spring is on its way in the garden

Lost a few trees in the Winter storms

And the polytunnel too



Still, Snowdrops looking good...

Wainford Sluice at a nice level

This is Wainford Mill sluice, pretty well at ideal play boating level. There was between 0.55m and 0.65m on the Billingford gauge when I took this clip
 
Wainford with 0.6ish on the gauge from Petro Dobromylskyj on Vimeo.

Brief stop at Billingford Bridge

It rained all day on 27th of December and the river height peaked at 0.79m by mid day today, the 28th, on the Billingford Gauge. This is just enough to cover some decent areas of water meadow further down stream.

By the gauge it was just bank high:

The gauge itself was fairly washed out, just a small slope to what looks like a non holding stopper

Christmas day 2017

Christmas Day was mild and breezy. Four second exposure through a rather grubby window!

This little clip gives some idea of how the tree was moving:
Wild Christmas lights from Petro Dobromylskyj on Vimeo.