Under the Welkin: May 2006

29 May 2006

turtle recall

After I pulled this cat-head out of my bicycle tyre I went off for a bike ride hoping the thornproof innertube would live up to its name.

The irrigation channels are being emptied for the winter.
I saw something moving on the road and just saw a head and webbed feet disappear from view into a turtle shell.

It was this long necked turtle who must have decided to leave his emptying channel and try his luck on the road. I moved him off to the side just in case some heavier traffic came along.

The mud he was wearing for camouflage was still wet and slippery (so I dropped him...not from a great height, just a centimeter or two) and the legs and head stayed out of view for a very long time.

27 May 2006

swallows keep out

What the swallows don't see...

24 May 2006

the knot garden

and the church (circa 1200) at Rousham Park - a hedge clippers delight!

21 May 2006

bells on her toes

Banbury cross is the ornate monument (built in 1859) in the centre of the photo, also in the centre of a roundabout. It must have been a disappointment for anyone looking for the nursery rhyme "fine lady upon a white horse", until last year when they finally found one.

Ride a cock horse to Banbury cross,
To see a fine lady upon a white horse,
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes.

19 May 2006

meanwhile, back on the farm

After having an injection and an enormous tablet,
Biggles is feeling much better today.

His foster mother is very attentive.

18 May 2006

st. finian's abbey

An alternative name for the Smugglers Path is the Mass Path. People using the path could have been walking to and from the ruined abbey on Abbey Island. You can only get there with dry feet when the tide is out. The graveyard is still used.