It does seem as though summer was rather a long time ago, now. I’ve nothing really to add to these few pictures, it’s just that It’s been wet and miserable for a while now and I’ve had enough of that, thank you. I’m ready for summer to return.
Ah, Yes, Summer
Mick Canning 
My love of flowers makes that meadow a favorite, but that red and black butterfly’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s gorgeous. If I were anticipating the return of something like that, I’d be eager for summer, too.
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The red and black one is a Burnet moth – we get a couple of varieties, the five spot and the six spot.
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And one of only three indigenous day fliers! I think if I remember that right.
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Gosh, that’s a bit niche, Geoff! I’ve no idea about that, although I can’t immediately think of any others. I’ve seen plenty during the day, but perhaps only because they’ve been disturbed.
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The two Burnetts and the Cinnabar moth!!
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Ah, of course.
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Summer is still many months away here, but my partner is like you, she cannot wait. So I will show her your pictures. Me, I don’t yearn for summer, I wait till it arrives.
The absenceof bees makes me sad, though. Every year there are less and less. Will there be any this year?
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Fewer here, too. We try to grow lots of bee-friendly flowers in our garden but it’s noticeable how many fewer insects of all sorts we get now.
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It is beyond the pale here. The only bug that doesn’t seem to be suffering ix the mosquito, but having indigenous blood I barely notice them. They can suck my blood and not leave a trace they were there. Gail is pure white, and her skin turns mighty red in summer but not just from the sun.
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Ah, we do have a few little perishers like that who don’t seem to be suffering. Mosquitos and horse flies, which give a very painful bite, come immediately to mind.
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Fortunately, horseflies don’t seem to make it up to the higher latitudes, at least not in our area. When I lived down south, say the 50 latitides, I saw lots of horseflies, but I don’t remember ever being bit by one. My Anglo-Saxon friends though got swarmed at times. I think there must be something in white blood that maies it tastier to bugs than red blood. Just wondering aloud…
Could be the same thing that helps prevent baldness in my aboriginal population.
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Let’s not start on baldness…
Oddly, when I was much younger I never seemed to get bitten at all, even in places where there were swarms of mosquitos. That seems to have changed as I’ve got older, unfortunately.
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Sorry to hear that. Has your diet changed much? Are you eating more bananas? Or wearing more yellow clothing?
I’ve heard these last two are urban legends, but since we stopped eating bananas and cut out yellow clothing my partner does not get bitten as badly as she used to be.
These “preventative measures” come from the forestry industry. They now advise new employees to avoid bananas and yellow clothing when working in forest areas. They don’t have as many sick days in their work force since they started these precautionary measures.
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I’ve always eaten bananas, and I don’t suppose how many I eat has changed much over the years. And I rarely wear yellow clothing. Maybe I just taste nicer now.
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Lol. Less curmudgeonly boiling blood? A good experiment might be to get some DNA transferred from an indigenous person, or even just a blood transfusion. Whatever we got, I’m glad I am part indigenous. It has its drawbacks (racism), but if it protects me against mosquitoes when white people are around, I’ll take it.
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Less curmudgeonly? Possibly not…I just try not to show it too often.
Anything that protects against mosquitoes has to be good!
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I agree.
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We can always dream of summer! This year we’ve had so much rain that I’m sure the wildflowers are going to be amazing. Unless the state washes away.
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We’ve had all our rain this winter – much the same as last year, in fact. Our new normal certainly seems to be hot, dry, summers and milder, wet, winters.
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it’s hard to believe we were worrying about drought and wild fire. I would settle for early spring and some dry days to tidy the garden.
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It’s all extremes, now.
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The pictures are all gorgeous, but I especially love that delicate- looking butterfly in the first one! And yes, I am ready for summer. After one week of sub-zero temps, followed by two weeks of cold, dreary and rainy, my psyche is begging for sunshine! I thought I had a glimpse of it the other day, but by the time I got to the window for a closer look, it was gone. Welcome to winter. Sigh.
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Our winters seem especially miserable, these days. We don’t seem to be getting crisp, frosty, sunny mornings any more, just endless grey skies and rain.
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‘Tis the same here. Except, in California where they have been pounded with storm after storm, bringing mudslides and some areas isolated from the rest of the land mass. Climate change? Oh no, I forgot … that’s all a hoax!
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More extremes, everywhere. More wildfires, now in places that never used to get them. More droughts. More extreme heat. More extreme rainfall. More hurricanes and tornados. No, nothing to see here.
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I can’t wait for summer to return, either, Mick. I’m fed up looking out at the dismal weather and the constant pouring rain, which I’ve already been caught out in more than twice this winter. Today, we have sunshine and a blue sky here, although rain is forecast for later. I love your beautiful summery photos. Is that blue butterfly a Common Blue or British Blue (or are they the same thing)? I haven’t seen one of those moths before, though. Are they common in the UK? I love the field of daisies blowing in the breeze. I can’t understand people who use ‘weed’ killer on their lawns, as apart from looking pretty, our wildflowers (or weeds, to some) are so desperately needed for our wildlife and nature. My daughter has got that awful artificial, plastic grass! They had it put in years ago before we realised how bad it is for nature. Roll on, summer.
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Hi Ellie. It’s a Common Blue. I’ve not heard it called a British Blue before, I think that would just be a generic name for any of our blues. The moths – Burnet moths – are fairly common. I’ve seen them in all sorts of places. And I agree completely with you about lawns and wildflowers and as for plastic grass, it’s probably best I don’t say what I think of that!
Roll on summer, indeed. Some sunshine here, too, but still pretty cold.
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Hi Mick, it was so hot hear today that I was thinking the opposite. I’m tired of summer and wish it would cool down. Your pictures are lovely.
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Ha! Happy to do a swap, Robbie!
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At this point I’d settle for Spring. Or even two days in a row that it doesn’t rain…
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Same here, Dave. Pretty miserable at the moment.
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Me too, I’m getting a shade depressed right now!
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It’s that time of year, isn’t it?
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Yup, ‘fraid so.
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You are talking about our current weather. Ah!
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Beautiful pictures
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Thanks, Arv.
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Such a shared feeling.I am tired of these gloomy days with raining and no sun and chilly wind. it seems summer is taking so long 😩
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We’ll get there in the end. Surely?
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yes , cheers!
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