We recently came across this striking purple iris and I was struck by the rich colouring. They aren’t rare, I know, but they are certainly less usual than the common blue / mauve varieties; and also than the more familiar yellow ones (shown below).
VINEYARDS IN CHAMPAGNE
The hillsides of the fertile valley of the Marne west of Epernay are almost entirely dedicated to the vine and its various products – not just champagne and wine, but also ratafia (like sherry only far nicer) and marc. There are major producers here, such as Moët et Chandon and Lanson. However every village – for example Damery and Cumières – has many independent producers or Récoltant manipulates (RM) who produce wine from their own grapes in small quantities. These operations are often found in unassuming and apparently small village houses, with the equipment for wine production housed in the basement. None of this champagne is exported but it is often of outstanding quality, outdoing many or most mainstream non-vintage champagnes at a fraction of the price. The only problem is, one has to go and get it; and a special occasion is the only way to justify the expedition… Here are some spring vineyards above Cumières.
The Moët vineyards
The poppies are starting to flower, a reminder of grimmer times in this area
TALKING ‘JACKSON POLLOCKS’: PAINTING ON SILK
This sequence of paintings on textured silk is an anomaly for this blog, concerning neither wildlife, countryside, buildings or any of the other random subjects usually featured. I just liked them. I wonder what you will make of them…
If you like the ‘pictures’ in these photos, then you may enjoy the tie I will be wearing for our son’s wedding next month – a unique creation hand painted onto silk, despite which it cost an astonishingly small amount. And if you hate it, I’m still going to wear it anyway because although it’s not a tie I’d ever have imagined wearing (and I wear them only very rarely these days) I love it!
‘ALL THE VIEWS, NONE OF THE CLIMB’
In Welsh border country not far north of Hay-on-Wye are the Begwyns, modest hills in unspoilt surroundings with far views to the Black Mountains to the east and the Brecon Beacons to the south. This is National Trust land: you can see their Begwyns page HERE with a useful circular walk map. A gentle uphill stroll takes you to a feature called The Roundabout, built for the Millennium. There is a trig point nearby with magnificent views through 270º. It must be wonderful on a sunny day; ours was not, yet we could see for miles. The photos are quite poor, however…
It’s an easy ramble up from the road to The Roundabout
To the east is the northern end of the Back Mountains – Hay Bluff and Twmpa
To the south are the Brecon Beacons, with the summit of Pen-y-Fan in the clouds
To the west are distant views towards Carmarthenshire
The Trig Pillar stands at 414m ASL. The first 2 views looks south to the Brecon Beacons
This view looks south east to the southern end of the Black Mountains above Crickhowell
The Trig Pillar and stone-built The Roundabout 
The Trig Pillar taken from inside the Roundabout
Within The Roundabout is a stone circle with seats round it, like a medieval meeting place
Sadly there’s no view from inside The Roundabout. Here’s the inscribed Millennium Stone
ST GEORGE, PORTLAND, DORSET: UNUSED BUT NOT UNLOVED
St George, Portland stands high up on Portland, Dorset. Built from the famed local Portland stone in an unusual mish-mash of styles, it is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, which will at least ensure its survival even if services are no longer regularly held there. Pevsner calls it “the most impressive c17 church in Dorset”.
The church and churchyard contain plenty of reminders of Portland’s past both as a significant stone quarrying area, and as a place of major nautical importance. There can’t be many churches with a memorial for those killed by a press gang.
The churchyard is rather wild in places and contains some large commemorative statues. We were intrigued by one quite tidy grave (below) and were left wondering about the design – the little roofed gateway, the raised apart in the top right corner. What does that indicate?
The thick grey walls of St George are typical of the local stone.
The unkempt churchyard is a good place for wildlife, with plenty of hunting perches for kestrels
WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND A BABY SONGBIRD OUT OF ITS NEST…
There’s plenty of advice on this fraught topic to be found on the internet and elsewhere, much of it common sense. I haven’t seen it set out as simply as in this graphic from the US, leavened with a good dose of humour too. Well, it made me laugh, anyway. I normally put my own stuff on this blog, but occasionally it’s worth making an exception. I have to say that if the answer to the first question is ‘Yes’ and the injury is serious, there may in fact be a need to take more swift and drastic action for the bird’s own sake. That’s another topic, however…
Props to birdandmoon.com; baby blackbirds in Dorset RH
SPRING IN THE AIR IN DORSET THIS WEEK
The sun is shining, the birds are twitterpating (©Disney), the trout season has opened. Also, the first swallows arrived on Tuesday, followed by the martins on Wednesday. These birds are already checking out the mud nests under the eaves that remain from last year.
The hedges are suddenly greening up and the grass is beginning to grow fast. The Alpacas, formerly the official lawnmowers for the paddock, have been banished to another field to give the ground a rest. That means resorting to the mechanical method for the first cut of the year.
Some creatures appear to have got Spring fever. The rabbits for a start, who are clearly ‘going at it’ for all they are worth. And the sheep over the road surprised me one evening when I opened the kitchen door (the notice on the gate is good for their self-esteem). 
My first fishing of the season yesterday, on the River Piddle (as in Tolpuddle) – very pretty, pretty unproductive… Today on the River Frome, the swallows were skimming insects off the surface of the water. There were heron and egrets, and a pair of common sandpipers clearly looking for a suitable nesting site. It’s been a great Spring week.
The moon and stars have been wonderful all week. There have been plenty of moon photos around, pink or otherwise, but one evening Mars was gleaming brightly too. Only one shot was steady enough to use – at maximum zoom most of the images looked like squiggles.
INSECT (BEE? FLY?) AND A PINK MOON (FOR NICK DRAKE?)
First of all, what is this insect? (Amelia? Anyone? NOW SEE BELOW FOR ID) I saw a couple in the garden last year but had no camera with me. Today I at least had my phone. I’m sure it’s completely obvious – ‘a sting-snouted lesser hornet’ – but I’d like an authoritative ruling. Additional clue: they can hover.
Thanks to Jessica of the excellent blog NATURE IN FOCUS for ID as a member of the Bombylidae family, with the common name of bee-flies (see comments below). That lead me to the Natural History Museum website, where I found a very similar creature Bombylius major. The wing patterns in particular look much the same.Here’s the NHM image.
Secondly, there’s supposed to be a pink moon either tonight at around 3.00 a.m. tomorrow morning; or possibly tomorrow night at 3.00 the next night… It’s caused by a lunar eclipse, expected to last from 2.00 am to 4.30. The pink / red is to do with angle and atmosphere (as with dawn and dusk). Apparently. I tried to photograph the moon last night here in Dorset, where the light pollution is not too bad. It shone with extraordinary brightness and ‘flared’ my attempts. I’ve pinked one up in case I don’t wake up for the real thing…
An opportunity to remember Nick Drake, I think… Here’s the full album for nostalgics – and just the title track to follow.
BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL: ARUM LILIES
The Arum Lilies (Zantedeschia) have just started to unfurl from their green pointy stage, and the flowers are in flawless condition. I took a closer look at the yellow stick in the middle (spadix – I had to google ‘yellow stick in arum lily’).
Looking down the spadix, the tightly packed nobbles (nodules?) are beginning to open out into strange little mushroomy shapes. I have no idea what’s going on there, except that it is presumably to do with pollination. Strangely, the bees don’t seem attracted to the flower, which may be poisonous to them.
Spring. Time to reset the sundial to summertime. This armillary (or bow) sundial was made in Dorset, and rests on a chunk of cut cornish Delabole slate. If you are passing the quarry, they have a slate pile from which you can take offcuts.
TUFTED DUCKS ON WIMBLEDON COMMON
A family walk, a new place to explore (notwithstanding that we’ve lived within 5 miles of it for 35 years… ), and a small point & shoot camera. I took advice from the youngest member of the party and snapped these tufted ducks. I was lucky with the light on the water. In the last one I happened to point the camera in the right place just as it surfaced from a dive. No wonder it looks a bit surprised…
ROLLING HARBOUR GALLERY 