Tiny Things.

Today has been a day for spotting tiny things.

The morning was very humid and the grass wet. Perfect for the many small frogs that I had to be so careful not to step on. My main morning job was to weed the narrow path that runs across the steep bank. Up till now I've been quite lazy and simply strimmed it as short as possible so it needed a good sort out.  

The day got hotter reaching 45C in the sun. As I took my morning break in the shade I noticed this half eggs shell, about the size of a pea, caught in a little conifer underneath the sparrows' nest in the wall. 

Later as I sat, slightly dripping, I heard and saw this leaf cutter bee disappearing down one of the gaps between the paving slabs (I really must get round to filling those in) with her circles of leaves that she had cut to build a nest.

Then after a dusty afternoon chipping plaster from the shelter wall by the scree garden, the evening sun lit up the flowers on this miniature rose bush. I was glad to have finished chiselling off the plaster. It was hot and sweaty work and because my chisel has a short handle I did hit my hand quite a few times. The swallows didn't seem too worried by my presence and kept swooping to their nests on either side of the space where I was working but they weren't happy when I sat on a chair outside in the shade and kept circling around until I moved.