An early morning Coombe Wood walk

The weather forecast said it was going to be quite hot on Friday. I decided to have an early walk while it was still cool.

Something is wrong with my computer - a single click on the mouse acts like a double click - it has been quite a fight to get the photos on here

The orange and cream plant by the pond has finished flowering - I still like to watch the progress of the seed pods

Bullrushes - a new one behind an old one. I'm surprised they haven't finished shedding last year's seeds by now

The flower beds near the entrance are overflowing with pinks and purples

These bright pink flowers float on long stems above the foliage

Sun shining through the ferns

The prairie beds take my breath away. It's not a very big area but there's such an array of colours and textures packed into it. As you walk through the paths and around the edge your point of view changes and you notice different combinations of colour and texture - different colours peeping through from the background. I think it's fabulous

I think these flowers look more and more as if they're fraying

This bee was really having a good rummage - parting the stamens to double check it hadn't missed anything

Many more buds waiting to burst open

There's such a variation of colours in these flowers from lime green as they begin to open to assorted shades of yellow, orange and red

I find these middles fascinating. OK - I know - I find all flower middles fascinating.

Look at the little curls along the lower edge of the domed centre and the next row up that is just beginning to open.

and these middles - they're all in different stages as the yellow opening parts creep up to the centres

The paths between the beds have become extremely narrow in places

Big cheerful pink flowers

Different angle - different colour mixes

I keep trying to get better photos of these ornamental grass seeds - I need to try some more

I've never particularly liked orange or yellow flowers before but I think this combination is stunning specially where the fluffy cream grasses intermingle and I love the different heights too

There are so many kinds of grass seeds - these sparkled in the sun

A wonderful delicate butterfly - I looked on Google and I think it is a female cupido minimus - the undersides of the wings are quite different from the top

My whole walk was accompanied by the background sound of the gardener cutting hedges and some lovely loud birdsong which suited me fine because these sounds distract me from the tinnitus. My sister told me on the phone during the afternoon that Ibruprofen caused her to have tinnitus - I wonder if that's what has caused mine. She said that her tinnitus stopped when she stopped taking the Ibruprofen. I hope the Dr can give me something else instead when I see him next week

I love this colour 

From a distance I thought this was a bee but when I zoomed in I discovered that it was a tiny butterfly - or moth. I can't tell the difference between bees and other black and yellow stripy insects and I can't tell the difference between moths or butterflies either (I haven't managed to identify this one on Google)

The middles of two flowers at slightly different stages of development

 A yellow and black stripy insect

Two different yellow and black stripy insects sharing (one is definitely a bee)

The smaller one has amazingly long legs

Heads turned to the sun 

Tiny white flowers - I like the way the pinks and purples peep through

I was wondering . . . do these flowers actually grow like this with four petals at the back and nothing at the front or is it a coincidence that the front petals have fallen off all of the open flowers?

More pink - very different texture 

Along the borders near the gate a mass of tiny pink and white flowers spill over the edges - looking closer they're like dainty little jewels.

The pond was very clear  - sometimes it's quite cloudy or murky looking. A while ago I asked the gardener if he had cleaned the pond (not sure how anyone would go about that - it's quite a big pond) because I had noticed that it was extra clear that day but he said it isn't necessary because the pond has phases and it clears itself. Nature is amazing

Thank you very much for joining me