Friday, August 17, 2018

Saw this and stopped what I was doing.


Started to cut the lavender along the drive. Filled five barrow loads before I saw this.


A good enough reason to stop and head inside. Spiders don't bother me but bright yellow ones with black stripes are probably saying 'stay well clear '.


The days shorter now. Our morning walk that started at 5:30 now delayed until the half light at 6:30. In a few weeks we'll set off at 7:00. Where did the summer go ?


After 45 years this band is retiring :  https://www.scotsman.com/news/runrig-hail-fans-ahead-of-farewell-shows-in-front-of-50-000-people-1-4785422
A song popular at rugby matches. Angus once heard it sung - word and accent perfect - in a bar near Lake Burton in Georgia ( or was it Tennessee ? ) by some locals who clearly still considered themselves Celts  : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzQ1pNfbe3Q




6 comments:

Emm said...

I hope that spider wasn't as big as your picture made it look. Eeeeeeek!
As a follow-on to comments the other day, there's this re Aretha Franklin and what happened the night she was asked to go on for Pavarotti. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/grammy-producer-ken-ehrlich-asked-aretha-franklin-sing-nessun-dorma-yeah-can-194425432.html

WFT Nobby said...

Wow, that spider looks truly alarming. Eeeek indeed!
Can Runrig really have been going for 45 years? One of those realisations that makes one feel old...
Cheers, Gail.

Susan said...

She is a Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi (Fr. Argiope frelon), one of the orb-weaving spiders. She's fattening up ready to breed and lay a sac full of eggs. I have them all over my orchard. They like longer vegetation and I don't mow very often. I've never heard of them biting and in any case her fangs wouldn't be robust enough to pierce skin.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
That is an Argiope species and is very like the Aussie 'St Andrews Cross Spider', so called due to the resting stance. Harmless and environmentally beneficial.
Farewell Runrig, a band of my years... YAM xx

Poppy Q said...

Alas the best part of the summer is often before the turn into autumn. We are enjoying that our days are now getting longer and we are gaining warmth back into the sunshine during the day and brighter mornings and evenings. Today was nice enough to allow the jacket to be left at home.

Loved the runrig video. Wikipedia says that they play their final concert at Stirling Castle tomorrow night - the 18th of August - are you going?

BaileyBobSouthernDog said...

I have been blessed with a ‘Golden Orb’, ( my nickname for them) spider around this time every year. The lengths I have gone to, protecting her and her web, are laughable!