Alnwick Castle

The light was disappearing fast, but I could not go out with the camera until the end of the Nadal v del Potro match at Wimbledon this evening. That was a such a tense match.

I then could not decide whether it was worth taking the camera out. Finally I decided to use the 50mm prime lens. I was amazed at how well it performed in the poor light.

This rose is called Alnwick Castle and is a David Austin rose. The team I worked with gave it to me for my retirement present and it has done well year after year since. Here is more information about it:

An English Rose, raised by David Austin in 2001. Flowers with deep pink buds, opening rich pink, with paler edges, cupped with a dense, muddled center and good scent, said to have a hint of raspberry. Alnwick castle in Northumberland, England, (pronounced Annick), is the seat of the Dukes of Northumberland; the present Duchess is making a magnificent garden, (including a large rose garden with many English roses) for which this rose has been named. A spreading shrub with stems to 4 feet (1.2m), flowering continuously through the season.

I had a couple of images with more depth of field, but I decided to choose this one for its dreamy quality and the softness that suits the rose well.

Mum and I went to a funeral for one of her friends today. Their friendship went back to just after the war when they were young married couples together. B and her husband met on a blind date under the Town Hall clock in Sunderland. When they married the friend who instigated the blind date gave them a clock - and it stood on their mantelpiece throughout their married life. The funeral was a lovely celebration of B's life and it was a priviledge to be there.