In a tangled web...

A bit of a desperation blip, as its been grey and very windy all day, and I've been otherwise occupied washing down walls in preparation for the next bout of decorating. That's when I wasn't going into town to try and sort out a new phone for Alex - which of course was out of stock so we need to go back on Thursday evening - humph!

Anyway I managed a few minutes in the garden and noticed some bumble bees taking advantage of the continuing warmth - ideal blip fodder. There was no chance of getting a clear image in natural light so I popped on the ring-flash. I'm not a fan of flash pictures with black backgrounds, so I tried to arrange the settings to give a somewhat more natural look.

Of course, once I'd set the camera up the bees pretty much disappeared! So I took a few shots of this spider - not very easy as the wind was blowing the web in and out of focus. I know it's a fairly standard (and possibly boring) shot, but I'm pleased that I managed to use the flash and obtain a deep green background, even though there was no vegetation for quite some distance.

I'm blipping early this evening because we're having a small family celebration for Alex's birthday, which isn't actually until Thursday. But Pete's off to Leeds University tomorrow for three days, to teach a unit on fly identification, so he'll be away for the actual day itself. And before he returns, Alex and various mates will be off to spend the weekend with Chris in Sheffield, including taking in a gig. It's all go!!