Today's wildlife

Today I have been photographing ... flowers , and ...wildlife
I had been hoping for one of the squirrels to appear, or a special bird, I had been wishing for a butterfly, but today's wildlife was mainly of the bug kind, flies, hoverflies, bees and this shield bug, which dared climb on my latest blooming seedling, until yesterday a mystery flower, but now that it is all out I recognise a white cosmos. This bug made a nice contrast, but after the photoshoot (do you see it thinking 'Are you looking at me???') I've tried to persuade it to leave the flower alone and when gentle pushing didn't work, I applied some force !

Sad day too, I heard this morning that my Dutch helper and friend's husband who cared for our garden there and did odd-jobs around the house whenever necessary did die last night after having been seriously ill since February. He spent the last weeks of his life in a hospice, where I could visit twice, and I am really glad that there are such institutions available nowadays. Run mostly by volunteers who do their utmost to make the last phase of people's lives go as smoothly as possible, fulfilling last wishes if at all possible in a very friendly and caring environment.

Thanks very much for your kind comments, stars and even two faves for yesterday's dahlia