Large anthers to carry a lot of pollen.

As the weather is wet and uninviting I decided to try and take a teasel head with a camera.  I cut one off the plant and as I brought it indoors I realised there was a very small bee caught in the base of the head.  It took some time to knock it out!  The prickles are horribly sharp.

I tried to take a shot with a 60mm lens and a 20mm extension tube hand held to no avail!  This is at least 30 shots further on on a tripod!  I think I'm basically lazy!  It's certainly not the quality I would have liked but is ok to see just how many little flowers are in just a small area of the teasel head!

We had the surprise visit of an old friend.  She is very slow and I don't think she will remember it.  Her husband is so loving with her.  It is wonderful to see.  They just stopped off for a very quick cuppa just before going to the dentist - so no biscuits!  then Lidl and now Ro's shepherds pie is warming in the oven for the girls who have just arrived!

I made my first apple flan from our apple tree this year and used some of the rest of the windfalls to make another batch of apple jelly.  It's percolating through the jelly bag .

Hope you're all having a good week. xxxx