My local church St James here in Bramley held a wonderful flower festival last week. Each display linked to a particular hymn and the one that really caught my eye was the display for the armed forces.
Eternal Father
The armed forces display was split into three parts. There was a separate display for the Army, Navy and RAF and the hymn they all related to was Eternal Father however it was the RAF display set against the Brocas Aisle window that really caught my attention.
As an old soldier and a serving member of the cadet forces I was particularly pleased to see my church remembering Armed Forces week in this beautiful way.
Day 25 of the 30 Day Challenge brought us to RAF Benson. Our friends Tracey and Scott invited us around for a barbecue today – quite apt being it is Armed Forces day here in the UK.
The weather was perfect for me with a nice mix of clouds and sunshine (I am dreading next weeks heatwave when it comes). Tracey and Neil put on a great spread and just as I was getting comfy with a beer in my hand there was an almighty racket of squealing from the kids……..
Barbie on the Base
It turned out that one of the lads William had found himself a large spider and was showing him to the rest of the kids. They were showing their appreciation by quite vocal squealing.
Also up above a couple of Red Kites were checking us out for a chance opportunity to get some food and my friend Paul pointed out some Ladybird larvae to me that was sitting on a leaf.
Initial spots
Soon the food was all ready and it was time to tuck in. While I was chomping away I decided to carry on the theme of bug spotting so took off afterwards with Finlay and William to see what we could find on the base.
Tucking in
There is not much dead wood lying around on the base so we really had to look hard to find bugs but they were there.
We spotted some Lime Nail Galls standing proud. On some leaves there was only one but on others you could find twenty or so.
Sheltering from the sun under an Ivy leaf we found a snail and on the Blue Iris (at least that’s what I think it is) there were loads of little black aphids.
Lots of spots
The spot of the evening was the pyramidal orchid covered in aphids. We found this lone plant in the long grass but no others.
I took the picture of the Bluebottle just because of the lovely colours it radiated from itself.
Bugs galore
When we got back the ladies were stretched out enjoying a chat but were being press ganged by the kids to do some handstands.
Alison I must admit can do an excellent cartwheel and headstand – nice one.
Legs galore
This was a lovely way to spend Armed Forces Day, in good company, in good weather and with some excellent bugs as well.
