Green Goddess

The trouble with dogs is that stealth is not an option. With the path infront of me mowed of any wildlife with the dogs chasing each other wildly, it could have been a problem but we were on the 'Ham', a huge meadow between the Abbey and the river, large enough for all of us.
Where had all the water gone from a few days ago? Amazing how it just disappears.

This female damselfly was being chased around frantically not only by me brandishing a camera but also by a beautiful blue male. I was so engrossed in getting 'the shot' balancing as best I could without a tripod, that when a man called his dog behind me I jumped startled and fell backwards into a patch of thistles. 'Oh sorry!' he said (as I pulled out the odd spine) with what looked suspiciously like a grin. Hmm.... and the dogs were worried? Not a bit of it!

At 5:30 the Abbey bell tolled across the meadow- time to be getting home.