Flower Friday

This may not look like a flower, but it is the flower of the Japanese white pine bonsai.. a cone flower. Close up it reminds me of raspberries and this is close up! I dug out the macro lens and managed to get a few photos in focus despite being too lazy to get out the tripod. 
The actual size of each cone flower is about 3mm wide. 

 Another interrupted night. Fletch woke me up at 1 am , wanting to go out! 
He then woke us up at about 6 but I let M get up  and do the honours. As its mild he left the kitchen door open and came back to bed.. Fletch came up later.. but I was back asleep!

Weather.. same as usual.

VE day.. we walked up to the park and quite a few houses had hung up bunting and were sat outside and getting into the festive spirit. 
It was busier in the park but quieter at the far end so we stopped on the bench and chilled ( being careful not to touch the bench!)

We got home just before 3 pm and all the ships horns started blowing.  Somehow I missed the fact that that was the time to step  outside and raise a glass ( we made up for it later!)
I wasnt born till a few years after the war but my parents shared their experiences and memories . After almost 6 years it must have been wonderful to feel the war was almost over. 

As I walked Fletch up to the dock at teatime I heard a lot of laughter and in the street next to ours a few households had dragged out chairs etc and were having a party.. all keeping the 2 metres apart. There seemed to  be a lot of balloons being bopped about.  I realised it was weeks since I'd last heard a lot of people having fun being noisy together.