Project 365 day 250: tiny grass seeds

This is my second attempt at my Tiny Tuesday blip, which, frustratingly, somehow disappeared just as I tried to post it very late last night; I found myself returned to the previous page and my blip was nowhere to be found. It's not the first time - I guess I should try to write in Word first, to avoid losing my late night compositions.

This was my favourite from my first walk round the garden with my new (second hand) macro lens. I had been dithering about a macro for months, wanting to get closer to things but hesitating about the cost of such a self-indulgent present to myself; so when a used one appeared unbidden on my screen last week, I pounced. It will need practice of course - in particular to learn to work with the depth of field - but it was fun and exciting to see what I could frame, though the light was already a little low for close-ups. These little seeds belong to a decorative grass given to me for my last garden. It's very pretty, especially when it moves, but also rather invasive, and some of it managed to move house with us in one of my pots. This year, it has taken over huge numbers of pots, so I expect next year it will be rampaging all over the garden and I'll be able to photograph drifts of it.

It was a busy day, starting early with J's 9 am appointment at the hospital for a lot of blood samples. Back at home, it was lovely to sit in C's garden for our Tuesday coffee, under the bluest sky we've seen in many weeks. I picked more of his mint to dehydrate, and he picked corn cobs and runner beans for us. He is wonderfully generous with produce; I'm pleased this week to be able to reciprocate with some of our calabrese broccoli, as we don't often have anything he wants or needs. Later, I picked another big box of courgettes and small marrows, a couple more cucumbers, a big tub of raspberries and five good heads of calabrese. There is lots more - I will have to freeze some before it runs to seed. 

Less comfortably, we now have no working shower and almost no hot water coming out of the taps, though there is plenty in the tank. The long-awaited plumber is due tomorrow, fingers crossed; and the Tesco delivery driver explained that there was no milk of any kind in the store! P, who is vegan, was mildly amused at my unhappiness and reminded me that there is plenty of home-made plant milk available, but I do like cows' milk in my coffee and tea. Fortunately, the community dentist phoned to offer J a cancellation appointment the next morning, which meant we would be passing a Sainsbury's local on the way into Canterbury. We are still largely avoiding indoor spaces other than for essentials like medical appointments, but do make occasional forays into smaller shops.

Wednesday post-script: the plumber is here now, the milk is in the fridge, and I'm on the balcony enjoying the warmth, watching a host of seagulls following a tractor in the field across the valley, and looking forward to another walk around the garden with my lens.