Pine Pollen Pods. Leitz Elmar 135mm

I have just been educating myself on pine tree biology.  The big tree in our garden, it would seem, is a pine, not a spruce. 
For the last week or so, the tree has carpeted everything with fine, yellow pollen.  So much so that it stopped me going out on the balcony to light a fire and grill some chicken on Saturday.  It was easier to wait for the rain yesterday to wash it all away, and grill another day. 
Today's Blip shows the source of the pollen: the male pollen pods.  The tree seems to be hermaphroditic, since it has cones too, previously Blipped here.