ooooh, look!

it's a...er, a...er...um...Visitor to my garden!
I don't know what it is or whether it was the compost heap or the pond that attracted it but it's here and it's big and a bit scary. But also quite photogenic.

I was given two different opinions about my garden, both by biologists - one said it was too far away from any 'wildlife corridors' to attract many visitors, one said that if one provides the space for wildlife, it will arrive from somewhere or other. Seems that the latter is true. We have such a massive diversity arriving already and we've hardly even started. It'll be a like a nature reserve here soon enough.

I think this photo is the first one I've taken since I started blipping where it is alarmingly clear to me how much more control I have over my camera than when I started. I nearly always work with manual settings now and feel that I have earnt the saved-for camera that I will be getting on Wednesday afternoon - bought in time for me to play with it on holiday. I've saved real money but also tokens and points and goodness knows what else and I'm really excited about it, this is probably my most exciting purchase as an adult and even narrowly beats father christmas buying me a fischer price whistle train when I was four.