Yesterday’s #photo challenge result

Of course it was once a lovely little frog.

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It met with a sad end whilst we were away on holiday. The culprit, this frog liking fiend…

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This was Poppy’s first victim as far as I’m aware. Usually she’s very gentle and every one of her prey I’ve set free without a single mark or scratch on them. Well that excludes the flies and weird wasps things she catches, plays with and eats! Maybe she thinks she is a frog and wants to make friends with them, who knows.

It’s the funniest thing to see your cat looking at you with two massive frogs legs dangling from her mouth. Not that I’m happy she catches them of course. I love all animals (except cockroaches). The frogs have a brilliant survival strategy to escape her clutches – playing dead. It gives me a chance to get them to the pond and safety.

This little black and white monster is also partial to moths, and has brought in some real beauties. I manage to release them too, and they flutter off probably thinking ‘What the hell just happened to me!’

Thankfully she doesn’t have much to do with mice or birds, and only brings in the occasional pigeon feather to play with. Do I have the strangest cat, or what?

To finish, I thought I’d share a couple of pictures from the pre-Poppy days.

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I really love these little guys…

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Can you guess what this was? #photo #photography #nature

I’ve seen a few ‘ex creature’ pictures on facebook lately and decided to post one of my own. It’s probably very easy to see what creature this used to be from its skeleton. So have a guess and I’ll reveal the answer tomorrow, and also tell you the story behind it.

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Weekend wanderings – Hawkstone Park Follies Shropshire

Last month we returned the wonderful Hawkstone Park Follies in Shropshire. It’s an inspiring place to walk around, with caves, ravines and a tower to explore. I would like to share a few of my photos from the day. First the views…

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The Monument – a very steep climb with a perfect viewing platform at the top if you’re not scared of heights. I didn’t take up the challenge.

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The caves – the first one was pitch black, thank goodness for the torch app on my phone.

I used this shots for one of my blog tour picture quotes.

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The ravine (the squeeze) was by far the best place to visit, but my photos just don’t do it justice.

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Who doesn’t love a tree sculpture?

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Finally, I’d also like to share some close ups.

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If you’re ever in Shropshire, take a few hours out to visit this beautiful historic park.

#Thursdaydoors and a visit to Arley Arboretum

I’m joining in #thursdaydoors as hosted by Norm over on his blog. Check the link to see how to join in, and for some great door pictures.

I think there’s something really special about this little door. It has no handle and no key hole, does it take a magic word to open it?

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A couple of years ago we visited the beautiful Arley Arboretum in Shropshire. It’s a steep walk up from the village to reach it, but it’s worth the climb. Arley is a stop on the Severn Valley Railway, which is also well worth doing. I’ll post some pictures of that and the railway museum soon.

There are some lovely gateways at the arboretum.

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If you’re ever near Arley in Shropshire this is a beautiful place to spend a few hours. And because it’s an arboretum, I had to share a couple of tree pictures even if it doesn’t fit with the Thursday doors theme.

My son has kindly provided a scale to judge the height and girth of the trees. He’s a tree fanatic, so this is a very cool place for him to visit.

First a Lebanese Cedar…

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We believe the next two are Sequoia

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And selection of trees

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And back to the original reason for this post, that cool door…

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I liked it so much it even played a small role in my first novel. It wasn’t opened by magic, just an ordinary key, but the key user was a wizard. I’ve also used the picture in my blog tour, in case you recognise it.

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Sorry for the shameless plug, but I really do love this door.