Back at the country home

It's slowly dawning on me that I now live in a country house and also have a London pad, have ponies in the garden paddock and there's a vintage sport's car in the drive....... I think I might be rich but the catch is I don't own hardly any of it! How a radical 'man of the people and nature' (Mark Constantine nick-named me Wolfie after this character HERE) ended up living like this is quite a curious situation, it was certainly not intentional or aspirational and actually occurred as an inadvertent result of a battle I was involved in challenging privilege and wealth and trying to pull off a people and nature revolution in South London. I'm beginning to wonder if I am now some kind of captive behind enemy lines in the country!? Captured by idyllic peace and calm and an abundance of nature in wealthy middle England. Luckily I'm heading back to London and back into the action tomorrow.

Anyway, slow realisation of the paradoxical paradigm that I live in aside, after our trip to the Lizard we have spent the last few days at Holly's on a stay-cation. My actinic bulb got smashed and I had to leave my Robinson's trap behind with the campervan so moth trapping has ground to a halt. Been spending time in the Old Vic garden and also did a stint round the Airfield yesterday and Otmoor RSPB today. Here's a few pic highlights.

Oakley Airfield 

Ebird list HERE

 Corn Buntings (above), Yellow Wagtails and Skylark families were about 

  Swallows and House Martins (above) were quartering the fields 

 Looks like some interesting botany on the old runways with what I believe is Biting Stonecrop (above) and English stonecrop (below) 

Otmoor RSPB

Ebird list HERE

 One of three Redstarts

 Brown Hawker- the most numerous dragonfly this morning with approx 10 

 Southern Hawker

 Small China Mark 

 Bladderwort sp 

 A couple of plants I'm stuck on (above and below). Seemed to be quite a few different Umbellifer species including Alexanders, Hogweed, Cow Parsley, a Water-dropwort sp, Wild Carrot, Hemlock and what could be a Pignut (?) below. 

The Old Vicarage

 The mini-farm (above) and pumpkins (below) coming on well 

More food is becoming ready now. Once the potatoes are ready we are hoping to do our first fully self sufficient day.  

This Pale Prominent was a new for year  

Jacob's first beet root harvest