Duckweed collector

This rather odd photo uses flash at night to image duckweed on our indoor pond (an Affinity Pool).

Duckweed on our pond

The water fountains up through the grey pipe and shoots out into a thin, hemispherical sheet of  water.

Oddly, this water action seems to collect the duckweed inside the falling water. It's trapped there, it can't escape, but sometimes more duckweed gets sucked inside.

Duckweed normally floats on the water surface as a single layer. But with this collection action it soon becomes two, three or more layers deep inside the water envelope.

Duckweed is a flowering plant, surely one of the smallest possible such plants. It's not usually part of the life in our pond, but today I added some water lily plants to the mix and there was pondweed stuck to the lily roots.

Duckweed is another example of viriditas - see yesterday's post.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)

At the seaside?

You might be forgiven for thinking this photo was taken at the coast. Today was a glorious, hot summer day and people were out looking for shady, cool spots. But we live a long way from the sea here in St Neots; it takes several hours to get there by road.

A day at the seaside?

So where do people go to walk by a large expanse of water?

The little harbour in the photo is in the village of Perry on the south shore of Grafham Water, a large reservoir supplying water to the region.

It's about fifteen minutes from our house by car and Donna and I drove over to sit on the grass and read and chat. The harbour has a club house and cafe nearby so we ate a light lunch there.

Grafham is used for sailing, fishing, walking and cycling. There are several car parks and areas of grass and trees for picnics and ball games.

Grafham Water was built in 1965 and is the third largest reservoir in the UK in terms of surface area. Not only does it supply drinking water, a system of pumps and pipes enables it to reduce risk of flooding of the River Great Ouse.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)

The River Great Ouse

It's lovely to have the river passing through the town. Of course, towns often developed at river crossings and St Neots was no exception. In mediaeval times there was a ford here; it was controlled by the monks at the local priory and the Market Square grew up immediately outside the priory walls.

The River Great Ouse in St Neots

On a fine day like today the river reflects the blue sky and that really enhances the view. On an overcast day the river looks grey and dull. It's amazing what a clear sky and a bit of sunshine do to liven things up!

There's a lot of life on and in our river. Along with moorhens, ducks, geese and swans, the river is full of fish and other water life.

Water lilies grow in the shallow parts along the banks in certain places where the flow is weak, and other kinds of waterweed are visible too.

Boat traffic is entirely pleasure craft, although in past years boats were used to carry goods to and from nearby towns - Bedford, Huntingdon and St Ives.

I'm glad the river is there. I like to walk to the River Mill Tavern in the evening or into town for shopping; and the paths along the river are by far the best way to do it. It avoids the noise and fumes of the road traffic and it's peaceful when the world is frantic and busy.

The river is a great asset.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)