Rain rain go away, come again another day! we used to chant this as children and I have to say I really feel like shouting it out loud. This of course makes me feel guilty as we are officially in the middle of a drought and I should really be welcoming the rain!

Its been a cold wet bank holiday weekend in the south of England with only a few glimpses of sunshine to cheer us up. For me it was another photography weekend as I attempted to try out my new found skills on the Isle of Wight. Sunday found us having a day out with the first stop Mottistone Manor which has wonderful bluebell woods and a lovely garden. No photos of the woods as what bluebells really need is sunshine in order to look their best. I can't at present remember the name of the flower below and am too lazy to look it up up I love the pink petals and bright stamen.

This Clematis Montana was very beautiful too!

After getting thoroughly frozen looking round the gardens and walking in the woods we decided to stop at a pub for lunch and managed to find one with a roaring log fire - bliss! it also had a trout stream.

On the way back home we passed a verge full of wild orchids - a fairly unusual sight these days unfortunately.

last stop before home was Compton Chine known as dinosaur beach because of the fossils often found there and the fact that you can see casts of dinosaur footprints millions of years old. (I'm never quite sure exactly which of the rocks on the beach are and aren't footprints despite having been on a guided walk with my son when he was small and very into dinosaurs) I'm 99% certain the rock below isn't a footprint but I loved the shape and colour of it.

and was fascinated by theses patterns in the sand nearby