Paul

Lovely find Billy - it could be that this is Phaeolus schweinitzii (velvet top fungus) but it isn't edible. Not 100% sure mind, but it could be one of many similar. Paul.

Well done on being this weeks winner Andyandhazel Paul.

Thank you Dee - glad it evokes some memories. Shame about the covid mind, but I managed 3 years without it, lol... Paul.

Thank you Geoff Paul.

Well, Sunday is my birthday but we had to go to London at the start of the week, lol... Took quite a few photos but just added a few here. The rest are in my SmugMug page on the link at the bottom if you want to trawl through all 80 of them! LONDON ALBUM LINK Paul.

Yes it's a flat-backed millipede Billy. Paul.

Well, it was my turn to pick a fave for the last seven days, and had to make my final choice just after Midnight once Sunday had gone as I'm off to London with the family for 4 days - but it was very nice to browse through the images from last week again. There's things with wings (metal and feather) and kettles and people, scenes and close ups ... and it's from the latter that my eyes kept going back to... Cheryl got my vote for her mantis photo right from the start of the week - catching nature so small dining is never easy, so this wins it for me (and I love macro of course, lol). Original thread <HERE>

Thank you Dee. Paul.

Thank you all, nice to be in the winners enclosure Paul.

Thank you Dee, it's nice to spot them when I can. Paul.

Yup, fat fingers....

Thanks Geoff, still takes a lot of looking for.... Paul.

Cheers Billy. The snout mites constantly run around - it's hit and miss (especially with a manual focus lens) on getting any of them sharp enough! Paul.

Looks young but healthy Paul.

Photos of a crab spider crab spider (Xysticus spec) and a constantly moving snout mite (Bdellidae) taken late at night in the garden: Paul.

Billy, there is a free stacking software programme which you could also try called "Comine ZP" if you can find a copy to download, by man called Alan Hadley. Paul.

Thanks Geoff. It's up a steep incline just after the esso petrol station, near the Traders Arms pub. Paul.

Love the blacks Geoff - great contrast makes the engine zing! Paul.

Superbly cold! Paul.

223 metres above sea level, the moor-top at Mellor, a little north of Blackburn, Lancashire, is the site of the Millennium viewpoint, where on clear days fantastic views can be had of the Yorkshire Dales and West Pennine Moors, the Lake District, Furness, the whole of the Fylde coast, the Isle of Man and Snowdonia, as well as more local features such as the Bowland Fells, Ribble Valley, Pendle Hill, Blackpool Tower. The Millennium Disc was erected in 2002 as part of the village’s celebrations.It guides walkers on the moor as to the places they can see from the viewpoint. Buried beneath the stone circle is a time capsule, put together by pupils at St Mary’s School. Uniquely this modest hill of 223m, has a defunct Royal Observation Nuclear Blast and Fallout Monitoring Station from the cold war era . The monitoring post was opened in July 1959, and was decommissioned in October 1968. Many local people still believe that this was a nuclear shelter for the use of the population during times of war. Paul.

Good grief, what a lot!!! Paul.

Well done Martyn m8 Paul.

Cheers Geoff Paul

Buried... Preston's Real Life Witch... Meg Shelton (died 1705) known as the "Fylde Hag" was an English woman accused of witchcraft. Her grave can be seen at St. Anne's Church in Woodplumpton, now part of the City of Preston district of Lancashire. Meg Shelton's real name is recorded by St Anne's Church as Margery Hilton. The Woodplumpton 'witch' is reputedly buried upside down with a boulder on her grave... Accused of using witchcraft to destroy crops, steal milk and transform herself into animals, Meg Shelton was subject of many fantastical tales and stories. Most traditions have her body being found crushed against her cottage wall by a barrel. According to some versions of the story, the unusual death was seen by villagers as a sign that the Devil had come to claim her. Meg Shelton was buried in St Anne's churchyard, but her body refused to stay underground. The following morning, her corpse was found lying beside her grave. She was reburied, and once more her corpse reappeared. Finally, the priest performed an exorcism and Shelton was buried for the third time, but this time she was interred in a narrow vertical hole, like an oversized post hole, and she was inserted upside down, so that if she tried to dig her way to the surface she'd be going the wrong way. Finally, a boulder was placed over the top of her unusually-shaped grave. You'll see her tomb three or four times in my flight... Can you spot it??? Dare you look? Paul.