Becky CMD

Stunning white Early Purple Orchid on Cleeve Common Gloucestershire this morning @ukorchids.bsky.social @europeanorchids.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

Frampton on Severn Gloucester to Sharpness canal tow path sign at Splatt Bridge for #FingerPostFriday #Gloucestershire

Happy #BreadDay to all who celebrate!

#OnThisDay - 19 April - someone in #Pompeii felt so excited that they just had to record that:

"XIII K(alendas) Maias panem feci" (CIL IV 8972)

'On April 19, I made bread'

Image: National Archaeological Museum, Naples (84596)

A wall-box in lovely Ragusa Iblea, oddly the only post box I spotted on my travels in #Sicily. For #PostboxSaturday 🇮🇹📮

Primula tardiflora, April, Sichuan

For #FingerpostFriday, a rural sign in deepest #Sicily. An area of dazzling #orchids, ancient history and plunging gorges.

Sadly our #Sicily sojourn has come to an end. I leave you with the beautifully preserved old olive press and a giant arancino starter from our lovely agriturismo, Masseria Santa Catrini.

A day of two halves: orchids then Ragusa Iblea, a little gem. Plus gelato of course. #Sicily

On our last full day on #Sicily, pleased to catch up with the eponymous Ophrys Laurensis on Monte Lauro

Seen some impressive #Orobanche here in #Sicily, locally common. Here’s today’s: Orobanche Variegata on Broom.

Ophrys calliantha, endemic #orchid of #Sicily

#AncientBluesky #MosaicMonday

#AncientBluesky #MosaicMonday

The archaeological museum at Agrigento is well worth a visit. Here are some lion-head waterspouts from the area, a fancy way to finish your guttering. #Sicily #AncientBluesky

No day out in the Mediterranean in April would be complete without a few orchids among some classical ruins. Here a lovely cluster of Bumblebee Orchids at Agrigento #Sicily #Orchids

Modern bronze statue of fallen Icarus and Temple of Concordia, Agrigento #Sicily #AncientBluesky

Goat with very curly horns near Agrigento #Sicily and pot, 6th century B.C., in the town’s archaeological museum, featuring the goat’s ancestor #AncientBluesky

Former tuna fishery at Vendicari #Sicily historically also the site of garum manufacture

Lots of these little ‘egagropili’ (balls of sea vegetation) on the beach at Vendicari #Sicily. Intriguing little things, like shipwrecked kiwi fruit.

Ortigia #Sicily. Sparking blue water and sky.

Doric columns of the ancient Temple of Athena still visible even though the building was converted into a cathedral #Ortigia #Sicily

Quiet atmospheric back streets of Ortigia #Sicily

Dyer’s alkanet (I think) and Ophrys Biancae on #Sicily today

Turtle dove at Noto Antica #Sicily

Ancient tracks in the limestone pavement in #Sicily filled with orchids and wildflowers

Another colour-filled day in #Sicily with the common Lathyrus Clymenum

Allegedly the owner of the luxurious Villa Romana del Casale #Sicily - on the left is Marcus Aurelius Maximianus, co-emperor with Diocletian, looking on as another tour group rattles through #Roman #mosaic

On a bird hunt at the Villa Romana del Casale #Sicily. A hunter has one in the hand, definitely better for him than the two in the bush #Roman #mosaic

After yesterday’s Mirror Orchid, more reflective delights from #Sicily today at the overwhelming Villa Romana del Casale

Beautiful Pantalica in #Sicilia, rock tombs carved into the gorge