Poppies
Much of my life I have been interested in plants, and this interest is often reflected in my photography. These are the buds of Iceland Poppies, an out of fashion flower, which my parents used to grow for the house. This year I decided that I would try to grow some for myself. I bought about 40 plants and put them into the magnificent Taranaki soil that I have a small patch of. They did not simply grow, they erupted and for four months I was able to pick a bunch most days. Only in the last week have they come to an end so now I have to wait for the autumn before I can repeat the experience. One of the greatest joys of having such an abundance of blooms was being able to give them to neighbours and friends.

Bulls
I came across a friend's collection of these tiny plastic bulls. They used to be on a string around the neck of bottles of Spanish wine, perhaps they still are. I arranged them on a Formica table and made this tiny little photo.