The Force of Nature

While I was in England I was fortunate enough to stay in a lovely, very old house in the country. The house has lived in this spot for a long time, but I am afraid that nature has decided to reclaim the space for its own.

I am not sure if you can see from the next picture, but the Virginia Creeper is creeping in on the house...
In all the rooms, the windows were just unable to hold back the unrelenting advance of this intrepid plant. Yikes. Don't mess with Mother Nature.

Seed Pods from Abroad

On our first day in Athens, we climbed Likavitos. A tall hill behind our house in the center of Athens. From the top, there are spectacular views, but I enjoyed capturing the micro images more than the macro:

These little dried seeds are smaller than a dime in circumference, and were so enchantingly sweet. They reminded me of old coins one might dig out of an ancient archaeological site.
Then there were the Catherine Wheel seeds, which made me think of fireworks.
And finally my favourite, these tiny almost glass-like pods, which I had to bring home and photograph a multitude of times, but the little discs are so small, it was almost impossible to really get a good picture.
Each one of these is only about the size of a small lentil