Lavender and Butterflies

With all this sun, and a distinct lack of rain, the lavender is flowering fantastically.

We bought 4 different types at a lavender farm. One plant died however, the others are magnificent, as are the ones we bought cheap at the end of the summer. We just had a lack of choice of colours and now have quite a few pale lavender bushes, which to my mind are not as glorious as the darker ones such as Hidcote.

However, the butterflies do not seem to care and so I popped out to take some pics. These are both small tortoiseshell. I do not know what a 'large' tortoiseshell looks like. Maybe something to research later.

Anyway the lavender blue and purple contrast so well with the orange of the butterflies.

Yesterday evening I noticed this golden orb in the rapidly ripening barley.
I think it is a spiders web with eggs or spiderlings in.