Six on a head... and the little one said...

The marmalade hoverflies Episyrphus balteatus are everywhere at the moment, jostling for space on flat flowerheads. They only have short tongues, so find it hard to get nectar from tubular flowers such as clovers, but dandelions and their relatives, together with umbellifers such as wild angelica and parsnip, are favourites. I watched this dandelion for some time, wondering exactly how many would fit in at the banquet, but they seem to like a bit of personal space, and I never saw more than six.

The rest of the day has been quietly productive, depite the hot and humid weather. I spent the morning processing raspberries that were picked yesterday afternoon at our local Pick Your Own. Half were made into jam, and the other half into a vibrant crimson sorbet. The kitchen smelt wonderful! The aftenoon was spent report writing - not usually my favourite task but the words flowed fairly smoothly and I should have it done tomorrow.

Alex returned home from Dorset this evening. He had an absolutely amazing weekend,particularly enjoying seeing Primal Scream, Blondie, Milton Jones and Jack Whitehall. As I expected, he negotiated the London Underground with no trouble at all. While he was away I tidied his dump room, which fortunately he was pleased about. Though I had been careful not to throw aay any of his precious things.

I'm still basking in the warmth of all the wonderful comments I received yesterday -this is such a lovely community. I'm aiming to thank everyone personally, but it'll take a little while and I'm not very methodical, so I may inadvertantly miss someone. Anyway a big THANK YOU to you all - your words have spurred me on to investigate outlets for both my photography and my writing.