NOW what have you done?

This afternoon became a Boy's Own adventure. I forgot my own rule at one point. I wanted to photograph a rock underwater in a shallow stream, mistake; I have been teaching the eldest grandson how to use a walking pole as a wading pole. Having plunged my walking pole into the edge of the stream, and felt it disappear slowly towards the magma, I stupidly put my foot in the water, reasoning it was much larger and would support my weight. WRONG! It followed the stick, into soft mud and water. You are never too old etc.

I then found, beneath an old Beech tree, this lump of slime mold. I took pictures from all round it, then realised I was being a prat for the second time in 10 minutes, as it won't sting, doesn't smell and looks fun. So I picked it up. It didn't sting, smell or go for my throat. It felt just like what it looks like, a soft jelly substance with beautiful folds and edges.

Minutes later I returned it to an area where it may leave spores and wandered on. A friend who lives at the bottom of the valley called me over. His chucks had escaped, but a hailstorm drove them straight back into their enclosure. Pete had found an old well in his garden, a 17 feet deep well, covered by a simple piece of slate 1" thick. So we had a poke around, he lowered a hammer on a string, it appears to actually be a small underground river rather than the well, an offshoot of the stream I nearly fell in. It's here on Flickr, Well