An eye for eyebrights...

This weekend was all about gathering specimens for a project to investigate the evolution of British eyebrights, organised by the University of Edinburgh and the Natural Environment Research Council. But first I had to find some, as they're not all that common in South Lincolnshire, and I needed to locate two sites at least twenty kilometres apart. This didn't leave me with many options!

Eventually I decided to go to Twyford Wood, which is a forestry commission site with some rather nice areas of limestone grassland included. When I reached these I was relieved to find an enormous population, in the tens of thousands, so had no qualms about taking my fifteen specimens. Having achieved my objective quite quickly, I decided to extend my walk and found lots of other good grassland species, including large populations of betony, devil's-bit scabious and autumn gentian, all of which are very local in eastern England.

In the evening Pete and I walked down to our local for a rather late pre-dinner drink - making the most of a warm summer evening. The younger generation were going out with their friends, so I'd produced home-made pizza for them earlier, which meant that when we got back Pete and I were able to enjoy a rather delicious late supper of sea bass cooked with gooseberries and fennel. Delicious!