Sunlight on Paperbark Maple

A lovely cold and sunny winter's day, and we took ourselves off again to Westonbirt Arboretum. There was snow, briefly. Very briefly. Just enough to be thankful it fell "oop north" rather than on us. I'm all about spring; you can pretty much keep winter. Did I mention bah, with added humbuggery? ;-)

The sunlight burst through a paperbark maple (Acer Griseum) at one point, and I grabbed this shot. Like fire leaping from the branches, and as close to a flower on this Friday I'm likely to see! 

Later, I came across the fantastic clump of fungi in the extra. Like piled up pancakes toasted a golden hour bronze. Clearly delicious; someone had already got a decent meal form one of them...

Later I managed to finalise the draft of the Parish Council response to the Joint Spatial Strategy (regulation 19) consultation. Not an easy thing, because it's less about ideology now than legality. And I'm no lawyer. If approved that now goes off to the Inspectorate and the Secretary of State.