Ambush

After two relatively ankle intensive days I was itching to head out again today but sense prevailed.
So some tedious course Admin and chores done, then a long complex call to France, then another to a Scottish government organisation - I needed a brain break.
The nice weather has meant the swimming rehab has been avoided, so off to the pool. Amazingly quiet I got my own lane - and they even switched off the commercial radio! I thought I'd just go till I ached, but I managed that rarest of things, a meditative swim - I just did mental arithmetic the whole time and emptied my mind, increasingly complex (lol, by my lowly standards) variations of strokes, lengths, distance - and in just under an hour a mile (well, 1650m, 1254 (breast) strokes, 66lengths).

On the way home I stopped for a wander at a secret new favourite place and found myself entranced in the micro flora and fauna to be found. I thought I'd be blipping the increasingly rare Ragged Robin in extras, but then I caught sight, by accident, of this fine beastie.
A member of the orb weaver species, but I've never seen this behaviour before. They usually hide so that they can ambush whatever gets caught in their Web (you can see the husks of some victims) - but this fine specimen had made what I can only describe as a hide, a silk purse with bits of leaf and flower stuck to it. Mesmerising.