Evening walk

After two days stuck inside the house I was itching to get out!

Storm Dennis brought wind and rain on Saturday, though Peterborough was less badly affected than much of the UK. I made the most of the rotten weather, entering lots more plant data, and preparing food for the South Lincs Flora Group social and planning meeting which took up most of Sunday afternoon. Chris and Lizzy came over on Sunday evening to continue putting together music playlists for their wedding. We shared an Indian takeaway and it was past midnight before I got to bed. Even then my brain just wouldn't switch off, so I felt very weary this morning.

Fortunately today was sunny with much lighter winds. Our arborist friend came over to pollard the crack willow, with help from Alex, and to cut back the leylandii hedge at the bottom of the garden. It was quite hard to watch the willow being managed, but it had become very large, and we were worried that it would drop a branch on our neighbour's greenhouse. Although it looks quite stark now, it'll soon grow back and our garden feels so much more open and full of sunshine. 

It seems that we'll also have to lose our lovely pine tree - it's always had a slight lean, but after the last two storms it's moved another 5 or 10 degrees. If it falls it will probably hit the end of our living room - so we feel it's best to deal with it now. It's also started looking quite ill - the foliage is rather yellowish and the crown has thinned a lot - Scot's pine doesn't really thrive in calcareous clay!

Once the felling was over I headed out to Ferry Meadows which was surprisingly quiet considering it's half-term. I watched the sun set behind one of the beautiful old elms near the visitor centre (see extra) and then enjoyed a colourful afterglow on my way back to the car. Some of the paths were flooded, though only for relatively short stretches - luckily I only ended up with slightly wet feet!