Windflower

A lone walk in the countryside seems to be one of the safer ways of spending time at the moment, and today's wander in Old Sulehay Forest provided some welcome relief from the barrage of pandemic news. In some areas the woodland floor is now studded with the the white and occasionally pinkish flowers of wood anemone, sometimes known as windflower, as well as primroses and violets. Toothwort was locally frequent along one of the paths, clustered at the base of hazel and field maple coppice stools, and I found a couple of young twayblades along a ride edge, though no herb-paris. 

Having received a very sympathetic email from the company that we booked the villa with, we're hopeful that we will either be able to get most of our money back, or use it to re-book a holiday for next spring, when hopefully things might be returning to normal. I feel sorry for the owner of the villa, who will probably lose much of their income this year. Many small businesses and sole-traders, as well as quite a few large ones, will find the next few months a real struggle and not all of them will survive. Difficult times for everybody.