Autumn cheer

At this often dreary time of year, the Michaelmas daisies provide a welcome splash of colour and a useful fix of pollen and nectar for late-flying insects. I'm particularly fond of this one, which is a spontaneous hybrid that popped up in our garden a couple of years ago, and is now thriving. 

This was the only thing I photographed on another rather grey and murky day. I spent the morning writing up notes from Wednesday's site visit, and in the afternoon I met up with two women from Glinton to refine plans to improve the biodiversity of an area of grassland in their village. I'd planned to go for a walk after our meeting, but by the time we'd finished it was raining again, so I came home and attempted to bake a Babka, having been inspired by the last episode of Bake Off, which is providing a small but welcome weekly relief from the barrage of bad news. It was the first time I'd made brioche dough, and that part turned out well, but my folding lacked finesse, so the finished loaf wouldn't have won any prizes! It tasted good though, and that's what really matters...