Birch at dusk...

Another cold, grey day - singularly uninspiring in photographic terms. I spent the morning entering some plant data on the computer and preparing roasted butternut squash, red pepper and ginger soup for lunch, as I always like to make sure that Chris gets lots of healthy vegetables when he's at home!

He's been having some nagging abdominal pains over the last couple of weeks, so after lunch I dropped him at the walk-in centre to have it checked out. The doctor thought it was most likely to be a grumbling appendix - something that seems to run in the family. I had mine removed when I was 23, and my father had a burst appendix and peritonitis when he was a young man, which nearly killed him. The doctor told Chris to keep an eye on it, but that there was nothing that could be done unless it developed into full blown appendicitis.

After he'd returned, Pete, Chris and I headed out to Holme Fen, as Pete wanted to collect some pitfall traps he'd put out a while ago. Unfortunately, in the meantime they'd had machinery in to cut the area, so the traps were rather deformed and difficult to remove - as well as being full of peat and moss. The limited light was fading fast so I played with some in-camera movement shots using the flash to help light up the white birch trunks.

In the evening Chris and Alex went to a friend's housewarming party, and Pete, Ben and I had a relaxing Chinese meal at home - a gentle start to the weekend.