Regenerated

A somewhat rushed day with an early start to drop Ben at work for 5 p.m., possibly the last time I'll be doing this as he now has two weeks holiday and by the time he goes back to work he and Sarah should have moved into their new house!

Later in the morning I took Alex to one of his gardening jobs, did some shopping, picked them both up consecutively, had a snatched lunch and finally headed out to Ring Haw to do some more vegetation quadrats. When I arrived I realised I'd underestimated the number I needed to do in the area, so had to work speedily and still didn't get away until half an hour after my self-imposed deadline. This is a view across the field - hard to believe that this was in arable cultivation about twenty years ago - now it's herb rich with Marbled White and Meadow Brown butterflies present in abundance

I arrived home at 6.40 p.m., did a rapid five-minute change and brush-up before we all headed into town to meet up with Chris and Lizzy at Embe, the first part of Ben's birthday celebrations. It was the first time I'd visited and I immediately loved the relaxed vibe. Pete and I had a Caribbean sharing platter full of delicious spicy meat and vegetables - just a perfect size that left you full but not bloated. We then returned home and left the youngsters to go off to the pub - their first night out in town for about 18 months!