Spiky

A more varied day today, the writing interspersed with a trip to Waitrose timed so that I could give Ben a lift home. I had an ulterior motive as I wanted to see what their garden looked like now that the big sycamore tree had been felled. So much more light and real possibilities to make a calm oasis. They'll probably plant a couple of smaller trees to replace the sycamore which wast touching the upper windows of the house and keeping the garden in dense shade most of the day. 

In the afternoon an old friend dropped in for an hour or so, as she'd come to Peterborough to take her daughter to the station. It was so good to sit outside and catch up - the last time we were together was last September. 

Once again there was little time for photography, so this spiky fly, which goes by the name of Eriothrix rufomaculata is my only offering. It's a Tachinid fly, whose larvae live as parasites in the caterpillars of moths - a gruesome life strategy, but clearly successful as it's very common on flowers in mid- to late-summer.