Balsam ....

.... not native, but not Himalayan.  It is Orange balsam (Impatiens capensis), also known as Jewelweed, comes from the USA, can be excessively vigorous, but there doesn't seem to be the same concern as there is for the spread of Himalayan balsam.

After B had done another lateral flow test, which was once again negative, we went off to the farm shop, so she could stock up on fruit and veggies, for her unscheduled early return to Scotland.  

We then took her to Fairhaven Woodland and Water garden.  We have always enjoyed our visits there, though we hadn't been since we took W's sister nearly two years ago, when we were lucky enough to see a kingfisher.  On arrival, we discovered that we should have booked tickets online - it hadn't occurred to us, which was stupid of us, as so many places are operating this sort of system now.  And there was no mobile phone signal to enable us to do this in the car park.  But I walked down to the entrance, and found a sign telling me that, although tickets still had to be bought online, I could use their wi-fi code to access the website and do this.  So I did, and was fortunately able to book tickets for the following hour.  We passed that hour in their café, having a cuppa and some lunch.

We then spent a lovely couple of hours having a leisurely walk around, chilling and taking photos.  This rather lovely yellow plant was quite widely distributed in the garden, though certainly not overwhelming.  There was no Himalayan balsam, as far as I could see - either they have so far avoided the invasion, or they are good at keeping it rooted out.

W made us all a lovely veggie curry for dinner.