Brightness

A super busy day - i dropped the car off for its annual service and then drove off to a meeting in the courtesy car they'd lent me - quite tiny and with a very different gear change from my usual vehicle! I found it quite hard to know when I was in first gear, which caused me to stall a couple of times during the day.

The site meeting was very interesting, partly because of the deep historical knowledge of the main proponent of the project to relocate a disused station that will be destroyed by road dualling, and site it in an area where it can be used as an environment and cultural centre. The proposed location is still adjacent to the disused railway,  which has some good areas of limestone grassland along it. I was delighted to spot a few key species that I recorded there in 1986, still in exactly the same locations! The only down side of the day was getting soaked to the skin during a heavy shower.

After returning home for a quick change of clothes and lunch, the afternoon was spent at a meeting to discuss the proposed Langdyke AIR workshops. All the issues appear to have been resolved, so we just need to prepare the publicity. 

I'd received a phone call from Chris during the meeting, so found a quiet place to return his call before heading home. A girl in Lizzy's class has tested positive for Covid, and was in the classroom for two days, with no social distancing. Chris and Lizzy have both had to have PCR tests, which will hopefully come back negative. If they both stay clear over the weekend, he's then going to come and stay with us for a few days until the remaining fieldwork is completed, as he can't afford to be in self-isolation at such a critical time of year. Lizzy will have to continue to work, but the risk of her catching it will still be there, as it's unlikely that the girl didn't pass it on to any other children.

When I'd finished speaking to him I received a call to let me know the car was ready, so I swung by home to have a quick proof read of Pete's report, which had to be submitted today, and then headed to the garage. From there it was a trip to Waitrose to replenish our rather bare cupboards - I finally got home a bit after six. Thankfully Pete cooked dinner!!

As you can imagine there wasn't much time for photography, so once again it was a quick pootle round the garden. I was struck by the beauty of this Cape-daisy,  especially as many of the other plants are now looking a bit sad. The withering foliage of the sunflower revealed the most interesting invertebrates, with a juvenile Green Shield-bug and the remarkably well-camouflaged Hairy Shield-bug shown in the extra, maybe looking for a safe place to hibernate.