Blooming and persisting

Some while ago Ruth found one of these orchid plants left out on the street, looking sad and droopy.  She dropped it off to me with the comment that 'you'll probably be able to rescue it, you seem to be good at it'.  I didn't delve into that remark too deeply :-)

Anyway, the orchid did rally after a while and I found it flowering when I got home from Anglesey.  The "Easter cactus" given to us by a friend a few years ago has also decided to put on a show of shocking pink blooms.
Something to brighten up these showery autumn days.  The orchid is my choice for Flower Friday... thanks to BikerBear for hosting.

During one of today's bright spells, Richard and I finished picking this year's quince crop. We'd already given a bagful to a friend; now it's time to start on some jelly and membrillo to store away for winter treats.

Apart from that... I listen to the coverage of the sentencing in the Sarah Everard case... I listen to Jess Phillips patiently explaining to interviewers that checklists of advice for women are "all very well" but surely the people who need to change their behaviour in this scenario are not the women...! As with so much else at the moment, the blame and the pressures fall on the most vulnerable.

At the same time, I am immensely grateful to the woman environmental activist who won her case against the police this week in connection with Mark Kennedy: one of the undercover policemen who used their intimate relationships with women as part of their spy operations. There is a link between those events and the Sarah Everard murder, as Kate Wilson - the activist in question - points out:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/mark-kennedy

It's taken many years, but - what's that phrase? - "nevertheless she persisted".