St John's pond

Tuesday is now our busy day when we look after Stella-Rose and also collect  Violet from school and keep her overnight.  Today dawned bright and sunny and  so we thought that a walk up to St John's pond, at the top of our road, would be just the thing.  Stella-Rose though, did not really enjoy it and a little later we discovered why.  She has a very fair delicate skin and we can see that she is prone to dry eczema like patches of skin.  What none of us knew was that she seems to have developed an allergy to the washing  liquid used for her clothes, or they have changed the formula.  As soon as we realised the problem, we stripped her off and gave her a lukewarm bath of water only.  Within minutes her rash began to fade and she became her usual cheerful self again. 
My photos today feature the pond in extras, not looking terribly exciting before the trees get their leaves and Mr and Mrs Mallard in my main shot.