At the top of the stairs...

is one of the many bookcases in the house. This is a true desperation blip, taken on my way to bed just before midnight.

Having decided not to do any fieldwork yesterday, I had no choice but to go and record my hay-meadow today - and if anything the weather was even worse. I took Chris to the station first for his last trip up to Sheffield to hand his thesis in, and then Alex and I headed off to Fancott Meadow, stopping off at Shuttleworth so that Alex could hand in his report.

We'd both wrapped up well - three layers plus waterproof coats and trousers and wellies - which was just as well. The first twenty quadrats were not too unpleasant, though it was rather odd to be working in a cloud in lowland Bedfordshire. We retreated to the car for a late lunch, and so missed the first heavy downpour.

Once the rain eased we managed another four quadrats and then had to make a hasty retreat as the rain became gradually more torrential. I was determined to get the quadrats finished, so when the worst had passed we braved the elements and competed the job in steady drizzle. I looked like a drowned rat at the end! One of those days when being an ecologist is not that much fun!