Kissing Trees

Kinghorn's Kissing Trees this afternoon.
 
I was glad I headed out after lunch as it did brighten up somewhat.
Very wet underfoof with many puddles and partially flooded sections of road but that gave added chances of reflections.  I liked this one best.

Another, without any reflection and a replaced sky from the view 180 degrees round, in 2x1 format, will be found in the 'extras'.

I'm posting this now so that the 'extra' comes off my 2024 quota but I'll return to edit this post and add more text so please look back in 15 minutes or so.

What finally prompted me to go out was the BSBI New Year Plant Survey.
This is the first year that I have taken part to record what wild plants are in bloom Dec 29th to Jan 1st.  It is supposed to be used to monitor the effects of global warming but the number of participating volunteers is increasing so I have no idea how that complicates the statistics.

My area has very sparse records for any time of year so coverage is incomplete.  That came to my attention because one plant I reported triggered a warning saying that it had never been reported as being present in my area in the last 10 years and was rarely reported flowering at New Year - please provide a photo for ID. (Which I did.)  I know from my own observation that the plant in question has been growing here all of those 10 years because it grows where I check on the Northern Brown Argus butterflies each summer.

Finally, the return trip to my car didnt go without incident.  Because of all the rain and the many puddles on the road, I didn't spot that one was a pothole in disguise.  My ankle turned over and pitched me foreward onto the road.  
Good News: Camera survived.
Bad News:  The road took a chunk out of the palm of my hand and badly bruised my knee.  At my age, skin doesn't heal as fast as it used to, so that's going to be an inconvenience for a few weeks.