Reed on fire...

I spent all day preparing a talk that I'm giving to the local wildlife group on Thursday, so by half-past three I was ready for a break. The afternoon had been grey again, and I nearly didn't take my camera, but at the last minute I picked up my bag, just in case.

I was so glad that I did. As I arrived at Ferry Meadows the sun was setting in a blaze of gold, beneath a purplish cloud bank. I thought that was fairly stunning (as we seem to have had a dearth of interesting sunsets this autumn) but as I walked round the lakes with Rosie the colours just kept getting more intense, till the western sky was ablaze with red, yellow, orange and purple. In the east the clouds were the softest candyfloss pink against a gentle blue, and all around the trees were bathed in a red afterglow. Really, really fantastic!

I had trouble choosing an image, so the blip consultants were called in. I think they chose well but if you want to see any of the alternatives, I've posted them to my . Also, if you're a fan of sky images, check out yesterday's blip of the Moon and Venus. If the weather keeps on like this, I may just find my blip mojo again!

PS I forgot to say that just after lunch Pete and I had a lovely chat with Chris and Lizzy on Skype. They are in Mumbai, and have good internet access for the first time. They certainly seem to have had some amazing experiences, though I think they're looking forward to moving on to Thailand. Indian cities and towns seem to be rather stressful, with constant attention form people trying to sell them things. They're also generally very dirty and polluted. Apparently they've realised how lucky we are to live in Britain and are looking forward to home food, proper pubs and being able to walk in the countryside and breathe clean air!