Dusky squall

It was a long and enjoyable day, so much so that I'm back-blipping again. After an early morning meeting with our neighbours and a tree surgeon, to discuss the fate of a huge conifer growing perilously close to both our houses, I took Rosie for a walk along the river. I watched two kingfishers flirting with one another, though unfortunately there was no chance of a photograph, as they stayed among the willows on the shady side of the river.

Then a quick dash to Sainsbury's and lunch, before Alex, Ben and I set out to visit our special friends who live north of Boston. On the way we stopped off at Kirton to do a very quick bit of plant recording. I had the joy of embarassing the boys, who decided that peering closely at plants in the middle of a large fenland village was a decidedly weird thing to do. Nevertheless, I recorded a species that I'd never seen before, so it was worth being branded an eccentric!

We arrived at our friends' house in the middle of the afternoon, and we spent the rest of the day catching up with news of our families and friends, over plentiful cups of tea. It was a welcome break for me, and a treat to have dinner cooked too! While it was being served I sneaked outside to catch the fenland dusk - it was very atmospheric to hear the gentle murmuring of a large flock of brent geese that were feeding in the furthest green field.

The only negative aspect to the day was driving back late at night, when I longed to be tucked up in my bed. We finally arrived home just after 11pm and I was asleep by midnight - no time for blipping!