Amaryllis' flowers on their last legs

I managed to get to my meeting in town at the cafe by the canal, but it took a lot of effort. Too late to bed and an early awakening by bomble left me feeling a bit jangled. But the meeting was successful and helped me to form the next strategy for the council's working group. I don't know where we would be without the help of the colleague I had to meet today. She brings expertise from the very highest professional level and is giving to us at one of the lowest rungs! Thank you L.! But the other half of our meeting was where I could advise her on stuff she doesn't know, and a good balance has been effected which is mutually helpful to us both.

I walked back from town along the canal and stopped to watch a rather sad scene. A young swan which has obviously been booted out of its parents realm has taken up residence on a small patch of open water, probably only twenty metres long and five metres wide. I lies between the banks of the old canal which has become nearly totally infilled after decades of disuse, with reeds, mud, fallen trees and mud having taken over. A few car tyres and plastic bottles thrown in by mankind has added to the desolation. A single male mallard and a pair of coots are competing for the space. I took some pictures in the rather gloomy light but didn't catch a definitive image to show this rather limited world. If all the plans go ahead this world will disappear in a year or so, as the canal is opened up again through there.

At home I saw that these Amaryllis' flowers were beginning to sag. They are the second group of flowers to have been produced from the same bulb system. The first one I blipped many weeks ago and now the second shoot with its four flowers
looks like it is about to wilt. I moved the pot slightly to alter the back light and as I did so, the first stem with its shrivelled flowers collapsed completely. I managed to look after this bulb after last years flowering so hopefully I can do the same this year and maybe separate the new bulb which has grown out of it. I really like the anthers and the trumpet of the flowers. (In case you don't recognise the flowers, I thought I should mention that each of the four trumpets of the flowers measure about six inches across at their widest point.)