Purple-rimmed carabus

I had a quiet day trying to recover from yesterday's drive. I researched my symptoms and they all fit with sciatica, probably a result of damage to the piriformis muscle. The pain was still acute today, and is now accompanied by tingling and numbness in my lower legs and feet. I think our family is prone to this - my Mother suffered for many years, as a result of arthritis in the spine, and Chris had a prolonged bout at the age of eighteen, probably as a result of muscle strain. Apparently in a proportion of the population the sciatic nerve passes through the piriformis muscle, making it vulnerable to any trauma. I never quite realised how painful sciatica is - I probably should have been somewhat more sympathetic to them both.

I managed to take Rosie for a short walk, but it was cut short by a heavy shower. Pete went out to suction sample a local stretch of river bank, and this rather spendid ground beetle, Carabus nemoralis, turned up in his sample. This is a very common species, often found in arable land and gardens, hiding understones during the day but an active predator at night. As I hadn't taken many other photographs, it provided me with an attractive subject, though it wasn't very co-operative! It's now living in our garden, where it'll find plenty of pests to feast on.