Finespun...

I've had a more restful day today, catching up with the identification of mosses and lichens from my Dorset trip, and trying to polish off a few household chores (fairly unsuccessfully).

The weather's been unrelentingly grey and gloomy, with a very autumnal feel, but at least we haven't had much rain. Pete, Chris and I took the dogs to Castor Hanglands. The silence under the looming clouds was almost eerie; the world felt poised, as if waiting for something catastrophic to take place. It was only punctuated by the occasional chirping chorus of the dark bush crickets, and the low hum of hoverflies and bees.

The grassland at the Hanglands, which used to be quite rank, has been grazed much more intensively over the last few years, and this has produced the most magnificent display of harebells and woolly thistles.

But I was drawn back to the seedheads of the goat's-beard, which I have photographed before. This time I went in really close with a wide aperture to try and isolate the fine fibres that hold the struts of the seeds parachute together - and then converted it to monochrome to emphasise the structure.

I haven't made much progress with catching up with comments and now the screen on my laptop has broken - it became darker earlier today and is now completely black. I shall seek advice on this on Monday, but till then my access to a computer might be limited as I shall have to compete with Pete or the boys!!