Sweet briar hips

I can scarcely keep my eyes open as I write this! This may be partly the result of an evening out yesterday. Alex persuaded Pete and I to go along to a social for the Orton Pit volunteers, being held at a pub in town. I was tired, and not very keen, but didn't want to be a spoil-sport, so tagged along.

It's the first time I've been to a City Centre pub on a Friday night for a very long time, and it was certainly an eye-opener. As we entered we were hit by a wall of sound, and I was struck by the very high percentage of balding, rather pot-bellied, middle-aged males. We couldn't see anyone we knew, and had decided to have a quick drink before returning home. But on a second foray round the crowded pub, Pete found the warden and his wife. No-one else had turned up!

Once we'd found a table and settled in I began to enjoy myself a bit more. Conversation was hard work, thanks to the high levels of background noise and my ageing ears, but I coped. And the people-watching was quite fun... Though the two young girls behind us, sharing four large pitchers of cocktails between them, seemed a bit extreme! But the best part of the evening was walking home through the frosty night, marvelling at the effect of the moon on the clouds, and watching Jupiter shining so brightly. I thought of Earthdreamer!

Today has been more mundane - Sainsbury's and B&Q, followed by more decorating. But I'm on the last wall now - only another coat on the wall tomorrow morning, two short stretches of skirting board to paint and the curtains to put up and then all the furniture can go back. I shall be so glad!!

As usual, I managed a brief dog-walking break, when I spotted these sweet briar hips, still just hanging on. The sweet briar has apple-scented foliage with single deep-pink flowers in June. The fragrance of the foliage is particularly strong in the rain. The orange-scarlet hips appear in autumn and have characteristic glandular bristles, quite unlike the more frequent dog-rose. The hips make excellent bird food in winter, and I was quite surprised to see that some remained uneaten.