Autumn Lady's-tresses

A funny old day, bright and blustery in the morning, with heavy showers later in the day.

I was about to go out for a walk when Pete's Mum left a message on the answerphone saying that she'd been quite poorly in the past week and had lost the use of her legs. Pete was in Surrey, so I rang her back, though for a while she didn't quite know who I was - she'd misheard my name as Flora (perhaps appropriate)! She sounded very down so I promised that Pete would ring her tomorrow and we'd come over and see her on Sunday. It's so difficult for her, gradually losing her independence.

After I'd waved goodbye to Alex, Chris and Lizzy, who were off to the Peak District for the weekend with their friends, I spent some time gardening before heading out to see if the Autumn Lady's-tresses at Swaddywell Pit were in bloom yet. They were first discovered a couple of years ago, when about thirty were counted, but today I could only find three, not quite in flower yet. The area around them had been very heavily rabbit grazed which would have had an impact, and I suspect that the drought has also had an effect. 

I was going to walk round the rest of the site, but spotted a huge shower cloud coming straight at me, so decided to head back towards the car. I picked blackberries until the first drops arrived and then drove home in a torrential rain, which continued on and off for the rest of the afternoon.