To cheer a grey day

It's been cold and grey all day. The welcome rain came in the afternoon. I was not tempted to leave the house today and had a blissful sleep this afternoon.

I decided to have an easy day. I've been seeing lots of dreamy photographs of dandelion seeds on the web in recent weeks and I foraged for a few during yesterday's walk.

It's a curiously addictive occupation. I discovered that even the tiniest bit of glycerine is very sticky........ I used it to mix with water to make the water droplet. I found a tiny syringe, and old hypodermic needle, a pair of tweezers (that don't close perfectly), a metal clip on a stand (this belongs to Mum and she had forgotten she had it), camera, 90mm macro lens and tripod. The set up was on my desk.

I started with mono and quite liked the result. Nice and clean. The backdrop was the computer screen. (See extra.)

Then I experimented with different papers and materials. I opted for the brightest result because the day needed a bit of cheering.

I can see that many more attempts will be required. Watch this space.

The seeds are tiny and inclined to float away. The drop of water/glycerin may be tiny, but the weight changes the position of the seed head.

I used natural light from the window to the left of the image.

Life in the time of Covid 19
Our Prime Minister has a new son. We are told that all is well, although everyone expected the due date to be in the early summer. Hope all is well. You never know what surprises Boris has up his sleeve!

Numbers today are even more difficult to take in. Professor Yvonne Doyle seemed intent on using a cheerful tone and to show the figures in their best light. I was not impressed by this.

I think that Dominic Raab is preferable to Matt Hancock in the briefings.