A morning picking up the car in York followed by first shopping trip in a long time. As ever some shops did better than others. Today’s star was Wilco for its efforts. Glad we went in early as by the time we turned for home traffic was queueing along the length of the A64 from York towards Castle Howard.

We took Jet for a walk in Cropton which is always guaranteed to be quiet. Spotted this butterfly tucking in on this Knapweed. Good to see the heather in Cropton not affected by the beetle problem along the Whitby road. 

The BBC reported : The heather beetle has been blamed for moorland turning from purple to shades of orange and brown. 
The insects have thrived after the "Beast from the East" weakened resilience in plants, said the Moorland Association. 
The warning coincides with the start of the grouse shooting season.
"There are swarms of these larvae and they can munch acres and acres and acres," said Amanda Anderson, Moorland Association director. 
She said the "infestation" had affected both grouse, which depend on moorland for food, and bees.

A friend who lives in Rosedale said that a number of Grouse shoots had been cancelled to allow stocks of Grouse to recover.