If you go down to the woods today . . . . .

 . .  well we did. We drove up to Glasdrum NNR on Loch Creran, north of Oban. It was supposed to be a reasonable morning and a wet afternoon so we went before lunch and just made it before the rain began. 

It's a fragment of ancient oak woodland and contains many other tree species, particularly hazel. The trees are festooned in moss and ferns, and big boulders, likewise festooned, lie around, tumbled down from the hillside above, and the whole place is green and lush. The reserve is probably best known for the butterflies which can be seen here - Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Chequered Skipper and Mountain Ringlet in particular, but many more too. No butterflies today though - fungi, hazelnuts and acorns instead.

Contrary to expectations the afternoon was generally sunny, with no rain, so I spent a couple of hours on the bank and planted two more rhododendrons, coming in with sodden trousers from sitting and kneeling on the damp slope. 

Limerick of the Day: (A brand new one, written only yesterday!)

A geology student from Dyce
Disregarded his tutor’s advice!
‘Confusing your quartzite
With slate, schist or bauxite
Is largely considered not gneiss!’