A goldfinch adopting a Princess Diana pose

I met Dominique last week at the Preservation Trust’s AGM and she kindly invited me for lunch today. I arrived feeling rather perky as I’d just had a wonderful body ‘service’ from my osteopath friend Jonathan, which was definitely needed. He tweaked, massaged and pulled me about to great effect. He has been my go-to person for helping me when I have a painful back, ever since I lived in London from the 1990s as he also had a Harley Street practice then, although he actually lived here in the Stroud area. Now he just works locally.

When I arrived for lunch Bruce was busy cooking a wonderfully tasty chicken and celeriac soup with delicious French baguette toasted with a covering of  an amazing sauce to accompany an equally yummy mixed salad.

We chatted for a couple of hours about all that has happened since we last met socially, during which they got Covid and recovered, and managed to keep on working as freelancers in the publishing industry. 

Bruce is a keen photographer and I tried to encourage him to join me on a bird watching trip which hopefully we will manage before too long. He has kindly lent me his extender for a Canon EF mount, because I’ve wanted to try one out for a long time as I’ve considered buying one for myself.

When I got home I had a few minutes before I had to prepare my ‘stuff’ for the weekend’s market stall, which I had to set up late this afternoon. The late sunshine was getting weaker by the minute, so I nipped out with my 100-400mm lens to test out how effective the extender was. I managed to see several robins, blue tits, low flying British Airways airliners, helicopters and two woodpeckers busy hunting for grubs on several tree trunks. 

A small group of goldfinches flew around the gardens, as they often do at this time of day, as dusk approaches, and perched high up on the ash tree. This one came down to the sunflower feeder on the patio and allowed me to grab this shot. Helena says it is adopting a Princess Diana pose! I know what she means. The robin in the background kept his distance.