The leaves, they are a-changin'

It was dull and damp all day today. I planned to go photograph some new fungi I spotted in the woods yesterday, but in this dull weather I did not feel like going - in fact today I did not feel like taking any photos, some days the weather is just not inspiring for photos. I took this image of our oak tree at home, the leaves are finally changing - oak trees are always the last to turn, and in spring they are again the last to become green again.

I had home chores to do at home and then I spent much time finishing off my Christmas shopping online. With good discounts because of the Black Friday week it made sense to get the things this week, and I got some very good bargains, discounts from 20% upwards.

After I got the results of my DNA ancestry test I decided to order a test for Gavin as an early Christmas present. It does take a few weeks to get a result but he has now got his results and they are very interesting - on his mother's side his DNA is mainly from Germany, which we expected, and on his father's side his DNA is mainly from Sweden and Denmark (we always knew this from his surname) but a good chunk of 20% is from England and north western Europe, 7% from Scotland and 6% from Ireland. In my family I was the first generation to be born in South Africa, so it was expected that I would not have any South African DNA in my heritage, but Gavin's ancestors settled in SA in about the 1860's, so I wondered how long it takes for one's DNA to evolve to different locations, is it ten thousands of years or just thousands of years? Do all white South Africans not show any evidence of South Africa in their DNA ethnicity, as none of them are indigenous to the country - same as white people born in the USA?

It is the Great British Bake Off semi final tonight! Who will leave and who will stay?