A walk in the woods

I felt a lot better this morning and went for a short walk in the woods at Acomb.

It was very dark due to overcast skies. I had decided to walk rather than photograph, but the desire to capture the change in the wild flowers, etc, overtook me!

Here are dead man's fingers (or really dead men's fingers, since there are so many). 

Did you know that in traditional Indian (Ayurvedic) medicine, this fungus is used dried, powdered and mixed with sugar to promote lactation after childbirth. Otherwise, they’re not considered edible. Yuck!

I met a birdwatcher who had just seen a kingfisher flash by on its way upstream. He told me about a place in Northumberland to see butterfly orchids, so I need to make a note of that for next year.

Then I met Diane and a friend. I recognised her face but could not place her. I photographed one of her guide dog puppies a few years ago. She trained 5 in succession so has retired from that onerous job now. She has a very well behaved black labrador.

Back home to the Ladies' Semi finals.  I had watched Donna Vekic the other day and wished she enjoyed playing more. Today was the same issue. She really looked to be hating the whole thing and to be exhausted. I was relieved that she did not win her way to the final. I suspect she is ambivalent about playing.

I've finished the knitting for the red jumper by picking up the stitches around the neck and knitting the rib. Now all I have to do I just have to stitch it up. Oh dear!

I've knitted a few baby hats in between!!

I looked up the traffic light system of hat in premature baby units in the  UK. It turns out that it is used variably in different units, but the red have more frequent observations, than the orange and then the green. I'm still not convinced. Someone may enlighten me.