Taiwan treasure

Still this abominable weather continues. Raining heavily this morning with a gusty wind! I've been continuing with London pictures - I found a walk from October 2018 which I hadn't written up or even sorted the photos - so began to go through those, deleting spares and improving many. This was the day when I explored Tower Bridge, going up and over the high level walkway and then inside to see the old steam machinery which used to raise the bascules to allow shipping to pass underneath. Later on that day I was passing the Shard, so decided to ascend that glass pinnacle. A day of interesting views.

Not a good day for pictures here though. My Blip today is of a special shrub growing on my steep bank - it's the palmate-leaved Fatsia polycarpa 'Green Fingers', a more narrow-fingered version of the original species which hails from Taiwan. I bought this at the Edinburgh Botanics plant centre and carried it out in my backpack - quite a few years ago! The species itself is endangered in its native home due to  habitat loss. A rather more striking plant than its better-known relative, Fatsia japonica.

The rain eased off a little during the afternoon. I drove down town to pick up my neighbour from the bus - he's just returned from a month in Denmark staying with his family. I think their weather has been better than ours, but that won't have been too hard!

Quote of the Day: 'Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal' - E. O. Wilson.