Silver-studded blue

We woke up to sunshine and had breakfast outside, watching Benny chase swallows. The dog never tires!

Dad drove us to Lyndhurst in the New Forest where we had a lovely walk amongst the heathland, with New Forest ponies grazing and damsel- and dragonflies dancing around us. I spotted this tiny silver-studded blue supping on the bell heather - it's a butterfly that's in decline in the UK and has a high conservation status.

After a very nice lunch and a poke around the charity shops (successful as I purchased jeans and a cardie - yay!), we headed back to Salisbury where I headed back to London on the train. I managed to work the whole way with my laptop and dongle (I'm very impressed by the dongle), before encountering train problems in London. Someone was under a train at Streatham, whether deliberately (most probable) or accidentally, I do not know. This kind of thing, unfortunately, isn't strange for London, and you can sense the collective sigh of the commuters as they brace for a long journey home due to the disruption. Sure enough, no trains south could operate and I was thrown off at Wandsworth. However, I experienced a rare moment of London camaraderie as one lady showed her fellow commuters the route to Balham station where we could catch a bus to various further destinations.

Finally at home, I met Si for banana beer at The Hope, then Fred joined us for a curry. A fab night.