Sunlight and shadows

I went for a short walk from home this morning. The sun was shining and creating long, long shadows because it is so low in the sky.

Here I am walking along a field boundary with the first shoots of winter wheat behind me, already about 3 inches tall. The shadows on this wall are from the branches of a sycamore tree, still hanging on to many ripe keys. On the wall I can see 2 crustose lichens. The yellow one is xanthoria parietina and I think the white one is lecanora campestris. The latter is the one that is often mistaken for chewing gum on pavements.

No one else was walking so I had a quiet, peaceful time, enjoying the sunshine. When I arrived home I had acquired numerous seed heads of the common knapweed. They are tenacious, I'll say that for them!