Of Firs, and Butterflies and Talking to oneself...

As I had my first whiff of fresh air at back door of Frog End on Wednesday morning (my last day here) a pair of swifts were gliding through the air high above me. The higher they fly the better the day has been in my experience. So I admired the sunshine and hoped it was going to prove true.

I came back in and checked my blogs. I was delighted to see that Jeannette St Germain had finished the painting she was doing of a butterfly, based on a photo of mine. Check out the sidebar of her blog - the photo was pretty average; the painting is fabulous. She has caught the ethereal nature of the butterfly whilst staying true to its appearance (something that is important to the naturalist in me). And white, in my experience, is such a difficult colour to work with. I'm very impressed. Thanks, Jeannette.

When you get to a certain age you begin to worry about talking to yourself. Nowadays there is the advantage that so many people talk to their computers that it seems less obvious. (When the three of us are sitting around the table with our laptops it is not unusual for three different conversations to be going on at the same time. ) This week I acquired a new phone and for the first time ever I am able to operate it properly because the keys are on a touch pad not a keypad. As result I have been playing with it and one of the tools I explored was the ability to e-mail from it. Who did I e-mail. Myself. So now I'm not just talking to myself I'm e-mailing myself. I don't think there's much hope for me really!

Helen, GB and I had a super day exploring Bicton Park - about which I shall probably blog extensively over the next few weeks. For the moment I shall simply show what happens when Scriptor Senex is out with Brother-who-Blogs and Daughter-who-takes-photos and the latter spots an attractive Korean Fir (Abies koreana) with lovely cones.....