Dark Heart

Thursday was another bright day after a frosty morning, and the afternoon light in the orchard was clear and golden. I enjoyed wandering round looking at shapes and forms in the contorted trunks of the ancient and decaying hedgerow trees, and took far more photos than I have time to process or share in any way. The waving lines and curls which radiate out from this shadowy heart-shaped hole appealed to me, and I like the warm colours and variation in tone as well as the natural forms. Thank you Ingeborg for hosting and choosing such an appealing theme.

I also had time to chat over the fence to our neighbours from along the road, who own the field below our orchard and were going to retrieve a wildlife camera they had set up overnight in a tree. Since Christmas they have recorded the movements of the badgers and foxes, discovered that their garage is swarming with mice at night, and caught our cat Casper both feasting on the mice and regularly visiting and "looking at" their chickens. Fortunately for the chickens, chicken lockdown to contain avian flu has meant that they are very well secured in a large run; Casper is an enthusiastic hunter, and I am less confident than our neighbours that he would not tackle a fully grown hen.

I also managed some more clearing of pots, a small step towards the tidy and attractive greenhouses and deck to which I aspire. At this stage in the season, everything seems possible.