The gatekeeper

Today Zeuso9smum, Zeus and I managed to take our usual Sunday walk in Epping Forest.  The weather was still fine and warm with only some cloud.  We had been commenting on the dearth of butterfly sightings this summer when we came across firstly a couple of Common Whites and then this Gatekeeper basking in the sun.  None of the photos were terribly good as I had to shoot from further away than I'd have liked and, as usually seems to happen, as soon as I point my camera, the breeze starts up!

Today is significant as it is  exactly 18 years ago that we moved to this house.  During the time that we've been here, we've undertaken a great deal of renovation and the house looks very different now from that day in 1998.  One of the early changes was getting rid of the coal boiler that fired the central heating, clearing out the internal coal cellar and changing it into a downstairs loo.  I recall that on moving day our daughters (then just children) were cared for by friends: so much did they hate the look of the dull, brown, sooty house that they refused to come to their new  home until the next day.  It took a very long time to convince them that all would be ok!