Lichen tree

Just now, with only a few plants showing signs of growth (though there were a few flowers, unbelievably, in Benmore Gardens today), it looks as if this little tree is a lichen tree, so heavily is it draped in pale green fur. We're told this is a sign of clean air, so it was a good place to go with my recovering-from-pneumonia pal this afternoon for a restorative "turn" round the gardens. Not that we restricted ourself to Austenesque perambulations of the lower gardens; this photo was taken halfway down the hill as we descended.

I thought ironically of the clean air that lichen flourishes in as we arrived home to find our garden, as well as what looked like half of Dunoon, swathed in smoke from a neighbour's chimney. People forget that the Clean Air Act doesn't hold in places like this; people are free to burn any old rubbish and not have their chimneys swept for aeons. Apparently. There's no wind today under this damp high pressure, so the smoke just lies there smelling unpleasant (don't go thinking picturesque peat fires here).

Apart from that, I feel satisfied with progress after my blog post of yesterday. It's been read, and it's been noted. There's been some learning, in some quarters at least. I can live with that.