A Speckled Bush Cricket

Today we woke to torrential rain which carried on for most of the day, so we spent the morning sorting yet more of the many items that we have accumulated over the years, some destined for the recycle centre, some for the charity shop and a few too many  in the 'to keep' pile.  Whilst on one of his many trips to the top floor, Mr MC came across this cricket who seem rather to keen to come indoors, a decision it would ultimately regret!  We took it downstairs and introduced it to a leafy shrub where I took this shot.  Many of my pics show the 'face' in more detail but this one allows you to appreciate the great length of those impressive antennae.
This afternoon the rain slowly stopped and by the time we collected Violet from school it had just about stopped thankfully.  She has not stayed with us on Tuesdays recently, at least not without her Mummy but we decided that we now need to get back to a normal routine.  We took her to Costa and the supermarket before going home, which she greatly enjoyed.  After dinner she was very keen to help when we discovered that the freezer needed defrosting so urgently that the door wouldn't close and ice was building rapidly.  The food was quickly loaded into a cool box and we set about clearing the ice, a task which eventually did not finish until nearly midnight, by which time of course she had been fast asleep for several hours.