First Day Hunt

Botanists are well known for having a last day hunt on December 31st or a first day hunt on January 1st. The objective is to see how many wild plants are showing flowers.
Our walk round the village was not very successful. This Campanula was all we found and no doubt it is a garden escape. We have done much better in years gone by.

As a lifelong classical music lover the other tradition I follow is to watch / listen to the New Year’s Day Concert from Vienna.My extra shows the Vienna Philharmonic playing The Blue Danube. It is interesting to note that only 20 years ago the only female player in the orchestra was the Harpist. Some progress has been made but I would guess that women players are still only about 10%. The Berlin Phil. was also very conservative but has made rather more progress. British major orchestras are nearer 50% now.

Apart from the pleasure of the music it reminds me of the many European city rail holidays we enjoyed. Vienna was a favourite.