Alkaline

A lot cooler today in Brittany, in fact it felt positively cold at times. Most of the rest of France is still cooking but it was a lot cooler here today - which is good as yesterday was dangerously hot.

I was working late today - unplanned so the dog walk was delayed and this hydrangea flower at my mother-in-law's was blipped much later than usual. There were an awful lot of rabbits at the hippodrome though - we were late and the only ones there. The dog had lots of fun chasing rabbits, and while some were playing with fire they all made it to their burrows safely.

Today's blip is a red/pink hydrangea flower - which usually indicates alkaline or neutral soil. The soil acidity affects how much aluminium the plant can absorb which changes the colour of the flowers. In acid soils the flowers are usually blue - which is the most common colour in Brittany and my favourite colour. As the soil shifts through neutral to alkaline they can't absorb the aluminium they need so the flowers go purple, then red/pink. Different varieties are obviously different in their colour mix. You can temporarily shift the colour by changing the soil pH but it's very hard to do it permanently.

Work - don't ask me about that...