Underwater flower

I seem to be having a weekend of scientific photography - yesterday's image was a of a blind shrimp and today's is of the miniscule (2-3mm) underwater flower of horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris, found yesterday while doing some botanical recording on the way back from visiting Pete's Mum in Spalding. The 'flower' actually consists of four peltate stigmas, which are colourless and formed from a single layer of cells. In time these will produce the more obvious fruits that give this pondweed its name.

It seems to have been a pretty busy weekend, though I only achieved about half of what I planned. This morning I did two loads of washing, a food shop, and then spent tan hour or two preparing lots of vegetables that I'd unearthed from the bottom of the fridge - making celery and stilton soup, beetroot baked with garlic, thyme and balsamic vinegar and a tray of roast mixed veg, whcih will be made into soup tomorrow. At this rate we should have no trouble getting our ten a day!!

Late this afternoon I took Alex out driving - he braved the A47 and then we went on a rather random tour around various Northamptonshire villages, which included a range of exciting obstacles: a blind single-track bridge (where we met another car, but he reacted well in time and positioned our car perfectly), some very sharp bends and interestingly parked vehicles. I also managed to take him down another dead-end, so he got some practice at 3-point turns! I think he was exhausted by the time we got home!!