Summer evening

Another early start, this time involving standing in a field for two hours watching to see what effect a recreational activity had on the local wildlife. We were home by coffee break, which allowed time to strip the wallpaper border in our upstairs bathroom. I had a go but gave up after an hour or so, defeated by a combination of extreme heat and the fact that we'd used some strong glue to apply it! Fortunately Pete was made of sterner stuff and completed the job, as well as stripping out all the fittings ready for the bathroom fitter on Monday.

I used the afternoon to catch up with my emails and correspondence, that had been ignored during the last week of intense fieldwork. I'd have liked to o some gardening, but it was just too hot. For the first time in her life poor Rosie seemed quite distressed by the heat, a sign of her advanced age. We ended up taking her out at 9pm, when it was still 23C, but at least it was bearable. She enjoyed a couple of cooling dips in the Rowing Lake and even made a very half-hearted attempt to chase a rabbit. Gulls flying home in a rose-tinted sky made an idyllic scene, though the mosquitoes have left me with very itchy hands and feet!