Hectic.

A couple of hectic days have made for difficulty in fitting in blogging.   They have been necessary but boring jobs (going through last year's books with the accountant was not exactly my favourite way of spending a morning).   The farmer and I have bought a new all singing, all dancing landline telephone - and I have spent quite a few frustrating hours plumbing various facilities into it.   Add to this the farmer is himself frustrated as he is desperate to begin haymaking but there needs to be at least four consecutive fine (hopefully sunny and breezy) days to do this.   Today is now breezy, sunny and fine - so he is waiting for the weather forecast in a few minutes with bated breath.

When I was a child I used to love harvest time on my uncle's farm.  He farmed in the old-fashioned way with horses and binders; stacking the crop in stooks to be carted away to the farmyard for threshing later on.  But my favourite thing of all was looking around for wild flowers; I was a great wild-flower collector, noting them all down in little note books.

One of the most common in corn fields was the scarlet pimpernel, which these days seems to have completely disappeared from our fields and verges.   But today I saw one!

I had gone to our Medical Centre to pick up my prescription and as I was getting back into my car, there at my feet, growing at the foot of a rowan tree was a tiny scarlet pimpernel.  I was so pleased to see my old friend that I got out of the car and photographed it.  Several people gave me funny looks - after all they probably considered it to be a weed.  But to me it was a lovely reminder of a

very happy childhood.