I agree. I believe that books (and miscellaneous paper documents) have secret sex lives of their own. Leave a couple of books on the floor in the evening, and by morning you might find three or four there.

It's bad enough that both the missus and I are compulsive buyers of books that are likely to appeal to our serious interests. A neighbour down the village high street has turned a recessed front doorway into a charity book exchange. People leave books there and the owners are raising quite a lot for a cancer charity. My missus must be a significant contributor, as she is always coming home with a John Grisholm or Ann Cleeves or some other thriller. Nothing photographic yet...

They accumulate in piles on the floor of sitting room, bedroom, kitchen and even the stairs. None in the bathroom (yet). I am enjoying her latest addition to our houseful of books: "Death du Jour" by Kathy Reichs.

I always enjoyed Vic's contributions to our group. Condolences to his daughter-in-law and all his family.

Martin.

That must be wonderful news for you. Best wishes from all of us.

You are right about the NHS. My missus has been in their hands since February and we have nothing but praise for the care she gets from the nursing and medical staff. They are all so kind, caring and do all that they can to help her. It is the administration in our large local hospital that is chaotic. The so-called line managers never leave their comfy offices, never visit the clinics that they are supposed to be managing. Time and again it is obvious that the NHS management don't have a clue about what really goes on in the actual clinics. I have had personal and annoying experience of management incompetence, compared with the skilled professionalism of the clinical staff.

Yes it does! As a retired bio-scientist I really like 'the day before'. Your first photo is fascinating and colourful, but the optical illusion of concave or convex bothered my rather factually-orientated brain .
Fabulous photos, both of them.

Martin

What an impressive and varied set! My personal favourites are the sunset and sunrise landscapes (1st and 6th) and the dawn photos.
I hope you managed to catch up on your quota of sleep.

Martin.

Thanks to all for your comments. It never occurred to me that the second fungus looked anything like a brain; I have seen lots of brains during my career as a research biologist! Agreed about the DA 35mm Macro Limited. It is a great all-rounder if one does not need a zoom or longer focus. I bought it, several years ago, from a fellow PU member. I reckon he was daft to sell it

Cheers,
Martin.

It was taken in my garden in Linton, south Cambridgeshire. The ethics border is only a few minutes walk away; is there some joke about Braintree? I must be a bit dim but I don't get it!

These colonies of little fungi have appeared on an old rotten log. The top image shows a colony of little round fruiting bodies. The whole group is only 65 mm across and the little beetle holes also give some scale. Identification is difficult. Even my botanist wife cannot be sure. They do resemble the Orange Jelly fungus (Dacryomyces genus) but are flatter and some seem to be producing red blobs - spores perhaps?





The second image is of another tiny fungus nearby. The little object on it is a pollen spore case from a nearby cyprus tree.





All taken with smc Pentax DA 35mm Macro Limited, 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO400 and cropped slightly.

Being unobtrusive little birds does not make them boring! We have a pair that we have become rather fond of: plumage is quite nicely detailed if one gets a good look, they quietly get on with pecking tiny scraps without any fighting or aggression with other garden birds and the pair are clearly attracted to each other. Excellent photos!

All very atmospheric. I specially like the contre-jour of number 9.