Moths

I woke up at about 5 and remembered the moth lamp was on so went and switched it off. A quick look revealed we have quite a few moths around here! I popped a blanket over them to keep them in the dark and went back to bed.

Charles arrived and we took tea out and sat down with the moth book. It was quite a daunting task:

Looks like a weird lampshade I know but it is a proper moth trap

There were about 100 moths in the gauze and probably about 40 different species. They started flitting about a lot when we got them in the light so we decided to take photographs to identify them later! Also the hens were trying to eat them:

You don't see that on Springwatch

Swallow Prominent...maybe

Anyway they were all beautiful and I've no idea what half of them were as the moth book we were using was bewilderingly comprehensive and for people who obviously know the difference between a Noctuidae and a Geometridae at 50 paces whereas I wouldn't know a Pug from a Carpet or a Thorn from a Tussock. Perhaps I'll check out iSpot and see if I can track any of them down. Here are some pictures though:

It was brilliant to see them and I released them in to the apple trees out of the way of horrible pointy beaks.

I then decided to go to London (!) as I was feeling a bit unsettled at home and had a nasty feeling I'd fritter the day away feeling guilty about not doing hoovering so I thought I'd better go out and I've been meaning to go to London for aaaaages. I limped through Green Park, up Piccadilly and flopped down in Waterstones with Brian Cox's Wonders of the Universe book. I'd had a text from John and he came along to meet me there as he never needs much persuading to visit a bookshop, and we discussed life, the wonders of the universe, and why hadn't he bought a house when he sold his 3 weeks ago. I felt pretty grotty unfortunately but he bought me a book as a late late come to think of it really late birthday present which he'd not wanted to post as it was a massive hardback, so I carried it home instead!! It's very good: A History of the World in 100 Objects and I now want to go to the British Museum. Tho perhaps once my haemoglobin levels are something approaching that of a normal human being rather than a zombie.

I will try and crochet a fuschia this evening but I've just heard one of the hens clucking triumphantly far in the distance...I hope she hasn't decided to lay an egg in the field. I'd best go and look.

:-/