Sunny.

My back has been somewhat delicate today but I am so very grateful that it wasn't worse. I have been careful not to bend or twist and not done any gardening. I spent the morning working on those SIPs then left them for a while before reading them through for a final time and sending them off to my Headteacher. 

It has been lovely and sunny  today. One clump of sedum had half a dozen butterflies on it and 2 or 3 times that number of bees and flies.

This poor speckled wood was still surviving despite its damaged wing and the fluttery moth finally stayed in place long enough for me to identify it as a Silver Y moth.   

I had some buttermilk left so I baked some brown velvet cup cakes. (The same as red velvet but without the red food colouring and some extra chocolate.) I didn't have any of the standard chocolate bars (good continental chocolate from Lidl's) that I usually use for cooking so I chopped up one of my bars of extra dark chocolate with raspberry pieces instead. While the cakes were baking I sat outside in the sun and finished off my winter slippers. At £40- £80 for a new pair it's worth sewing on new soles each year. It's hard going on the fingers though. Even with plasters and a special bladed leather needle it's still tough at times to get the needle through several layers of sheepskin.