I stayed after church today to help with the churchyard work party – today was doing some crown lifting in one corner of the grounds, allowing visual lines that were formally blocked by low foliage. This is aesthetically pleasing and also makes the area feel safer – less room for unseen people to lurk. As a further perk, I also got a good bundle of hazel trimmings that, after seasoning, will be fuel for my woodstove.

The downside was that something bit me twice on the forehead, so it looks like I am making an uneven attempt to grow horns! I had wondered if I was having an allergic reaction to something we had been cutting down – there was an unidentified evergreen shrub hiding among the hazel – but I’m pretty sure there is a small bite mark in the middle of at least the larger of the two bumps.

At least the area looks better even if, temporarily, I don’t!