tutsan and Whiteford

toute saine in Norman French, which means all healthy. The plant has antiseptic properties and was used to heal wounds. It looks quite exotic but is a native shrub. The berries are fleshy and turn black when ripe. The leaves are said to have the scent of ambergris when dryed. It is common in this area, and especially around Whiteford where an enormous concert is being held in honour of our birthday, I think, with TV cameras and everything.

hemp agrimony

hemp agrimony is flourishing in the heat. It is a rough and violent purgative, or made into an ointment with hog's lard. The forest of long styles make it unmistakeable. Named eupatorium cannabinum for a famous Greek.

centaury

probably common centaury, another very pretty little flower, used extensively to cure all sorts of wounds including one suffered by the centaur Chiron, hence its name. It is very common around here but slow to flower except in this hot bright weather. These are certainly not dog days.

commas

this slightly ragged looking butterfly is a comma, named for the almost imperceptible white comma shaped mark on the underside of the hind wings, smaller and less restless than the fritillary we saw on Sunday. By the way we were infested with ticks after our very long walk, hundreds of them, black ones orange ones red ones; it is very uncomfortable having them removed one by one, so watch out. Any ideas for the perfect tickicide? So far we have tried fairy liquid, WD40, frontline spray and spot, we refuse burning and freezing options.

help

well what do I do now, actually I was checking the purity of the water and doing my seal impersonation. Did you know seals and dogs are probably very closely related and just about as intelligent as me. And we (well our wolf forebears) were here before there were any people at all, then the rivers were clean. Mum is doing her killer whale thing in the background.

Inny flow

this rock, hidden by the flow of the Inny, may be a bad sign of too much nutrient in the water. The red is due to algae, which if they bloom poison the water. Not good for a world heritage site.