Blogtober Seventeen

Today we're starting with a gratuitous fluffy mammal image from a few days ago, mainly so that the banner isn't a shock to the unwary. You'll thank me later.

Grey Squirrel seen from our log cabin

After arriving home late evening yesterday, this morning was all about unpacking and putting everything back where it should be. Megan nipped out for a bit of shopping and I cracked on with chores. Despite a forecast for showers all day, we risked putting out two loads of washing to dry, and they are now successfully squirrelled away in the airing cupboard. The list of missed phone calls and emails has been dredged for names and details, because as always happens when you go on holiday, the work floods in. Monday morning will be busy with scheduling of appointments whilst I wait for Openreach to install fibre to the property (or so they assure me). 

This afternoon I have spent a good while going through Blogger, catching up on what folk have been up to and answering the comments which I couldn't see whilst away. Then I downloaded photos from my camera and deleted all the out of focus ones, which was guaranteed to be most of them. Then it was over to the Pan Species Listing website to see what I could add from the holiday: 1 bird, 1 fungus, several insects and quite a few wildflowers.

Despite being ignored for a week, the Volvo started up ok, and I was pleasantly surprised that the handbrake hadn't rusted on. Even more surprising, the cabin was remarkably free from spiders' webs, especially as I had a close encounter the previous week just when I was loading the car onto a ferry and an arachnid descended from behind the driver's sun visor. However, today, my luck didn't hold when I alighted from the vehicle and noticed a clip missing from a rear mudflap. As I lowered my head to investigate, I felt the tell-tale tug of spider silk on my hair, and discovered a web right across the wheel arch and tyre.

So today's wildlife photograph is of a Garden Cross Spider (cross because of the markings on the abdomen as much as for the human-ruined web). Those of a nervous disposition, please look away now. 

For obvious reasons, I haven't enlarged this one!