#102 - Mistletoe

We were staying in Herefordshire last night and took the dog round the fields this morning. The sun was bright on the row of bare poplars opposite the house and as I turned into a new field I saw this mistletoe, high up in the tree. As I stepped towards the trunk to try and reach up and get some, a pheasant flew up from practically under my feet, and flapped heavily off over the farmland. I've never seen mistletoe in the wild before so I am disproportionately delighted with my find.

White-fruited Rowen

I saw this tree from across the park and thought it was covered in blossom, on closer inspection it was thick with clusters of these white berries. each tipped with a tiny, five-pointed star. I love the pink blush on some of them too.

#100 - Blackberry flower

An audacious blackberry flower - in December! I have concluded that the bramble is absolutely without any sense of propriety. I rather like it's bold, bad style and am happy to celebrate 100 days of looking at the beautiful with this humble, hedgerow pest which seems to embody all that has been surprising about this hundred day journey. 

#99 - Parasol Mushrooms

After much umming and ahhing, I think these might be Mycena arcangeliana, but either way, they looked gorgeous in the woods this morning, growing on a tree stump. My daughter said they look like dresses from Strictly Come Dancing. 

#98 - Rainbow Feather

Sometimes you have to look hard to find something beautiful, pay attention to the landscape. Sometimes, something just appears in front of you, as if it has fallen from the sky...

#97 - Wild Turnip on Orange Lichen

Some pretty, wild turnip I noticed by the path today. I like the way the fresh yellow petals bring out the colour of the lichen on the wood.

#96 - Starry Sky

One day we turned a different way in the park and found a path that led into a wood and, after a while of following it between the trees, we came to a flight of steps, about twenty, that led down and down into the sunshine. The meadow at the bottom has the most enormous stalks of Wild Chervil that reach far overhead. It's like something out of Jules Verne. I can't wait to see it in the Spring time but at the moment the giant stems with their dried out heads are like starry coronets against the sky.