Today’s guest picture comes from my brother Andrew who passed the Derby Silk Mill Museum of Making at twilight and stopped to record the occasion.

After all the dark foreboding, Storm Dudley passed over us without leaving much of a trace at all, and we woke up to another fine, mostly dry and mildly windy day. It was a lot chillier though, so although the sun was shining, the crocuses were not interested in opening their petals when I looked in the morning. I didn’t have much time for wandering around the garden, or looking at birds . . .

. . . as the chief business of the morning was getting the Langholm Initiative newsletter organised and sent off for approval. I managed this by lunchtime, and by coincidence, the crocuses managed to get their petals open by that time too.

There had been a light shower of sleety…