Miranda has returned!

Happiness reigns in the Land of Wainwright because my faithful assistant Miranda has come back. As always it was Eagle-Eye Penny who found her, unaccountably hidden in a door pocket of our car. Why on earth did I take her out? I have been combing the house for her ever since we went on holiday in the first week of September.

Look closely and you can see how happy they both are to be reunited

Never mind, she is home. And I hope that this means that my pictures will be a little sharper and have a better chance of very close-up views. Actually, Christmas may see a step change in photography here if P and I carry out our unromantic but practical plan to give one another a really good digital camera. We'll see.

Meanwhile, a further reason for joy is that in the very sunny weather at the weekend, I saw three excellent butterflies: a Speckled Wood, a Small Tortoiseshell and - most satisfying of all - a lovely fresh Brimstone. The weather is most unusual at the moment; they are talking about C21 degrees over the weekend.  Bring it on!

Some moths meanwhile, if only to stay within the rules of the Trades Descriptions Act, so far as the title of this blog is concerned.  Who doesn't love the rakish Angle Shades?

Hats off to the Large Wainscot:

And how nice to see such a late specimen of the Common Marbled Carpet, an amazingly variable moth in terms of colour and patterning.