July 16th – I seem to have it with a cold. I’ve been feeling a bit peaky all weekend with a headache and sinus trouble, and today I couldn’t raise any energy to move until evening – but a short ride in a terrific warm, sunny golden hour was well worth what seemed like a superhuman effort.

In the backlanes of Stonnall, a shed, fallen spent marble oak gall. Spongy, expanded and very different to the marble-hardness of the fresh variety, this had maybe a couple of hundred holes drilled in it where the emerging wasp larva had bored their way out to freedom.

Galls are fascinating and gruesome at the same time. They do captivate me so: I wonder what the tine wasps look like?