Lichen

To me it rhymes with liken, but to Sir David Attenborough it rhymes with kitchen. Either way, these symbiotic fungus/plants can be found on just about every tree around us. I understand that, for the most part, they are not parasitic and don't do any real harm to the trees they inhabit. They also grow on rocks and stone walls and directly on the ground.

The union of fungus and algae.

The weather people tell us that high pressure is building into France right now, a high pressure system that's been absent for over seventy days leaving the way clear for upwards of thirty-five low pressure systems off the Atlantic to move through France in that time. If the forecast holds, we are in for at least a week of dry, sunny days. That will be nice.