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Hello, Elle!
You are an education!
I did not know there were gall wasps or how they behaved.
Must check YouTube!
One of our squirrels has plenty of nuts!
This was in my local paper a day or so, ago. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/727166/dundee-dad-has-captured-the-best-photo-of-a-shopping-squirrel-you-will-ever-see/
It will be interesting to hear how BB gets on at the School Council?
I am sure you are all very proud of him!

Hi, Rusty!
These crusty, gritty "galls" are all over the grass and paths at the park....
It is hard to keep on one's feet without sliding, when walking over them..
The oak trees are inundated with these protuberances.
There are very few formed acorns at all.
The (grey) squirrels will be very hungry this year!
I managed to find all this information on Goggle!
I loved your photograph of the red squirrel pushing the shopping trolley!
He must have thought that all his Christmases had come at once!!

Good morning, Elle!
It is dry and windy here.
I do not think we have a "galls" problem up here, that I have heard about.
It took the lad several weeks to capture that photo.
It is a very good one!
There are two cycling "sportives" in the South of England this weekend that have been cancelled due to impending bad weather.
Storm Bronagh, likely.
So, it may be coming your way!
Miss O is collecting me later for the Pine Cone.

Update, Elle!
These "Sportives" are in Essex and Sussex, on Sunday.
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/letape-uk-velo-south-sportives-cancelled-due-rain-gale-force-winds-395200
Very disappointing for the riders, but the weather does not look promising.
Is this near your neck of the woods?

Good morning, Rusty!
We just made it back from our walk before the rain came!
It is now raining steadily .....and set to continue throughout, until tomorrow evening!
With a thunderstorm thrown in for good measure tomorrow afternoon!
The maximum temperature will apparently only reach 12C!
We have the heating on!
But thankfully there are no strong winds today........
I do not think that Storm Bronagh is meant to come our way?
Now you asked about Surrey and Sussex..
Surrey is a neighbouring county.....but only a few parts of it could be considered close to us.
To give you an idea...... South Croydon - which used to rank as a part of Surrey, but is now considered to be in Greater London - is only three miles away from here!
There is a lot of contention, though , in Surrey about who lives where !
Many borderline towns and villages resented being reclassified as "Greater London!"
This controversy has gone on for years!
You will be leaving for the Pine Cone soon, I expect, if not gone already.....
Have a good time with Miss O!

Hello, Elle,
It is a beautiful day here, and not much wind.
Well the weather has caused the cancellation of the cycling events, though I would imagine many riders will do the run unoffically, never heed the weather.
Yes, Misses O and La Bamba will be here soon.
Good puzzle today!
I have it finished and parsed early this week!

Hi, Rusty!
Serious rain here now!
I am debating whether or not to go out for a second, what would be a very wet, walk.......
Uhmm......I may pass on that one!
I, too, have now completed today's crossword....
I have answers for every clue...which I am fairly confident are correct...but am seriously amiss with some of the parsings!
I shall persevere off and on....inspiration may yet strike......
How was the Pine Cone?

Good afternoon, Elle!
Great weather here.
If you have rain gear you should walk.
I think I have everything parsed!
Once I had the correct spelling for 9a, it was mostly straightforward.
I had "hostages" in 5d, for a while, until I twigged it was wrong!
Pine Cone was busy today and very blowy.
It is quite a bit higher up than where I live.

Hi, Rusty!
Oh, I have the rain gear....... but my husband did not want to go out again, and I do not drive.
Walking to the park or over to the woods puts an extra two miles on my journey.
I will happily do that in fine weather......but two more miles on top of at least three over the fields did not appeal to me this afternoon in all this teeming rain!
I decided to curl up on the sofa and see how Bill liked Ayers Rock!
Btw, I'm puzzled over your reference to 5d?
It's an anagram of "ten heroes within"?
I 'm still stuck on my parsings!

Hello, Elle,
5d, I thought it was "The Nine Hostages" at first, before I twigged the anagram.
You will have heard of "Niall of the Nine Hostages"?
Is it still rain with you?