The Year of Mistletoe

This year we have noticed that Herefordshire seems to be covered in Mistletoe. Actually we had noticed it last year, before Christmas and wondered if we could nip out with one of those really long pruners - did you ever see the ones that extended to about 12 feet long and had a rope thingy that you could pull to cut the very top branches of the fruit trees? Well one of those and a white van and we thought we could make our fortune at the markets. Then we thought about the cold and wet when gathering the stuff and then standing about in the cold selling the stuff and it suddenly lost all its allure.

 Since then we have taken to pointing out how much Mistletoe there seems to be, and not just on fruit trees although it does like those best. These three pictures are just what I managed to get today when we did a twelve-county tour*. Please keep in mind that this is 40mph photography at its best.

 The last picture is the line of trees by the River Wye at Glasbury

Your mission this year, should you care to accept it, is to photograph the Mistletoe growing on trees in your area. I would be interested to know if other places have such a heavy crop.

*The Twelve-County Tour Starting In the County Borough of Newport to Monmouthshire, then Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire,Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire (again), Powys, Monmouthshire, Torfaen and back to Newport.