Thanks to my months of travelling, I don’t have to venture to Tesco very often. But, as I put the trip off on Friday, as we had run out of milk and most food, there was no way getting away from the fact: we had to go shopping. So, after coffee we headed out, and as I walked into the store, I was asked if I wanted to try the new scan and shop. So, why not? I was given a hand held scanner, and told shop as normal, pack as you go and then pay at the end. So I did, and it seemed to be OK, many folks asked what we were doing as we scanned our way down the shopping list. I guess it must have saved a good ten minutes off the whole shopping trip. Once we had finished, I went to pay, some items were checked, and we were trusted that we had scanned everything and allowed to leave after paying.
I guess it was after so many weeks of travelling and orchid hunting, that when it came down to it, what we really wanted to do on Saturday is lounge around, do some gardening, beading, listen to the radio and mess around with photography. The day passed quickly. I had made a limoncello and grappa tart on Thursday, and so we had a big slice of that each and a coffee whilst sitting on the patio surrounded by various cats.
I cooked steak for dinner, and Jools went to the chippy to save me cooking those. Once we had eaten, we stood at the back door as clouds thickened and the rain began to fall. Thunder rolled around and lightning flashed. Cats scurried for cover, and day became night. All rather exciting I have to say.
Sunday.
It has been some time since we walked to the cliffs from our house. The rain and storms had cleared, but the wall to wall sunshine that the Met Office promised failed to materialise. But, with a cold breeze blowing and clouds hurrying across the sky meant we would not get too hot. The fields are full of almost ripe crops, swaying in the breeze. We walked to the glade, but saw no butterflies other than a couple of Meadow Browns, so we walked on and turned down the track into the valley. At the bottom, sometimes rain water collects, and can be muddy. And indeed it was. There is a path t the side, but I thought I could pick out a path through the puddles.
I am not sure what happened, but as I put my foot down, it slipped down into a puddle. I tried to regain my footing, but each time I slipped more and more. I was also falling forwards and after one last step I seemed to throw myself forward, instinctively holding my camera out so it would not hit the ground, I headbutted a low bank, forcing my glasses off, and finally knocked my shin against something which made it smart.
I lay face down in the mud, camera held high, waiting for my body to report in as to what would begin to start hurting. Just my shin and my pride reported in, and so I got to my feet to see that my front was covered in mud, my clean clothes caked in light brown dirt and mud. I thought I could go on, and so we went up the other side of the dip, along the cycle path and over the fields edging nearer the cliff edge all the time.
In the shelter of a hedge near the cliffs, there were dozens of butterflies; Meadow Browns, Small Heaths, Large Whites, Commas, and Ringlets. I snapped a few and we moved on. Once we reached the cliff edge, the wind was quite strong, but it always a thrill to get right to the edge and look down at the beach below.
We turned for home, and retraced our steps, with the exception of me going through the puddles: I took the path beside the road and did not slip over. Once home we had the final slice of Limoncello and Grappa Tart and a refreshing cup of fresh coffee.
For the rest of the day, it kind of followed the pattern of Saturday: we had cheese and crackers for lunch, washed down with a glass of red wine for me. Outside the sun came and went, but was warm enough to sit in the garden and catch up on some reading for me. As the sun slipped towards the horizon, it got darker, and the remaining hours of the weekend slipped through our fingers.
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