Saturday 18th July 2026

We have reached the weekend.

A weekend that will bring the 103rd and 104th and final games of the 2026 World Cup, England to play France, though not in the final.

So it goes.

And its the last two days at home before our grand European road trip, which will begin at about half ten Monday morning, and I hope to post blogs each day as we go.

I hope.

I slept in until six, when the alarm brought me from having lunch at the chicken factory where I was on some sort of course. A reminder that I left the chicken factory in September 1990, and due to an accident hadn't worked there after 18th June, so some 36 years ago.

We feed the cats, have coffee, then drive to the sports centre after checking the traffic for jams leading to the port.

All was clear.

Not many at the gym, so we get our bikes, and begin the session.

Thirty five minutes later we were done, drive to Tesco for a few supplies to last the weekend, and back home.

Brews.

Whilst sitting on the patio with Scully, the sun already warm, but not too warm. Just pleasant.

I had received a request if I could show a chap the Violet helleborines at Barham?

As they were not open on Monday, I agreed as I could get my shots too of the penultimate Kent species, so arranged to meet Jonathon at nine under the old railway bridge.

We both arrived at the same time, he got in our car and I drove us both to the parking area, and we chatted orchids as we drove.

Up the usual path beside the wood. The air still, and light green-filtered through the thick beech canopy.

It is a magical place, still, and a million miles and a hundred years from the modern world or motorways and tik tok.

We are met by a local lady walking her two dogs. She said she only saw cyclists and orchidists in the wood. I confirmed we were the latter as we had no bikes, but had cameras!

She was happy that there was unseen nature here on her doorstep, though the two hounds were impatient to get going again.

We walked up the down, along the track further, until we came to the arrow I had made last week with two branches, we went into the wood, and a few yards away from one trunk were three spikes, the one partially open now fully out.

Although one spike had most of its flowers upside down, as the spike was so densely populated that the flowers were unable to rotate, so appeared upside down.

I thought I could remember where the largest of the clumps were, but no matter how hard I looked, walking back and forth, I couldn't find them. So having found two clumps, we decided that we were happy with that, and walked back to the car.

On the way back to the bridge, we stop off so I could show him the Yellow birdsnests.

I explained that a Ghost orchid would little different from a Yellow birdsnest, and with a first scan of your eyes, the small yellow spikes were almost invisible.

I dropped him off, then drove home in the thick port traffic, turning off and going through Coldred and both East and West Langdon before arriving home at half eleven.

Time for a brew before it was time to sit down and watch the latest, 13th, stage of Le Tour, as they peddle closer and closer to The Alps.

The stage took most of the afternoon to play out, with the expected result of Tadej Pogačar breaking away and winning again.

We had supper, then listened to the funk and soul show, while I pondered whether to sit up and watch the England v France 3rd play play off.

In the end I decide not to, so went to bed at half eight, so slept through the game, the result of which I wouldn't find out until the morning.