Tuesday 15th August 2012

And already the post-Olympic hangover has begun. Stories like the terrible state our and the European economies are in are making top story in the news reports. As are horrible murders, bad weather and the much more mundane. Yesterday, the great departure begun, with athletes and spectators heading for the airports and St Pancras to go home. As I arrived in St Pancras a Eurostar with the Dutch team, all dressed in Orange tracksuits, was pulling out of the next platform. The French team also left the same morning. A special Olympic departure terminal has been set up at Heathrow, which is turfed and manned by actors. Or that is the feeling I got from the interviews on the radio.



News reports and features are focusing on the ‘legacy’ of the games, and what this could mean for the future and are the various sports ready for the influx of enthused young people who might want to try their sports. The feeling seemed to be is that its summer and there is no one around. That so little planning for this feel good period has been made might explain why the LTA and other sports have been searching for champions since before the war. It might not be really that bad, but then again……



I am in Warrington until Wednesday, days full of meetings and writing. And picking up an ex-company laptop for less than a ton as mine is really struggling with Photoshop now I am using photomerge more often. So, I get to stay in a hotel with all the travelling salesmen, sitting at tables for four on our own, looking that the news channel playing on the TV in the corner and longing for conversation. I have a book to read at least, and the big question was should I choose courses which freed up one hand so I could hold the book in the other? In the end, I read inbetween mouthfuls, which worked.



The weekend was glorious to be honest; on Saturday morning we went for a walk to the cliffs, searching for butterflies and flowers and just getting out. There was a gentle breeze blowing, but was hot and I did get burned on my neck. I snapped lots of butterflies and moths, and really loved getting out. I thought I saw a Fritillary, but I could have been mistaken. In the end I did snap another new species, a Wall, and got a few on film. And then there was the normal range of butterflies, all of which were snapped in due course. I did get a couple of blues, too, which is always good as well as a Brown Argus.



The cliffs were the real highlight, as they always are, with the tide well out the view down was onto rocks and chalk-falls. We had a cuppa and a piece of shortbread at Bluebirds before walking back home.



Sunday, if anything, was even hotter, and after checking the glade for butterflies it was back home for ice juice before heading out to Walmer Castle. Oh yes, those second lot of butterfly shots; I managed to rotate one of the camera controls and in doing so ruined all of the shots after my friend Gary arrived, which included some great shots of the Brown Argus and Red Admirals. Bugger.



Back home in the shade, I quickly made dough for rolls for dinner and cooked a stir fry for lunch. And then out back into the sunshine to head to Walmer. It was so hot, I refused to go into the greenhouses as I was already sweating from my hairline into my eyes. And it stung. But I got lots of shots of fine flowers and plants, but the dragonflies we wanted to see were absent. However, I did get a few shots of a Hawkers as it landed on an artichoke.

In time it clouded over, and it was time to head home and pop the rolls into the oven and have a look at the last day of the games. And that night we sat down to watch the closing ceremony, which was filled with music. Some of it worked, some didn’t, and whole genres of British music was ignored and George Michael got to sing two songs despite not doing much of note in the last decade but crash cars whilst high on pot. I drew the line at the Spice Hags who sang on top of taxis, sadly not underneath, and then Jesie J came out to sing ‘We Will Rock You’ with Brian May with long grey curly hair, doing his geetar thing. I went to bed. And so missed Take That. Sorry, ‘missed.’



And that was your weekend, I had to come up here yesterday, and once at the hotel knuckle down and get working.

And that is me up to day as per Tuesday afternoon, but be prepared for more quality related issues until my return to Jelltex Towers tomorrow evening….