What happens now is up to her: a social working is to visit and coordinate her life, if she is allowed home. I am away in Denmark all week, and I said if she needed me to say here all she had to do was say. She said there was no need. So, it's business as usual for us. Or what has become usual anyway.
Friday.
I guess i should tell you why I was in the Surrey Hills for all week. I was on an ISO 9001:2008 lead auditor's course. It was tough, at times dull and sapped our very existence. But, by Friday morning, most of us, even some of the people from abroad, were up to speed and hopeful of passing the course. To pass all we had to do was pass the exam; 120 minutes and 24 pages of questions and essays to answer.
After some revision, we sat down in silence and did our audit stuff, answered the questions, qualified our answers and just got the job done. I was finished after 90 minutes, handed my paper in and left.
Yay!
I tried to call for a taxi from outside the hotel. I dodged people dressed in morning suits and silly dresses, clearly some kind of wedding was happening, apparently this wedding was going to be accompanied by swearing. Lots of swearing. A taxi deposited the best man, half dressed, sweating and swearing. I asked if the driver could either take me to the station or call the office to get another to come for me.
He said he would take me. Good job he did as I got to the station with 7 minutes to spare before a train to Redhill, and it would have been another two hours wait for the next one. We passed through unspeakably pretty villages, picture-postcard churches and cottages. All worth revisiting for sure. At some point.
So, we trundled to Redhill, where I had a 50 minute wait for the train to Tonbridge. I sat on a bench and watched the world go by. I was joined by an old lady and we talked. She was coming back fro Exeter, and would be on my train, so I said I would help and her luggage on and off the train. It was pleasant hearing her stories of life in her village down the line.
At Tonbridge we just had 3 minutes to get to the other side of the station for the train to Dover. It was running late in the end, so we had time. I climbed on the train, found somewhere to sit, and watched the Kentish countryside roll by as we headed towards Ashford. A refreshment trolley came round and I got a coffee and a bun. It seemed a fine way to end the week, on my way home drinking coffee with all of Kent passing by for my entertainment.....
Jools was waiting for me at Dover, and so we went home for yet more coffee and decide what to do with the rest of the longest day of the year.
Not surprisingly, it had something to do with photography. and orchids. So, we headed off to Pegwell where I had been told there were bee orchids. We parked up, and walked to where we hoped they would be, and were confronted with thousands of Southern Marsh orchids everywhere. What a sight.
We walked over to where we thought htye would be, and looked.
And looked.
And looked.
Then, Jools saw something different, and sure enough it was two tiny Bee Orchids, standing apart in the long grass. We got our shots, and after looking some more went to Sandwich Bay to check out the Lizards. Lizard Orchids.
They grow all along the edge of the road by the beach, and many were part out, some fully out. So we got out to snap a few before the wind blew them around too much and made photography impossible. Once again the wind was due to blow all weekend, so getting the snapping done seemed like a great idea. And it was wonderful being out walking in the late evening sunshine.
The Lizards are one of the rarest and incredible orchids the country has; hope you can see from my shots.
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