Friday 27th June 2014

Saturday.

Sometimes, there is nothing better than doing nothing. Doing nothing for hours and hours on end. And having no internet connection, and just the TV and radio for entertainment, well, we listen to the radio, read, or just watch the wildlife outside our windows.

Whilst waiting for Bradey to wake up, Jools and I go for a walk down to the lakeside, and take a seat at a bench overlooking the quay, whilst swallows swoop around us, chasing insects. The sunshine was warm, there was barely a breath of wind. All was well.

Just before lunch we headed out in the car, with the thought of ‘having lunch’. We drive along the lake, through Kielder village and u the valley, the road twisting but always getting higher. We were the only ones around, and it felt like we had the whole park to ourselves.



We end up in Hawick, where a couple of friends of ours have moved to. I had hoped to see Sam or Beverley walking along, or in a pub. But we didn’t. And being without an internet connection, I had been unable to let them know we would be visiting. Another time.

We find a place to park and head to an Italian place we had seen. It wasn’t spectacular, but good enough for us. Although the murals inside were shockingly bad, bad enough me to photograh the worst of them.

The next port of call was a village called Gordon to see yet another orchid. Gordon was a 45 minute drive away, up the A68 towards Edinburgh. We dodged an RTA and headed across country, past some ancient country pile. And just to the west of Gordon was a sign: Gordon Moss.

I was here to find another new orchid species for me, The Coral Root. What resented itself to us, was an area the size of a football pitch, heavily overgrown, and the chances of finding anything seemed slim. And indeed that was the case, the grass was over 5 feet high in places, and I felt like an African explorer thrashing through the undergrowth. Butterflies and moths of all sorts flew out of my way, but sign of a small red orchid there was none.



Except, right at the end, I came across what seemed like a single red spike, the flowers had died, but I looked at the stem, it had no leaves and so seemed right, but that was all I had for two hours of searching. It was an hour back to the cabin, heading into the warmth of the setting sun, back over the moors and hills towards the lake.

Once back it was another evening of football, and for supper: cheese. We had bought a selection at the farm shop, so we dined well on Stinking Bishop and Brie.

And wine.

Cheers.

Sunday.

And on the seventh day Jelltex did rest, and so did everyone else. We lay in bed until gone eight, whilst outside nature went about its business not missing our participation at all. So with a whole day ahead of us, the question was what to do with the whole day, especially as u here daylight lasts until gone ten in the evening.

We listened to the radio, read, messed about on the computer, and generally wasted the morning. It felt good. However, the sun was threatening to break through, so Jools and I decided to head out for a walk. It is twenty miles all around the lake, and we knew that was beyond us, but maybe four or five there and back? It pays to have ambition.

We set off down the hill through the cabins and into the nature garden. There is a sign saying that on sunny days you might see an adder basking in the sun. Yeah, right, like that is gonna happen. But, there, curled up in the sun was an adder, I moved to snap it but it slithered off. Well, that was a bonus! Sadly, I just had my 50mm lens on, but I got a shot. Not bad.

We head down to the waterside, and find the path heading north, and off we set on the look out for anything interesting. Anything interesting is just what we saw, as dramatic clouds were reflected in the waters of the lake, around each corner was another stunning view, with trees lining the shore, or meadows scattered with sheep.

After an hour, the orchids appeared, just Common Spotted, but as these are some of the most amazingly pattered orchids, I always enjoy seeing them. Some of the orchids are of great height, and yet have the same small flower heads at the top of the spike. We watched as Martins and swallows sat at the face of a sand bank, we think sipping water.

We came to where a road used to run into the valley and now just disappears into the brown peaty waters of the lake. It was now half twelve, thoughts turned to food, and so our feet turned for home, retracing our steps back to the park. We called in to look at the Osprey lookout, and I was able to look through a scope at the eerie some two miles away. I could just make out a single chick looking out for its next meal to be brought back.

Happy with that, we head up the hill to the cabin, have a brew, then I get down to cooking chorizo hash for brunch, which was good as we all agreed we were hungry. It took some time to prepare, but the anticipation is good, as is the smells as the vegetables are cooked, then the sausage and finally the potato. And it was good, or even if I say so myself. And it was all over in time for the five o’clock game on TV.

The evening passed with football, whilst outside nature carried on its business unaware of the circus on the other side of the world.