Saturday 6th August 2016

Oh yes, the weekend: this is more like it. And the sun is shining, anf the wind is barely moving the long and tall flowers in the garden.

Which can only mean that it is a fine orchid hunting day.

And as the weather was due to get really warm later, we thought best get the walking and searching out of the way as early as possible. Which is why shortly before seven in the morning, we were loading camera gear into the car for the three quarter hour drive to The Larches. And despite being a holiday Saturday, traffic was light enough to enjoy the drive, hammering up the motorway through Folkestone and Ashford and then up the link road over the downs.

Halfway up, we turn off, and the road changes from a busy dual-carriageway to a leafy lane through a quiet village in a few yards. There is a parking space the other side of the junction, so we stop there, and I unload the camera with macro lens, not taking the tripod on this trek. Something I would regret as the only orchids out were on the shady footpath, and not in the sunny glade. But hey, a few coming out would be great.

Through the wood, avoiding the horse and dogs eggs, it was lovely and cool in there. Cool enough to send a shiver up my spine.

In the large glade, the sun is illuminating the willow herb, causing the sea of pink to look like fire. We walk up the path beside the glade, and in the undergrowth at the side, there are dozens of Broad Leaved Helleborine spikes, ranging in colour from green through pink to purple to a colour so dark it is almost black. I take dozens, no hundreds of shots.

We find even more orchids further up the path, and I snap most of them. Like many orchid species, there are spikes of different sizes, flower density, colour, shape. And yet they are all called BLH, which is amazing, really. Looks like they could be all different species.

Out int eh glade where it has been heavily grazed, we find two spikes, neither open yet. Anf this is where the tallest and most robust spikes are found. Oh well. Always next time.

We walk back to the car, back through the wood, where it seems much hotter now. I am covered in mud, which is the way an orchid hunter should be, right?

A quick blast down the M20 to Ashford, then out along the A28. It was now a glorious day, sun shining throug the trees overhanging the road, traffic slight like to make driving enjoyable.

We turn off the main road, through a small village and under the railway line, and we are on a single track road, leading us, between 15 feet high hedges, up the down to Crundale. I read somewhere that Crundale is one of the most isolated villages in Kent, and we were going to the most remote part of the village, a place where from the car park just two other dwellings can be seen, and the air is still, but filled with birdsong.

It is nine o'clock, warm without being hot, and we were on schedule to be heading for home before the day got really hot. From the car park it is a mile or so walking on an ancient track, between huge fields, leading us up further to the woods ahead. The track is now overgrown, there is not room for two people to walk side by side. The hedges are full of butterflies, and I stop to snap a few. It may not be exciting, but it is all I wish for after a week away, among nature, snapping away.

Into the cool of the wood, now comes the hard task of spotting the Violet Helleborine spikes. They could be on either side of the track, this being the forth or fifth year we have been here. So we look in the places we have seen them before, and see none. I then see a triple spike, deep in shade but lit by a beam of sunlight from above.

A further search reveals just one more spike, right by the track, but none of the four spikes are in flower. So another visit will be needed in a week or two.

As we exit the wood, Jools spots a large orange butterfly; I am excited, as it appears to be a Fritillary. I get close, not quite close enough, but the light is good enough to rattle off a few shots. I even follow it when it flies off and capture it again when it settles for a few seconds, then we lose it in the trees above. It is a Silver Washed Fritillary, and the first time I have seen this species; a great end to a fine morning. Now, about lunch.....

We have sausage rolls, and a huge bowl of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries smothered in fresh cream. Now that is a summer lunch!

There is work to do in the garden, dead-heading and so on. I write, edit shots and listen to the radio. There are tomatoes to feed too. The football season begins, with the Football League, and so Norwich kicking off. I avoid listening to it, so am surprised when I check the scares after half an hour to find City 3-0 to the good at Blackburn. Only the first game of the season we have to tell ourselves. We end up 4-1 winners, and so win on the opening day for 11 years. Yay us!

We have pasta salad and breaded aubergine for dinner. Just perfect for a warm summer evening.

I am not watching the Olympics this year. Not that I dislike them, but with work, travel and orchids, there is not enough hours in the day, and watching it live would mean sitting up half the night. I can't do that. But I wish those competing and watching the best of luck, of course.