Saturday 29th June 2019

The weekend

The hottest day of the year.

Send beer.

Send ice cream.

Oh my word, what a day. Anyway, before the heat got unbearable, we did some stuff.

Up at half six, have coffee, then go to Tesco to buy some stuff to eat and drink. As you do.

Back home to put shopping away and for me to make bacon butties, because, well, bacon. Those eaten, we tidy up, then drive to Sandwich.

As I have written before, I am a republican, meaning I would like to scrap the Royal Family, and return as much land as possible to public ownership. That we have to pay an entrance fee to go onto the Sandwich Bay estate riles me, but at least we can say we're going to the bird observatory and pay a quid rather than seven of your English pounds.

And the reserve ensures the rare orchids, other plants and birds and insects are protected.

That is good, but to pay seven quid each time you visit?

No thanks.

It was already hot as we drove through the town, then out to the estate, across what used to be the seabed, pay our pound and drive to the bird observatory. I ask if it was OK to go to the marsh helleborines; it was, so after depositing a donation in their collection box, we grab our gear and walk out over the meadow to the ringing area.

We see the remains of several Southern Marsh spikes, and in the air and rest on stems of grass, huge numbers of butterflies. Marbled Whites, Small Coppers, Small and Large Skippers, Meadow Browns, Holly Blues. Amazing.

And as we got to the ringing area, more and more spikes of Southern Marsh, in better condition. And over the fence, the mother lode of orchid spikes, Southern Marsh of all shapes and colours, but no whites. And beyond, the two small colonies of Marsh Helleobrines.

The Helleborines were so densley packed, that it was hard to get among them, so I walked round, like a lion stalking wilderbeast, checking out those on the edge, and easy to get.

Snap.

Snap

I get some shots.

But with many orchids this time of year, there isn't that much variation, so once you have snapped on, pretty much have them all.

I go round snapping the other orchids, then with Jools laying down on the edge of the site, looking at the clouds passing overhead, I join her, then we walk back out and to the car.

It was already too hot to do anything else.

Phew.

We drive back out through Sandwich, then to Dover via the pet store to get seeds for the birds, and finally back home, arriving home at midday, with it too hot to do anything.

We have lunch, then I lay on the sofa watching the women's world cup from France, where the Dutch and Italian teams run around in the excessive heat.

Phew, so exhausting I fell to sleep.

So it goes, so it goes.

I wake up in time to make dinner, caprese, and we eat it in time to go to Jen's for cards. Only to find Jen had prepared snacks;; various bits of breaded chicken. Which was fine. We weren't hungry, but eat anyway.

And Jools and I win. Win big. And we were all done by nine, time enough to go home, our a parge glass of sloe port, and sit on the patio watching the bats swoop and loop, while planes cruise high above.

And it was still hot.

Some home truths

The EU doesn't want the UK to leave.

The UK is a large economy, and it leaving will weaken the EU.

But the EU is stronger than any one member, and if a member states wants to leave, the EU will put measures in place and get on with the long term planning.

Planning for no deal Brexit is not complete by the EU, but it is far more advanced than the UK's, and so now just wants the UK to make a decision as to what it is going to do.

The EU and UK negotiated a WA, the EU ratified it, and the UK went off to ratify it in Westminster, all this done in good faith by the EU.

That the UK has so far not ratified the UK is seen dimly by the EU, as it is clear that there is now no other clear path that has political agreement.

The EU understands the difficult position May was in, but also was alarmed at some of her speeches. And, at some point, the UK has to make a choice, one of three choices, and patience with the UK as it lurches from one crisis to another, without tackling the biggest one in the room; namely, what is it exactly, does the UK want from Brexit, and what relationship does it want with the EU.

If the UK can work that one out, then Brexit is simple.

But there is no one true Brexit.

Never was.

Now those who promised a quick and easy Brexit delivering the benefits without any of the responsibilities now try to say that Brexit was always going to be no deal, and be hard, and cost a lot of money.

And the Conservative Party is about to elect the biggest liar of them all, and this will not help the UK in any future talks with the EU, as the EU are no fools.

So, a new leader, maybe even a new PM, but one that has no electoral mandate to do anything, will go to the EU and say "let's talk". The EU will ask, "what about?" And the new PM will say "Brexit, the backstop". And the EU will say, "NON"

And what then, will plan B be for the new PM?

Fact is, many moderate Conservative MPs voted for Brexit in the form of the WA. It was the ERG that voted against the WA which is why the UK still hasn't left.

Friday 28th June 2019

End of the week.

Yay.

Nearly.

And, if the forecast was to be believed, the weather was to break and we were to have sunshine. And warmth.

At half five, that seemed unlikely, as it was grey and cool. Jools was up and about extra early, as she had a yoga class at half six. So, after coffee and a shower, she was gone by quarter past, leaving me with, well the house and cats.

And my inbox to sort out.

So, from eight I ploughed on, sorting and downloading documents, checking databases to make sure information got stored. A job that should have been done months ago, but there wasn't time.

Six hours I worked, filing and shorting.

Outside, just after ten, the clouds began to clear, though the breeze continued to blow a breeze. The sun came out and it got warm. Later it go near to what you could call hot.

Meanwhile, In France, its people roasts. Yesterday was the hottest day there on record, 45.9 degrees. The previous record had been set in the traditional hot month of August. But it is still June.

The heat is spreading north, and will get in Saturday.

At three I am done. Jools has finished too, but is at the dentist having a crown fitted, or the modern version of a crown, anyway. So I take myself for a walk.

The chiropractor told me I need to walk 20 minutes a day, so I go out, taking my cameras with me.

I hadn't planned to go far, just over the fields to Fleet House, check on the pigs and butterflies, then down the hill halfway up to Windy Ridge, then double back home along the long lane.

Which is what I did.

Any my back did grumble, which is why I turned for home after no more than half an hour.

It was indeed hot at four in the afternoon.

The ground is hard as concrete, but still there is mud in places from the storms earlier in the week, but they are drying out quick.

In the hedgerows there are flowers, not a huge variety, but enough. And there are Painted Ladies everywhere. These beautiful butterflies migrate up from North Africa, and in a good year, of which this is one, there can be dozens or hundreds seen.

From there it was a bit of a slog back to the house, where upon getting inside I made myself a pint of iced squash and sat in the shade to cool down. It was now too hot even for cats to be demanding food.

Jools arrived home at twenty to five, temporary crown in place, and smiling.



Dinner was lamb burger and squash, as I had no beer cold. More fool me.

We then go out to check on the local population of Bee Orchids, I thought there was an unusual one to snap. But I was wong, just the regular shaped and patterned ones to see.

But still glorious.

Jools said she wanted an ice cream, so the best place would be the parlour in Deal, so avoiding the traffic lights in Walmer, we drive up to Sandwich and into town, where upon arriving at seven, we find the place had been closed for an hour already.

We drive home, stopping off in Walmer at the garage for Magnums, which we eat on the drive home, getting back in time for Monty.

Of course.

Of trade deals

Yesterday, the EU and a group of South American countries concluded 20 years of talks and agreed a trade deal.

Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay make up the trading bloc, and the message here to UK is this is how long some deal can take to close.

The UK will have to duplicate this deal if it is still to leave the EU, and even if they do close a deal, and it might take two decades, it will be on worse terms than the EU secured; size matters.

Meanwhile, in the Brexit bubble, blue on blue attacks continue, as cabinet supports of each attack the other. That, or threaten a Corbyn lead Labour Government if you fail to back their choice. Let me be clear here; Labour under Corbyn are third in the polls, third behind a party with a dead duck PM and a party with no actual policies. This is where Labour are.

If possible, the Tory party would have liked a coronation like what happened with May, when all other contenders dropped out, leaving her unchallenged.

But, generally, Brexit is in the background as the UK slides down the slope towards summer holiday, so no one really is worrying about.

Don't waste this time.

Mum out of hospital

I have now lost track of how many times Mum has been admitted and released from hospital this year.

Even this month.

Now, I know many people who have lost their mothers, and would give anything to spend another day with them, if they could. So the fact I have not seen mine for a year now can take some explaining.

Not that I do.

We all have lived our lives, and no one else can experience that, or understand why we are the way we are.

We just are.

I told Mum I was glad she was out. She said that she was up and about.

Thing is, I said, your natural response to any question is to lie, so if you are walking, then fine. If not, you are just lying to yourself.

If you don't change, I said, you would end up in a home. Each cigarette takes 5 minutes off your life, and proof you're not taking your health seriously.

Do better, or not, the choice is yours, and the price of not changing will be death.

Thursday 27th June 2019

Pay Day.

Pay Rise.

Champagne for breakfast.

Whilst the rest of the country and, indeed, Europe melts in record temperatures and unrelenting sunshine, East Kent, or at least St Maggies, was shrouded in cloud, and cooled by a keen westerly breeze, making it feel downright chilly.

The cloud should have cleared through the day, but didn't.

It remained like a March day, and a chilly one at that.

But, we were a day nearer the weekend, which was nice.

Even with cool temperatures and little sun, the fruit in the garden continues to ripen, so each morning I collect raspberries and redcurrents to mix with yoghurt, so to have a healthy start to the day. The redcurrents really adding a sharp tartness to the first meal of the day.

And then begins the day and me clearing my inbox. Pressure of work had meant I had a few unread mails, 500 of the buggers, and over the past few weeks had gone back at the beginning of February before giving up. But more needed to be done, so after several strong cups of coffee, I began to open and move each main into folders.

On and on the task went.

It is a task that needs doing, so with the help of more coffee, I plough on.

Lunch is more flatbreads with Jools humus, which would have been wonderful with some wine.

But better not.

And on through the afternoon, while outside the sky remained clouded over and the afternoon cool.

Brrrr.

Dinner was chorizo hash again, because we has chorizo. And that is fine, though we are cutting down on portion size. I think.

More Brian Cox in the evening, on Saturn. You know, then watching the Women's World Cup quarter final, England v Norway, which England cruise through.

Strange days.

It's Brexit, stupid

An interesting point: if Brexiteers were so clever, or as clever as they believe themselves to be, we would have already left the EU.

Brexit should have happened, not only because of the A50 process, but an actual WA was negotiated and agreed between the UK Government and EU, which the EU27 then ratified.

Brexiteers then voted the WA down three times in the meaningful votes, that would have given them the Brexit they had dreamed of three years before.

Some might argue that this is because they always want more, will never be satisfied unless they are screaming "betrayal" at someone or something.

Or could it be that they know Brexit will be bad, and are stying to stop it, so they can scream "betrayal" until they all get seats in the House of Lords?

That last point would only apply if we thought they had the intelligence to do so and plan for it, and I don't think they do.

But I should also point out that Leave did not win the referendum, or have won the arguments since then, Remain has.

Remainers just are not as passionate about jobs, welfare, prosperity, our place on the world stage as the Remainers are against it.

And until Remainers learn to pool their resources, team up no fight each other, Leave will win out, or the arguments Leave spout will go unchallenged.

One last point, Johnson is proposing a huge raft of tax cuts in the event of no deal; Stamp Duty, as well as tax cuts for the middle classes, of which I am now one of, amazingly. But it will have to be costed, and how these will be funded needs to be asked of Johnson, as it will be taxes from elsewhere, or more spending cuts.

And everything will be sacrificed to protect pensions, as pensions are the Tories and Leavers core demographic, and pensions are triple locked So starving children, dying poor and disabled people will be thrown under the red bus to pay for pensions and tax cuts for Middle England.

Thousands of poor and disabled people died under austerity, and the electorate didn't care, apparently. Or care enough to vote the Tories out of power.

And then they voted for Brexit, austerity on steroids ahead. Failing to think of the consequences of their actions, and votes.

Turkeys.Voting.For.Christmas.

Wednesday 26th June 2019

Middle of the week, and oddly, feels strange not waking up in a hotel.

At least there was no thunder, but so hot sleep was difficult.

Anyway, another day in paradise.

Only, despite it being high summer, we wake up to see a huge bank of fog surrounding the house.

And it was now chilly. Cold in fact. How did this happen?

We have coffee together, then Jools gets ready to go to work, leaving me again with the cats.

Work has now settled down to be less high pressure again, which I am happy about. Though, it has hard to to escape the thought I have let people down.

But, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and a bright new future ahead, and when I can tell, I will.

Saying that, my manager rings me up to tell me I have been given a pay rise, a rise I don't fee entitled too. She tells me I am, and should be happy I took the project as far as I did and that we are nearly at the end.

She is right, of course.

Anyway, reluctantly I will accept my payrise and feel guilty when I spend it.

As you would.

Jools comes home early as she had a mdical appointment, and then I have down go down to the bottom of the hill to the chiropractor.

My back has been killing me, and now I also have a numbness in a finger on my left hand.

Dan listens, writes notes, then bends and twists me into knots, by back clicks, leaves me breathless in pain, and then, all done.

And I can move again.

Wow.

I go home, cook dinner; breaded aubergine and salad, which was wonderful. Although we have decided not to have pasta salad now, to try to cut down on carbs.

We end the day watching Brian Cox on Mars. Not on Jupiter, but about Jupiter.

20 days

As we are past mid-summer, or mid-winter if you are in the southern hemisphere, the year is getting on.

This is also true of the year in politics.

The Conservative Party leadership election result will be announced on 23rd July.

May will attend her last PMQs on the 24th, then tenders her resignation to the Queen.

Possibly, the Queen will then invite the winner to become the new PM.

Even if that happens, which is far from certain, then on the 25th, Parliament goes on recess until September 3rd.

Then it is conference season.

And then October.

And Brexit is due the 31st of October.

In short, Parliament will sit for just 20 days with the new PM before the UK is due to leave the EU. 20 days in which to enact either plan A, B or whatever.

Maybe, you can see the problem in this.

Johnson's plan A is to go to the EU and ask to reopen the WA.

The EU have said for more then 6 months that this will not happen. It is even written into the WA that the Government that Hunt at least was part of, that this cannot happen.

The EU is a euphemism for something far more complicated. The body that controls Brexit for the EU is the EU Commission, not the 27 heads of state of the members. And the Commission only meets about once every two months, and a decision to reopen the WA would take place, even if they were to think it a good idea, over two meetings. So, no time for the EU to decide what the terms of reference of a potential reopening would be, and to task a team to carry out the negotiations. Even if there were an appetite for it.

And there isn't.

There will be a crisis, may a constitutional one, maybe a major one in either July or October, with possibly the Queen deciding if the Conservative Leader should be offered to lead a Government, or not.

If it is clear that the new Leader has as a policy that in the event of there being no renegotiation by the EU on the WA and that the only course was no deal, then maybe a dozen or more Conservative MPs and Ministers, probably more, would resign the party whip. Currently the Conservatives have a working majority of 5 if the DUP vote with them, a by election coming up, followed by resignations could mean the new leader having no working majority at all, and unable to get any kind of hard or no deal Brexit through the House.

The House would see if the other parties could cobble together a "rainbow alliance" under, maybe Corbyn, or someone else.

If not, an election and a referendum.

But tat the same time the clock is ticking and Brexit happens unless there is an extension and the UK has to request it and the EU allow it. But if there is no PM then who, legally, could request such an extension? The Queen?

And the request would have to be made at least a week before the 31st, so that legislation could be past in the House, though it is possible that the UK could leave, or stay in the EU as a matter of international law, but not domestic law, as it seems more than likely no Brexit legislation could be passed, not with both potential leaders saying that they would not request an extension.

Maybe the Commons could?

Whatever happens, Brexit has failed.

If the potential new PM, Boris de Piffel Johnson forces through a no deal Brexit either through fair means or foul, Brexit has failed.

What I mean is, the Brexit that was promised, written on the side of a bus, the one that the Brexiteers spun, will not happen.

Far from the UK having a deal with the same benefits as being members, the country will be poorer, industry ravaged, and the public purse much reduced, causing the Government and local authorities to make even harder choices about what to cut.

But Johnson also promised billion in tax cuts, tax cuts fro those earning between £40 and £80 k a year. Where is that funding coming from?

The Brexit we will get will have hard borders in Ireland and between Dover and Calais, this is a matter of fact and following WTO rules, the same WTO rules the Brexiteers now tell us will protect is from the very same hard borders for up to, and even beyond, ten years.

When the UK leaves the EU, and if there is no WA in place, to the EU, the UK will be a third country, and under most favoured nation regulations will have to treat the UK as all other third countries, or if the EU were to grant dispensation to the UK, then it would have to apply that to all third countries.

If no deal brexit only affected trade then that would be bad enough, as even a FTA would not cover services, and the UK having a service based economy, this will still be a disaster. No, no deal affects almost every aspect of life in the UK, and not in a good way. But that is being ignored, just not spoken about. Hoping that it will be alright on the night isn't going to work.

Assurances by Johnson that the UK is ready for no deal won't change the fact the country has wound down it's no deal planning since April 10th, and ramping that up will take the best part of the year, as officials have moved on, been promoted, and their replacements will have to get to grips with what to do. Medicines and fuel and food will have to be stockpiled, if there is space of it can be stockpiled. If there is a run on the pound, then all fuel prices will go up, as fuel is priced in dollars.

And Johnson, let us not forget spunked £80 million on a garden bridge that wasn't built, bought water cannon that could not be used, built a cable car that is heavily underused, closed down police and fire stations, increased homelessness despite promising to do the opposite, and yet the country is supposed to trust him with the country?

So, while the Conservative Party drives the country towards no deal Brexit, remember politicians after this will be defined by being for or against Brexit, many will see their careers destroyed, which is no bad thing, but again many are getting their excuses in early, blaming the EU for their own lack of planning and incompetence. Yes, I'm pointing the finger at you, Raab.

The continued lies over problems that just aren't there continues, with in the Torygraph this morning, Johnson claiming to "restore faith in UK borders". I mean, I travel most weeks through the UK border, and I am stopped every time, my passport scanned and verified. There really is no issue with the UK border. The same is true for EU citizens, their passports are scanned too. Because people believe that something is true, doesn't make it true.

Johnson also favours a points based immigration system, to stop the flow on unskilled EU citizens, and yet it is this flow that farming, the NHS and service industries rely on. Another problem people believe exists that doesn't.

Tuesday 25th June 2019

FIXMAS.

Six months to Christmas.

Get those sprouts boiling.....

Anyway, back to the blog:

BANG!

It was 03:55, I woke up, and outside the much anticipated storm had arrived.

Flash!

Bang!

And so on.

I got up to look out the bathroom window, the lightning was so bright it hurt my eyes. Three identical spikes hammered to the ground somewhere in front of the window; maybe into the sea.

I go back to bed, and the storm thunders on, the cloud so dark and low that dawn arrives nearly 90 minute late. By then the thunder was getting quieter, and the lightning lost in dawn's now bright light.

Two hours less sleep, grumpy Quality Manager ahead!

I had just fallen back to sleep when the alarm went off. OK, here we go again.

Jools makes coffee, we sit and she says she slept through most of the storm. Lucky her.

She leaves for work, and I tackle the chore of travel expenses. I scan receipts then e mail them to my work e mail address, power up the work laptop, file the shots, then create a report, attached scans of the receipts, explain each expense, and click the submit button.

Two hours had gone.

Then there is actual work to be done. Of course.

And lunch to eat, more work, more meetings.

And more chaos to herd like a swarm of unruly kittens.

Bah!

At four, I have to go to the doctor's to collect the pills I was prescribed the day before, but were not in stock.

I will take the opportunity to do a long walk.

Because I can.

Or should.

I walk down and then up Station Road, then via the back lane past the village pond to the surgery, where the receptionist makes a right meal of finding mine and Jools' pills, then getting me three quid change. It's just three pound coins, not hard. But it takes 5 minutes, I swear.

From there I walk through the mansions to the Dover Patrol Monument, then have a breather on the bench closest to France, with the ground dropping away at my feet. A cool breeze blew, just as well as the day was now downright warm, if not hot.

From there I take the path down inland, past the farm and along what used to be a butterfly rich bank, but now is oddly quiet. But it is downhill, so going is easy.

On either side, barley and wheat is ripening in the fields, and on the path between I, and dog-walkers, go about our business.

Up to the highest point, looking down onto where the Dip is hidden, and beyond I can see the houses of our street.

Phew, I mean, its hot. I walk along the cycle path, then turn down Norway Drove, down to the Dip which looked dry, but after recent rain is full of muddy water, but there is a path leading through the tractor ruts, and up the other side.

From there it is simple to walk past Fleet House, then down the path leading over the fields to home.

Now, I could have had a beer when I got home. If there had been a bottle in the fridge, but I still would have gone with the pint of iced squash, whch I set while being attended by two hungry cats, meowing for their overdue dinner.

Half five? How did that happen?

Jools had pointed out we had sausage meat in the freezer, so we bought some puff pastry at the weekend, and I make sausage rolls for dinner, which I eat with out of date ketchup.

Yummy.

And as I had put a bottle in the fridge earlier, a cold tripel too.

Jools comes home after her yoga class, so its eight by the time we have eaten and cleaned up, nearly another day gone, so we relax with some Brian Cox on the i player, which sends Jools to sleep, as expected.

Good night

Do or die

Johnson and Hunt are trying to outdo each other as to how hard they will be with Brexit, with Johnson stating that under him, the UK would leave the EU on 31st October, do or die, and challenged Hunt to swear to the same thing.

Hunt replied it would be a mistake to commit to a set date as circumstances might change. Like facts, for example.

But this is where the UK and Conservative Party is, contemplating to do what they think is best for the party rather than what is good for the country.

Recent polls show nearly 60% support for remaining and less than 40% for leave, and yet these number are reversed with Conservative Party members, with 60% of those wanting to leave wanting to leave with no deal, no matter the cost, to either the economy, jobs or union of the United Kingdom. In other words, Northern Ireland and Scotland leaving would be a price worth paying.

These are insane times.

Meanwhile, Trade Secretary has released a rebuke of Johnson's GATT Article 24 claim in a public statement.

Brexiteers will eat each other.

People's Front of Judea anyone?

Spliters.

What is clear that Johnson cannot debate without coming over as, useless. His description of painting buses filled with happy people out of old wine boxes was siezed upon by the media, but was just a distraction for the truth that he has no command of facts, or has a plan, either A, B or Z as to what to do. Repeating the same tactics used in the referendum when some journapists have actually studied what no deal means, and that GATT 24 is a smokescreen only meets with bluster from Johnson.

As does his assertion that the cost of the Garden bridge was partly due to the current Mayor of London, which was revealed to be another lie.

Lies and damn lies, and the people who lied three years ago must not allow their new, and old, lies to go unchallenged, and what they said about being no downsides, just considerable upsides, that we could have all the benefits of membership of the EU without the responsibility, that the German car makers and Italian prossecco makers would ensure their markets in the UK would be secured rather than the Single Market were as alse then as they are now.

As is the claim that a new PM could force the EU back to the negotiating table and then secure more favourable terms.

There is no one to negotiate with, as the Brexit team has been broken up by the EU, and the EU has said, over and over that the WA would not be reopened, and the UK signed up agreeing to that.

Otherwise, all is good with the "plan".

Monday 24th June 2019

Monday morning, and no travel!

Which is nice.

And there is no football to watch, so I have little to do other than to drink coffee, check the news and put my trousers on before I start work. I mean, not that no one would know, other than the postman when he can't get a parcel through the letterbox. So, its probably better I put trousers on. No one at work can see me, as I have cunningly put some tape over the webcam on the laptop.

As you do.

Monday was to be a day of storms, though the forecast kept pushing the rain and thunder back and back, until it was due on Tuesday.

But it was humid, a storm was coming.

Jools went to work, I have a second coffee, get dressed and ready for work as I was expecting a meeting at eight, that hadn't been arranged, or I hadn't been invited to. Oh well, gave me a chance to tackle the issue of tax, as the Belgian authorities had sent me a bill for €963, and bearing in mind I had already paid UK tax for this period. I was expecting a bill, but not this much.

I need to write to the company my employer has hired to sort out our tax, but I would have to remember my password. I had written down a clue to myself over a year ago. I looked at the clue "Italy Norwich".

No idea.

I have to reset the password. I am sent a link. To create a new password, it must have at least two capital letters, two lower case, two numbers and one symbol. And have at least ten characters.

It took half an hour to get one the website would accept.

Remember, computers are here to make our lives easier!

I review the document and find I am owe nearly a grand, so write to my case handler and fill in 18 months of work activity on a spreadsheet.

Two hours pass.

And I am up to day, now hoping it won't be 18 months before I remember to do it again.

Dinner is pita bread and Jools' home made humus. Which would have been perfect with wine.

But not a good idea on a school day.

Sadly.

I work through to half three, then walk to the doctor's to have an appointment, as he has to review my meds. With the clouds rolling in, I walk there and straight back, getting home before the rain might start. On the downside, the pharmacy didn't have them in, so I have to go back on Tuesday.

Oh well.

For dinner, I make grilled bbq chicken, with stir fry and noodles.

Which was great, and the good news is there was some chicken left over for lunch also on Tuesday.

Night comes early, and we go to bed at nine, waiting for the thunder and lightning to arrive. When we went to bed, a huge storm was building over Le Mans. Maybe it won't drift towards Dover.....

The lies go on

A johnson spokesman, I have no idea of his name, an MP from the Midlands I believe, was interviews by Victoria Derbyshire this morning, and he repeatedly answered when asked about a hard border in Ireland, that the EU had released a paper last week stating that no hard border would be needed, even in the event of no deal.

He did not name the "paper" or document, nor when asked, also repeatedly, to name a border where alternative arrangements and technological solutions made physical checks obsolete. He did name the Swiss border, which is interesting, because for people, there is no border. No checks, no passport control. But most days there are kilometres of queues of trucks waiting to get their paperwork stamped.

It takes time.

And has taken a long time to get as smooth as it is, if they were to start up from scratch now, it would be chaos.

But that is what "Team Boris" plans to do.

Meanwhile Boris has been undertaking some interviews, where he was asked on LBC about his plans, which were renegotiating the WA, with-holding the financial settlement and trying to get the backstop scrapped or have a time limit.

I mean, as this had not occurred to the PM.

Nor would he say when the photograph that was leaked yesterday showing him and his girlfriend hand in hand taken, as if taken over the weekend would suggest his hair had grown over an inch from Friday and he since has had it cut again. In other words, it was an old shot. And probably leaked by him or someone in his campaign.

Pitiful.

There is too much negativity around in the current Government, it needs to be more positive, yes, that will fix the Irish border; being positive.

When pressed he really has nothing, about anything. No detail, no plan, nothing, just bluster. When asked about what he did when he wasn't being Boris, he blustered some more, before saying he painted wine boxes to look like buses. That's boxes that held two actual bottles of wine, not the ones I get from Tesco for £12 with three litres in it.

He has literally nothing, and is a step away from being PM.

He lied three years ago about how easy Brexit was going to be, lied because all he promised failed to happen, and people are going to fall for his lies again.

The long break

It has just been announced that Parliament will rise on 25th July and not sit again until 3rd September.

Just as well there isn't a pressing matter that needs to be sorted out.

The 24th is due to the May's last day as PM, so unclear whether the new leader will attend the House before the recess, thus delaying a possible no confidence vote until their return.

Don't waste this time, the EU said.

Time has been very much wasted, as predicted.

Sunday 23rd June 2019

Its getting dark so early in the evenings now, its like November!

Not really.

But, it is now after the equinox, so the days will begin to shorten, a minute a day at first, but getting less and less each day.

So, we must make the most of these summer days, long days, and warm evenings because in 6 months it will be mind-winter.

And the cycle will begin again.

So, Jools says, that if we were going to go out walking, we should go out earlier rather than later.

Which is what we did.

There are so many orchid sites, that there are few opportunities for the international playboy and quality expert to visit them outside peak times. But, I should, as where orchids grow at a site, different ones might grow at later times.

I had hear it said that the downs about Temple Ewell and Lydden can appear pink due to the sheer numbers of Fragrant Orchids.

Best get up there, then.

So, we park behind the old George and Dragon pub, then walk up the path through the woods, stopping off to look for butterflies in the large meadow, but see just a tatty blue, too weatherbeaten to tell if was a Common or Adonis Blue.

I carry on through the wood, and out into the open on top of the down. Stretching before me was a carpet, in places, of Common Fragrants.

They are mostly of the same shade, and mostly small. But a few look different enough to check out.

Again there were no butterflies, and mostly the Fragrants, but with spikes of yet to open Pyramidals, showing a vibrant pink colour, pretending to be Burnt Tips, but the shade not quite right.

On the way back down, I find for spikes of almost pure white Common Spotteds, something odd about them, a little whispy in the sepals, but the lips and lip markings looked normal.

We walk back down to the car, and drive to the athletic ground for the annual hunt for the Kent Frog Orchids.

These have not been seen for 35 years, so is a bit of a wild goose chase, but then a walk is never wasted, and there is a chance, slim I know, that we might get lucky.

The slopes either side of the clubhouse had been partly strimmed, but further up spikes of CSOs and yramidals could be seen. And above that, on the old putting green, the council had left the grass to grow and if you looked hard enough, in the lea of the wood were several more CSO spikes.

We walk up through the woods, and up the steep path leading up the down, mainly to see if the Knapweed Broomrape was showing this year: it wasn't, maybe it had been knocked over or failed. I don't know. But we saw no orchids either.

Final port of call as the council offices again, to retake the Bee orchid pictures as my new camera creates a colour cast on shots under certain conditions.

Just as well I did go, as I found another unusual spike opening up. I need to go back in a couple of days to check on it.

We g home to have lunch, toast and freshly made humus. Which was garlicky and tasty. Jools went to meet a friend in the afternoon, and take her to the old hoverport. I could have gone, but it was cloudy, and probably too late now for the Bees, so I stay home and do some gardening.

I pull up swathes of poppies, most had gone to seed, and we wanted to stop getting more, but the seeds can last a decade, we will have poppies for many years.

I also do the first fruit harvest, and get redcurrants and raspberries. Sadly, the birds have got most of the gooseberries, but I get a bowlfull, and will have them for breakfast on Monday morning.

I wait for Jools to come back before cooking chorizo hash, which we had not had for maybe four months, and it was so good. I cooked the potatoes extra long, so they were doubly crunchy.

Lovely.

And that was the weekend really. Time to listen to the radio, post some shots for #wildflowerhour, write a blog or two, have a shower, and that's it.

Phew.

But no travel next week, so we can lay in bed to half five in the morning!