Saturday 22nd June 2019

The nights are drawing in.....

Oh yes, the weekend, and this week, there is no travel on Monday or next week at all, so nothing to distract my mind for the important things like orchids, beer and churches.

I wake up from an odd dream in which I was in Soviet era Eastern Europe, getting away from their military police, but there were zombies and monsters at every turn.

That's what comes with eating curry I suppose.....

After coffee we go to Tesco to get the important things in life, like beer.

Back home for criossants for breakfast, the first time in months we have done that, before we go out for a fine morning's orchiding.

First up was Dover Seafront, where Jools had spotted, ahem, a Common Spotted Orchid growing in a flower bed.

Being early, we found a parking space, and after walking to the spot, there was, indeed, an orchid, looking very much at home among the bedding plants.

I take shots.

From there we drive to Western Heights, the Napoleonic citadel overlooking western Dover, now mostly overgrown and given back to nature. I don't think I had been up there looking for orchids since I took my friend from NZ, Tony, up there a couple of years ago.

Away from the defences, on the slope of the downs is a carpet of orchids, mostly CSOs again, but of various colours and patterns. There are not rare, as their name suggests, but there is always a chance of something unusual popping up in such a large population.

And there are many butterflies to be seem. One species is the Small Blue, which has something of a large colony there, so walking through the long grass, one or two Small Blues would be disturbed. These emerged in mid-May and most were very tatty after a month on the wing, being wind battered, but I did see a fine newly emerged female, which I snapped.

I go round to each plant, snapping ones I though either very pale or hyper-coloured, though none were that special or unusual.

But it was getting hot.

I mean, damn hot.

I decide not to do much more orchiding, just to go to the council offices to check on their orchids, growing in the grass surrounds.

I am back trying the newer of my two cameras for these macro shots, hoping I had fixed the light balance issues, I would only know once I was back home and reviewing the shots.

Anyway, I go round to each spike, snap them and move on.

Nothing special here, but each Bee Orchid is wonderful.

And we were done, back home for a pint of iced squash, review the shots, which were disappointing becasue of the balance issue, meaning I would have to review the Bee shots, and the CSO all had a colour cast.

Bugger.

We have caprese for lunch, and a small bottle of tripel for me, which makes staying awake in the afternoon difficult.

Jools doesn't have cider, but she struggles to stay awake, and gives in and goes for an afternoon snooze.

I work in the garden, pulling up thistles and other plants that have gone to seed, before deciding that the poppies are now taking over, so should be taken out.

When I am done, doesn't look too different, but there are areas of bade soil in which, maybe, new wild flowers might grow.....

At six we go to Whitfield to play cards, collecting John on the way.

It is good to be back there, chatting, joking and playing cards. Jen got a huge pizza for us to share, which we demolish through the evening.

We come out about even on the night, which is OK, I guess. And we are done.

We leave at just before ten, and there is light in the sky still. Summer is here.

After dropping John off we go home, then nursing a glass of sloe port, we sit outside, chatting, watching the planes flying over the house for destinations unknown. We see no bats, but plenty of moths were tempted by the smell of the port.

As was I.