Saturday 9th May 2020

I do try to keep the political stuff out of my personal blogs. But sometimes it is hard.

Especially as to what is and isn't allowed at the moment. I know people who are literally afraid of leaving their house in case they get arrested for not having a good reason.

There is a point to this, I promise.

The current restrictions/lockdown was brought in under public health legislation, not public order, so any restrictions have to be looked at in terms of public health. There is no definition as to what is essential travel and what isn't, but suggestions. And exercise is allowed. And the College of Police published guidelines that stated f a drive to the start of an exercise was less that the exercise done, then that would be fine.

I know some who only cycle to a place to exercise by walking, others who have not left their village for seven weeks for fear of being in trouble with the police. As I said it is my understanding that, say if we were to go to Bonsai to walk to look at orchids and butterflies.

Now, you might not agree with my reading and understanding of the Statutory Instrument (SI) signed by the Secretary of State for Health, but these are my reasons. I believe we were no risk for public health either on Saturday when we did go to Bonsai Banks, on Friday when we went to Yockletts or Thursday evening when we went to Temple Ewell Down. I can state that we met no one on our two and a half hour walk yesterday, so we were no threat to pubic health.

All that notwithstanding, we did decide to go to bonsai Bank yesterday. Its a few minutes further drive than Yockletts, but would have the added attraction of having the Duke of Burgundy to see.

Saturday morning was very quiet. The middle day of a three day weekend, one where the port should have been very busy, but it was like always now, dead quiet. There were a few cars about, not many, and that is incredible for a Saturday morning. Most of what was about were trucks going to the port.

We stop at the filling station on Townwall Street, filling up for the first time in three weeks, and only now because of Jools; drive to the factory in the morning.

Fuel prices have crashed, just forty quid to fill up the car from almost empty, not that long ago it was near to sixty. Another new normal.

We drive out of town to the start of the motorway, then up Stone Street, meeting no other traffic. Like the rest of t'world had died.

We cruised through the woods at 60mph, enjoying the thrill of it, thus startling a small herd of roe deer feasting on the edge of a field. Once we turned off Stone Street, the villages were silent, no one out, but we press on, up and through Petham and into the woods.

Down a narrow lane, we come to the edge of Denge, and there were no other cars parked. Possibly we had the whole wood to ourselves.

It was eight in the morning, and still cool.

From the car it was a twenty minute walk to the reserve, down a good woodland track. The air full of birdsong, I gave up trying to pick out a single call, just enjoying the way the different songs merge into a single symphony.

We walk to the start of the final slope to the entrance to the reserve, and still, no one about. We see two Lady Orchids standing guard by the gate, then on the ban on the other side of the road, another half dozen.

This is Lady Country.

But it is all Burgundy.

Because the Duke, or Dukes, live here. The Duke is a tiny butterfly, wonderfully rare that is right at home in the middle of the wood.

But it was early, and cool. None were to be seen basking, I didn't look that hard, as I thought there was still plenty of time. So, we started to walk to the far side of the site. Five minutes on, a single Duke landed beside the path at my knee, and just perched there, basking. Too good to resist, so I get shots, and still it stayed. I stopped the lens down to f22, got real close, and the Duke just wiggles its wings.

We walk on, I stop from time to time to snap a Lady that looked interesting, or the light was good. But at the far end the ground has been thrashed, a neccessity as scrub would take over. This means many Lady and other orchids will not show this year, it looked a bit apocalyptic to be honest, but we know it needs to be done, or the site would be lost forever.

I try to see more Dukes and a tiny black and white moth, but the moth is too flighty for me, and so small too.

So we walk round via the bottom track, passing more orchid: Fly, White Helleborine, Greater Butterfly, Twayblades and Common Spotted. Some were out, some will be the stars in the next few weeks.

At the near end we come across another Duke, happily posing on the top of a sapling, drinking from a small pool of water. I lay down and snap it, getting fine shots of its underwngs.

There comes a point when you have enough shots of Ladys or Dukes, so I say to Jools, lets go home.

We walk back along the woodland track, and as we neared the car we see two dogwalkers behind us, the first people we had seen for the whole walk.

We could have gone to look for Birds Nest Orchids, but that would have meant parking near to folk's houses, so we don't. Instead we drive back, listening to Huey on the radio, and all is well with our world, though all of it has gone to shit, clearly,

Back home, as I had mixed dough before we left, I make a loaf with the now-risen dough, and an hour later put the monster in the oven to cook.

Lunch was to be asparagus, sweet chili stir fry and fresh buttered bread.

Yeah, we know how to roll.

And it was all magnificent. Oh my word, yes.

And that was that.

Jools did some gardening. I did computer stuff, until I made coffee and took the brews and the last magnums out so we could sit on the bottom patio and eat and drink and watch the birds.

It was all rather marvelous, all things considered.

Dinner was ham sandwiches, made with most of the remainder of the loaf. And that too was wonderful.

We play Uckers, and Jools wins, so she is happy, and then it was like nearly nine, maybe some reading before bed?

Indeed.