Friday 19th June 2020

Last day off.

Sigh.

I will be back next week, Teams meetings, writing processes and so on.

But for now, the day is ours, and with no rain, we should go out? But haven't you seen enough orchids? Well, funny you should say that, as Friday was to be a butterfly day. Actual butterflies, not butterfly orchids.

And thanks to late nights because of football, we are sleeping later, half six on Friday, making the days seem shorter.

Means means its easier to fill them with stuff.

We have breakfast, tidy up, so by nine we were ready to go out. We were going out later as the weather was supposed to perk up after 11, and butterflies like the sun, to warm their flight muscles.

We drive to Folkestone then up the motorway to Ashford, taking the new junction then round to the road to the Romney Marsh. Leaving the market town on Friday with its jams, far behind.

We turn off the main road, and drive into Ham Street, then down a dead end lane to the reserve car park. We were the first car there, maybe too late for the early morning dogwalkers?

However, I grab the camera and we set off through the wood, then into the cleared gallops, along which we should see butterflies.

And would have done had the clouds thinned.

Almost at once I see a White Admiral, it flies differently from other butterflies; it glides, and is different colours too. It has landed, so I get a couple of shots from distance before it flies off.

I would not get so close to one again that morning.

It was cool in the breeze, and butterflies were hard to find. I did snap a small skipper, which was basking on the back of a leaf. I snap that.

We walk up and down, and along a bit. Sit down on a bench. Sit on a different bench.

I looked along the gallop, up at the sky, the clouds looked thicker than ever. I say we will leave.

I knew I would regret it, but we can't sit there all day. Well, we can, but you know.

Back to the car.

We bot decide we were hungry, and that either a greasy spoon special bacon butty or some fish and chips would do the trick.

We take the coast road through New Romney and to Hythe, where I spot a chippy. We drive round the one way system, find a place to park and we at the counter at 12:04.

Two jumbo battered sausages and chips please.

We take the freshly cooked food to the park opposite, sit on a bench overlooking the old military canal, while a seagull looks on, we eat our boxes of food.

Yum.

Then back home for the afternoon.

I make coffee, Jools then goes for a lay down, and I try to stay awake.

Amazingly, I am struck by the thought I should finish taking the wild carrot out of the lawn. Wild carrots can get large, and have taken over parts of the lawnmeadow. And as it rained earlier in the week, if was possible to pull most of the plants out with their tap root intact.

Half an hour later and I was done, and the lawnmeadow looks better. I had been checking to see if may bees were feeding on the carrots, but it seemed not. Anyway, all now gone.

Dinner was aubergine. Again.

And after that, football.

It was some four months since Norwich last played, they were first up, home against Southampton in the next round of matches. And simply put, need to win 5 out of the remaining 9 games to have a chance of staying up. Hope always get us. We could cope with the failure, but its always the hope.

Four months of anticipation, hope, all waiting for the kick off in an empty stadium. Norwich started well, then, lost their way. Their play was plagued by doubt and fear.

0-0 at half time, but it was painful.

Worsr was to come, two quick goals for Southampton, and I never went back to the sofa from the table, just listened as Norwich chased shadows for the second half.

The game ended 3-0, and the season is over.

That was followed by Spurs v Man Utd, and should have been entertaining. And was, at times. But Spurs take the lead and try to defend for the remaining hour. They don't and Utd get a penalty, and so ends 1-1. Bed time.