Sunday 6th June 2021

Hello.

And for the first time since August last year, I needed to prepare for a trip away!

Well. And now that it is all booked and confirmed, I knoda wish I wasn't going, as I have grown to love the days, weeks and months in the house with the cats when Jools is working.

Now it will be driving, finding somewhere for dinner and the such, moaning about the noise and the heat in the evenings.

And then back home again on Friday to normal.

But before then, some more normal:

Orchids.

Hair cut.

Meet Mary for a coffee and a chat.

After a quick breakfast of fruit and coffee, we were off to the two Late Spider sites, I had planned it quite well so to have an hour at Wye so I could snap every spike and chase butterflies before going into Folkestone for a barnet mangele and then meet Mary.

And it would have been perfect, but up on Folkestone Downs, as we parked, there were two guys looking at a map.

Can I help, says I?

We're just looking to see where the other Late Spider site is.

At Wye?

Yes.

I looked at his map and confirmed that he had marked the right spot.

We introduced each other, to find we all knew each other, from Twitter.

Mazing.

And we talk, and talk, all about orchids, and I tell them where to find the white Lade, so they go there next rather than to Wye.

All rather nice, but we had been chatting for half an hour, and I was now short of time.

We walk up to the enclosure, I count the spikes and take a few shots, then route march back to the car, and hot foot it to Wye, up Stone Street then through Hastingleigh to the quiet bend in the road.

I double quick time we get out, and walk to the down, count the spikes.

Jools finds one that is uncaged.

She cages it.

Amd again for a second and thrid spike.

In the end we both find five new spikes, all uncaged and one had been trodden on by happy and careless snappers. But safe now.

And 27 spikes showing. Or cages, which is the best show I have seen there.

I have half an hour to get back into Folkestone, park the car and get to the barbers before it gets too crowded.

I drive like the wind. Not really, but we make good time, and the sun is still shining, we are parking behind the Old High Street at half nine, I walk up the the shop and I am second one in the chair. The guys gets to work, and in half an hour I am shorn again.

Jools had already met Mary, so I join them in a cafe, sitting on the cobbled street outside in the sunshine, looking at the folks going by and catching up on news.

Its all rather good I have to say.

Mary had been away: for days on the Isle of Wight, and she enjoyed it. For me the Island is a place of work, we probably need to go to explore.

And just like that our time came to an end, so we hug and say goodbye.

We had to go to Halfords as we had to by some engine oil, as the car told us it was thirsty. It has been twenty years since I bought oil, I had no idea if cars still used it. It took twenty minutes to find which oil the car needed, and then pay twenty three pounds of a litre of the stuff.

And back home.

It was half twelve, and lunch time. I cook chorizo hash, a bit early as Jools was going swimming at four and wanted time to rest and digest.

And I needed to be ready for five when England kicked off in their last friendly before the delayed Euros, and managed to be worse than in the previous game! But won 1-0 aganst Romania or someone.

And it seems I forgot the biigest news: we have an actual orchid growing in our garden, Jools found it, I snapped it, and orchid book author, Mike Waller, ID'd it as a Pyramidal, and should be in flower by the weekend, when I get home! To call it excicing would be an understatement. We had cheese and crackers for supper, just in time for #wildflowerhour.

And just like that the weekend was over once again.

Time for bed, though I wasn't tired.

At least the gout was fading away.