Thursday 14th April 2022

Maundy Thursday

Bank Holiday (DK only)

Good morning.

Truth is could not face another day of waiting for mails to trickle in or for someone to call. There was no one to call, they were on on holiday.

I had my phone, and I could log on when I got home, so following on from Jools; suggestion, I took the morning off, and would go for a walk.

This meant taking to Jools to work, then collecting her in the evening, but this should be fine.

It was a glorious morning, perfect for a wander in the woods looking for orchids.

We had a coffee, I checked my camera, and we left home, driving into town and then out along Townwall Street and up the A20. No issues.

We went past the entrance to Samphire Hoe, and that would be my first call once I had dropped Jools off. But already on the port-bound side, a quarter mile of trucks was already waiting.

As it was the school holidays, very little other traffic about, so I dropped Jools off at the warehouse so she could collect paperwork, and I turned round and went back to Samphire Hoe, only just getting back past the queuing trucks and many were frustrated and trying to get past the police cordon.

I went back up Shakespeare, pulled in at the traffic lights and saw that the Hoe was closed until ten.

Bah!

I drove back out onto the A20 and instead of turning off at Folkestone, took the Hythe junction, and turned right onto Stone Street. Somehow I was hungry, so my plan was to stop at the greasy spoon halfway up.

As it happened, he had finished setting up, so a jumbo sausage bap would be coming right up.

Working? he asked.

Going for a walk in the woods, says I.

Nice.

I eat up and drain by brew, heading back north until I turned off past the new houses, and again down the narrow lane, now in such a poor state of repair you would think it was never used.

I park in the small spot, put on the ring flash, test it only to find the batteries were flat.

Darn it.

Anyway, the sun climbing, light should be OK, as long as there were no Fly Orchids out, which present a challenge.

The lower path is now very open after scrub clearance, but as it climbed, orchids and primroses began to fill the ground, and under the light canopy, about a dozen Early Purples were in the process of opening.

Perfect.

No so perfect was the dog walker who joined me at the lower meadow, then threw a tennis ball for his chocolate Labrador to fetch. I mean, this is a nature reserve, isn't there enough fields and parks to do this?

He moved on, and I sat and listened to the silence, and the occasional bird song.

It was warming up, good as there had been a touch of frost lower down the track.

On the other side of the Gogway, plenty of rosettes, many with spikes emerging, but just Early Purples still in flower. But further on the wood was carpeted by bluebells, not quite at their peak, but close.

Is there a better sight in England than a bluebell wood in the spring sunshine?

I think not.

I walk down the other side, checking on more Fly and Lady rosettes, then back along, crossing the road and up to the lower meadow, before finally walking back down to the car. I had been two and a half hours.

Perfect.

I decided not to go to to Earley Wood after all, instead to go home to bake buns. With it being Easter and all, they would be Cornish saffron buns.

I even remembered to call in the village shop in Stelling to buy some butter, and a milkshake and two packs to mini cheddars also fell in my basket.

I ate those as I drove back to the A2, turning off to go through Coldred and the Langdons.

And home.

I make the dough for the buns, and leave it to rise.

I make a brew.

An hour later the dough had trebled in size, so I weigh it out into 4oz buns, leave to rise one more time, then bake.

I do not try one, though they smell glorious.

The music quiz was on Thursday due to Easter, so to ensure I could take part, I then mix up the batter for fritters, so I could fry those up once the quiz had finished. Then to set off to collect Jools.

Jubilee Way is still closed, and there is no warning, so traffic heading to the port has to turn right on the roundabout and merge with traffic turning right already. This met with the two mile queue to the traffic lights on Townwall Street. Imagine how hard it was for a left hand drive bus, having to turn right, hoping that someone would let him in?

I just got through, and went down the Alkham Valley, turning onto the motorway for two junctions before turning off for the back way to Hythe.

I reach the factory with just 5 minutes to spare.

All we have to do then was get home.

I had a plan.

So, instead of going along the A20, we turned off up through Hawkinge, then to Lydden, up the Hill, across the A2 to Coldred, and then back home. It took 50 minutes, but we got home, and I could take part in the quiz.

Which I don't enter a guess, as the clues were even more cryptic than usual. Which is going some.

I cook the fritters, and we eat.

And then have a brew and a bun.

Now music as Marc has caught COVID, so we listen to an old Desert Island Discs, tdy up, and somehow it's eight.