Friday 29th July 2022

41st anniversay of the wedding of Chaz and Di.

Once again I slept through the alarm, Jools was up and about as she was going to yoga and had to leave aby six. I woke up at ten to, JOols made me coffee. I was barely awake.

It was going to be a warm and sunny day, so chances of a walk were high.

Doubly so as a Swallowtail had been found over by the Monument last weekend, though no sign of it in our garden. And there seems to have been an influx of Queen of Spains, with sightings in Deal reported on Thursday. I am lucky in that I have seen one, you might have read about it, but always on the lookout for another. As you do.

I put the bins out and made a second coffee. There was a cat in each room, watching what was doing. Cleo only eats now if there is a kitty kibble hors d'oeuvre and only after crunching on them will she even consider looking at what is in her bowl. Poppy eats eveything put in front of her, pretty much, and looks up with wide eyes when she is chewing. I seem to have made a contact with her, about time as we come to the 2nd anniversary of us collecting them.

Mulder has cooled out about the cats, though seeing him "playing" with Poppy and imagine him hurting her, but I see Poppy swiping at his tail on occasion, so maybe i should let them get on with it. And turns out Scully just likes company, sitting between us on the double chair on the patio, laying against one of our arms.

I set up the office on the dining room table, and log on. After Windows update.

No new mails.

No meetings.

Just have to fill in my working hours.

I do that straight away.

I put on some music and the day gets under way.

So the day crawls on, but soon after lunch it will be the weekend.

That's the target.

Jools was going swimming after work, so I have time once work finished, so I put on my shoes and go for a walk.

I was hoping with the sun out, weather warm and little wind there would be butterflies.

And indeed there were.

First one was along the lane from the end of our street, a freshly emerged Holly Blue on ivy, it even stays still to allow me to get shots.

It is very warm, almost hot, too hot for a walk really, but its been a while.

I go down past Fleet House, down past the farm and up the long walk to Windy Ridge, not many butterflies there, but along Green Lane in front of the wood, there would be a sun trap, and hopefully plenty of the fluttery bastards.

I pause on the bench, now with memorials to the farmer who used to love this view, now gone.

I walk one, reach the wood, and indeed there are many, many butterflies for a change.

Gatekeepers, Large Whites, but a Small Heath, and frther along lots of Common Blues too, and a Speckled Wood settled nice for a shot, and then there were the dozens of Walls leaping up from the path ahead. One even allowed me to take a shot too.

I reach the track back down to Collingwood, so make my way home.

I had seen no Queens, nor any Brown Argus either.

Back home I drank some iced squash on the patio, and see butterflies among the long grass of the meadow. I went over to investigate and found Common Blues, but there was somethign else too. Smaller. At least three Brown Argus, in our garden all the time!

I get shots.

Jools returns home and we have a coffee, Scully laying between us.

Purring.

At six I do the music quiz and came 5th, so overal I was 4th, but no prize, but my best ever showing.

We then go to Jen's for cards, and pizza and beer before.

I made do with a bottle of Chimay Grande Reserve which went down very, very well indeed.

As did the pizza.

We then played cards. Sylv had been plied with wine through the afternoon and was tipsy.

And loud.

We helped her play at times, when she won.

But John won again. Sigh.

And Jools brought us home as darkness fell.