Sunday 19th March 2023

Good morning.

Welcome to Sunday, and with the weather to be sunny, if not warm, what to do?

Jools wanted to do some gardening, and I wanted to get out and check on some orchid rosettes.

In other words, after spending most of the week in the house I wanted to get out of it, and Jools after spending the week out of the house, wanted to spend her day in it.

The usual paradox.

We got up late, had breakfast of fruit followed by croissants, I looked out the window and saw sunshine, and wanted to be out.

It wasn't just orchids, but other spring flowers of the woods I wanted: Wood Anemones and Bluebells to be exact, and where better than Earley Wood itself?

None.

I drove out of the village, onto the A2 and out west until I turned off and crawled through Bridge, then off past the site of the ruined station, out across the fields to Stone Street, and just over the other side through Petham, and there, on the left, is the wood.

Normally by now, the ground would be dry and firm, but two weeks of late winter rain and snow have meant mud had returned, and on the paths through the wood it would be heavy going.

I walked down to the first orchid site, taking 5 minutes to find the spotted rosettes, but in the end find a good half dozen, and only one putting up the beginning of a spike. Back along and through the glade to the much longer path, now blocked by fallen trees and branches, I made slow going as my limbo skills are somewhat lacking these days.

I did find a green carpet of Anemones, but only a few flowering, and because of the cloud, none were fully open, but I snap them anyway. And further along a few Bluebells spikes had their tips showing blue, and one or two had flowers.

After much searching I found one spike with more than two flowers, and beginning to bend over like a native plant should.

After finding three more groups of Early Purples, and checked each one, satisfied that there were all at least two weeks from flowering, I turned back for the car, walking through the wood aong a twisting track.

No point in going elsewhere, though Yockletts had been tempting, I got in the car and drove home, beacuse here in the UK it was Mother's Day, and Jen was coming to dinner. We had got steak, so was going to be nice.

A ribeye each, already seasoned and left at room temperature, all ready for cooking at one, once Jen came. Both Jools and myself have lost our Mums, so she is the next best thing.

I zap the potatoes, slice them when cooked, then slice and season the mushrooms before cooking them all to come together, all done to a turn at ten past one.

Was all rather good I have to say.

The afternoon was spent on the sofa, trying to stay awake, watching what I thought would be a dull game, Utd v Fulham, which was very much enlivened when Fulham had two players and their manager sent off within 30 seconds.

Made I laugh.

And so, that is all for this weekend. More of the same next, but hopefully warmer.