Sunday 16th April 2023

Second day of the weekend, and last full day with the cats. As much as we love travel, it oes meaning leaving the four Mogs of the Apocalypse in the cat prison, and before then, rounding them up. We will collect them first full day we're back, and joy will be unbound.

With family crisis now over, for now, we had a blank day, which I fill with orchids and walks in the wood.

It had been eight days since I was last at Samphire Hoe, so thought with the warmer weather might have brought the orchids on. A walk is never wasted anyway, so after coffee and croissants we drve to the Hoe, getting there at twenty to eight, with just the eager fishermen already there and dangling worms over the sea wall.

We walk down the sea wall, round the corner to the cliff face, and just when I thought there'd be none, I found for small spikes, with more up the cliff face, well out of reach. I snap those, then go to check the rubble-filled meadow. None there, and again no adders, but the baby slow worms were sheltering under a sheet of iron.

We walk back to the car park, and from there I walk along the track beside the railways looking for rosettes and spike of the main colony. Only there doesn't seem to be one (a colony) this year. Just one rosette found right near to the entrance to Abbottsliffe Tunnel, but that was it. In 2016, I think it was, they had 22,000 spikes here. Not any more.

I walk back to the car to meet up with Jools.

We drove off, but up the tunnel to the A20, then along to the motorway for half an hour, to the bottom of Bluebell Hill, turning up it to drive to Stockbury, and our favourite bluebell wood.

I guessed it wouldn't be the usual sea of blue, it is still early, but I hoped so a hunt of blue. And anyway, then there are the orchids. Friends have been posting shots of spikes of Early Purples in full flower, and Lady Orchids nearly in flower.

I had high hopes.

And yet, microclimates are just that, and at the Stockbury reserve most orchids were still rosettes and spikes only just forming. A little further along spikes were in better shape, but still with just one or two flowers open. But I snap them anyway.

Down the slope to the meadow, and the Lesser Butterfly were already putting up spikes, although it might be four weeks before they flower, but it was striking to see the spike so tall, when the Greater Butterfly seen last week had no spike. The Lady Orchids were just forming spikes too, so none in flower, or close to it.

And that was that.

I walked back up the hill through the woods to take a few shots of the carpet of bluebells, though they were mainly just leaves.

Oh well.

Back to the car for the 45 minute drive back home on the coast, in time for a brew and a bar of chocolate.

It was a glorious afternoon, too nice to sit inside all of it, so I put the moth lure out and read a magazine while I can keep an eye on the birds and the lure. No moths came, certianly not the one the lure was for.

But sitting and soaking up the sun was enough, until the football called at two.

Football doesn't stop, certainly not for good weather, and as always the main task was to stay awake through the games.

And then it was half six, somehow.

The day, the weekend was almost gone. So, we dined on chicken katsu curry, accompanied by the first local asparagus, which was vry sweet indeed.

And that meant it was tie for bed, so that we would be fresh for the last working day.