Wednesday 30th August 2023

I have written a blog a day, at least, every day since the London Olympics in 20i2, and for the last six years I have taken at least a shot a day so I can illustrate these blogs.

But.

With work and stuff taking more of my time, I am struggling to find shots each day to take and when I come to write these posts in the evening, for a working day I struggle to say much that is new, so, maybe I will only post when there is something to post about in the new year.

I don't know.

I think that next year I will complete my task of seeing, if not all UK orchid species it will be most, and so try not to be so obsessed with them perhaps. This year, for pretty much the first time, I have not felt the need to photograph or see every Kent species in flower, and there is a chance too I see the end of the Kent churches project.

What then, will I fill my free time with?

Reading perhaps.

We have a house full of books, even after giving hundreds of them away. There is travel, walking, maybe volunteering to work at a charity or something.

I just don't know.

Sometimes I don't know if anyone would miss these posts were they to stop, or would anyone on Flickr notice if the church pictures stopped being posted?

Maybe, maybe not.

Maybe its because I am now into the last two years of my working life. I could work longer, maybe should, but I really get so little pleasure from it, I feel each day spent working shortens my life outside.

We shall see, we shall see.

And so to Wednesday, which was pretty much like every day over the summer, sunshine, showers, work meowing cats, podcasts, brews and whatever it is I fill my days with.

Outside the air is filled with the noise of hedge strimmers, lawnmowers and other npisy garden equipment, it makes sitting in the garden a less than ideal experience. But even then, sunshine is good on the skin. But the sun rises lower in the sky each day, emerging each morning further south than the day pervious, and Friday September begins.

I prepare and cook herb-encrusted pork steaks, air fried potatoes (still not as good as I'd like) and fresh corn for dinner. And once that was done we waited for the full moon to rise, but clouds over France meant it was nearly nine before we saw it, still pink and hanging againt the totally black sky.

I took pictures.

Tuesday 29th August 2023

Back to work, sadly. How the four day weekend slipped by so quickly.

I had set the moth trap Monday night, so once light I went to check and found two Jersey Tigers and this pale Gypsy Moth.

First one I have knowingly seen.

And then to work, where I had been dreading meetings in the upcoming audits with loud e mails and so on, but there was nothing.

In fact, when I did catch up with the boss, I was told those who count in these matters agreed with my assessment, a new person was taking over the department and they were 100% onside.

Wow.

The other main task was to cancel my travel for next week, via the company portal.

The computer said "no".

But I'm not going.

Anyway.

I spoke with my colleague who was back from Mexico where it was darn chilly, so he said. At least in Mexico City, his second base was a very pleasant 31 degrees, sadly he was there to work, but it was good to catch up with him.

During the afternoon I made some focaccia bread to go with Caprese. Outside, it got so dark I had to have the light on to see to work.

Cats were fed, dinner prepared and wine poured. All ready for when Jools came home.

In the evening there was football, but I was tired, so I went to bed at half time with City drawing in Bristol 0-0, City did score and so win in the 2nd half. But I was sound asleep.

Don't you forget about me

There is a new wave of COVID under way.

Infections are up, hospitalisations are up too.

And yet you hear nothing about it on the news.

There is a clamour for masks mandates to be reintroduced as the latest varient sweeps across the country, but many think the pandemic is over.

To those who feel there is nothing to worry about, just remember that there is between 20 and 25% of developing long COVID from each infection, and it seems previous infections make it more likely for reinfection.

Long COVID is real and will weigh the economy and health services downhaps for decades, as nations struggle to cope with the effects.

And yet those who graduated with medical degrees from the University of Facebook, deny there was ever a problem, that not letting kids die somehow ruined the kid's futures will argue again against such mandates.

As a species, we really are too stupid to deserve to survive. Here in the UK we have the Government wwe deserve and maybe another wave of the pandemic.

Hope I'm wrong, needless to say.

Delay, the 5th element

So, after much expectation, yesterday the Government announced it was delaying import checks on EU goods until January 2024.

This is the 5th such delay.

Reason for the delay: cost impacts on inflation.

I mean, who would have thought that putting up barriers to trade with your closest and largest partners would increase costs?

Just about everyone who undertood trade, which exludes most from May's, Johnson's Governments and most of the ERG.

There are two types of barriers to trade:

1. Tariffs

2. Non-tariff barriers.

I learned very early on in this Brexit adventure that anyone who talks about trade only in terms of tariffs reallys doesn't understand trade. That that means you, Boris Johnson!

Non-tariff barriers is a catch-all phrase for any legal and/or statuatory regulations that have to be complied with, these can and frequesntly dwarf costs of tariffs. A customs union elminated non-tariff barriers to facilitate trade between union members, say like the EU. Simplifies paperwork, and when tied to a single market, companies and people in all member countries can trade with others in all other member states as easily as if they were in the same country.

It is that what Brexit destroyed, and that whoch is so far been partly responsible for food inflation, and will continue to do so, as more and more checks and costs are piled onto our imports.

Will checks and inspections be delayed a 6th time in January? I wouldn't bet against a delay.

Remember kids, policy is really, really hard.

Monday 28th August 2023

I was really up on the down to look for butterflies, I had even told Jools the season was over, I had packed so much in, I needed a break.

But the autumn and winter are long, dark and cold, so one more orchid hunt wasn't going to hurt, right?

So, after coffee I drove to Temple Ewell and began the climb up through the wood, the lower meadow, up through the hedge path before finally emerging onto the upper treeless slopes of the down.

There was just one other family up there enjoying the morning, walking their two dogs, on leads, with their children.

We stopped to talk and I quickly explained what could be found up there. They seemed happy enough with what I told them.

Through the gate into the upper pasture where the dexters were already churning up the soil and plants. I turned down and sure enough, in the long grass were a few spikes of ALTs, most at least half going brown and to seed.

I got down to take come final close ups.

I walked back to the lower paddock, hunting Gentians, I was, but also butterflies. I was distracted by what I thought was a Small Heath but turned out to be a small and dark 3rd brood Meadow Brown, but I was hunting blues.

The bluest of blues.

And there he was, despite it not being sunny or even that bright, a slightly tatty male displaying well on a stem of grass.

In the plant kingdom, the Autumn Gentians are having a fine season, with dozens of spikes of all sizes easily found all across the down, I snap many, but soon give up, but still delight in each new find.

I walked back down the down, past people only just climbing up, walking their dogs or a bit of nature searching. I went down, past the allotments to the car park, load the camera and head back home, up Whitfield Hill and to home. Though stopping at the village shop for some chocolate.

Jools had stayed behind to do gardening, really gining the borders of the beds a good cleaning, enabling us to see the brick edging for the first time since early spring.

I have a shower, then prepare lunch of chorizo hash, which comes together just before one. Though there is no football to divert me, I do stuff through the afternoon, so the clouds and gentle rain blows in.

Rain stopped play.

There was no football in the evening either, but somehow we fill our time. I listen to a podcast and finish editing the shts from Maidstone which we visited last weekend.

Phew, its all go.

But darkness fell at half eight, and my wearing legs took me up the stairs to bed.

Sunday 27th August 2023

Sunday.

And what to do with the parts between getting up and the football beginning?

Obviously, it would be going for a walk in Folkestone.

And it would be early so to be there and all walked out before there were too many people about.

Obviously.

We had coffee, then were out, after checking the traffic to/from the port, driving up the A20 to Capel, then down into Folkestone, down the Tram Road, parking at the bottom before going for a walk over the piers of the old Harbour Branch line to the station.

How we mocked Folkestone when they began to turn the old High Street area into an arty area.

Shops and studios appeared and vanished. But many stayed, and the Old High Street is a delight and full of places to eat and shop. So, they looked at the old Harbour Arm and developed that and the station.

Sadly, trains will never run again into the old Harbour Station, so half the line and the station was turned into a community asset, paths and wild gardens laid, and at the end on the Arm, small pop up shops, eateries and bars, popped up.

In summer it is loud, colourful and vibrant. But not at eight in the morning. Even the coffee shops, running out of converted shipping containers, were still setting up.

We walked through the Station, up the Arm to see the Gormley art down the steps, then back again to the car so we could return to Dover where Jools would go swimming and meet Sean and Ang for a chat.

So we did.

Traffic still light, but the air hung heavy and still. Once parked Jools changed and went for a half hour in the water. I tried to beat the parking meter, but failed.

Once she was dressed, we drove back home so she could have a shower, and I made breakfast of fruit and more coffee.

And then there was football to binge out on. First Citeh played and scraped a win against Sheffield Utd, and then Liverpool locked horns with Newcastle. And that was quite the game.

Silly bookings, mad sending off, and Newcaste a goal up and with Liverpool reduced to ten men, all seemed settled. But Liverpool regrouped and Darwin scored not one, but two magnificent goals, the second three minutes into injury time, ensuring The Toon grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory.

Quite remarkable.

And that was your Sunday here in east Kent.

Saturday 26th August 2023

The day after.

And what with travel and parties, I was pooped.

Jools was pooped.

So we did little.

Being the weekend, it did mean some hunter-gathering action at Tesco. We didn't need much, or so we thought, so I went on my own and yet it still came to £96! I think a lot is fresh fruit and vegetables, but even still, this is mad.

I came home before the port traffic back all the way up Jubilee Way. It is a Bank Holiday weekend, so people would obviously choose to spend several hours of it queuing to get onto ferries on either side of the Channel.

We were going nowhere. I still have a third of the shots from All Saints in Maidstone last week to edit and post, and then nearly 400 fromSt Albans on Friday which I haven't started. I might have gone out, but it looks like I'm not now going to Denmark over Heritage Weekend, so I will take hundreds that day too.

We shall see.

After breakfast I make a big pan of cilantro chicken, the recipe I saw on a scientific video on garlic. THe pan was for us to have for lunch next week, so while Jools went to the pool for a swim, I got creative in the kitchen, only change was swapping natural yogurt for the leftover mascarpone cheese, which, as you can imagine only improved the creamy texture and flavour.

I could have eaten it there and then.

But didn't.

Instead I sat in the garden with Scully, as the weather was so glorious, endless sunshine and light breezes. She likes to lay beside us, even on hot days, but after a while she takes shelter on the shelf between the two seats, but carried on purring.

The afternoon is spent trying to stay awake again, and listening to the football on the wireless. Norwich kicked off at three again, and raced into a two goal lead at Huddersfield, and running out 4-0 winners on the road and eased into second place in the table just behind Forest, as Ipswich lost their first game home to Leeds.

Just the 42 more games left before the end of the season.

We have fritters for dinner, no home made garlic mayo this time, though, from a jar was fine enough, and there was still more footy on the tellybox.

Friday 25th August 2023

Here's the thing.

I take part in a music quiz each Friday, and I made friends with Keithy Baby, erstwhile foil of Danny Baker back in his radio days.

Keith helped at a whole food stall on St Albans market, and the plan was to meet up, look at the cathedral, have some beers and have a chat.

But.

Keith's family moved to Bristol, and Keith had been waiting for closure on the sale on his house, which went through a couple of weeks back.

So, no Keith.

But the cathedral was still there.

So, we went anyway.

I called a fellow GWUKer to see if he fancied a trip, and he did.

Waiting at Dover Priory, a heavily graffitied Electrostar came rolling in on the opposite platform.

We caught the ten to eight train to London from Dover, meeting Graham in the undercroft at St Pancras, before going down to the Thameslink platforms to get a train to St Albans, which came after just a minute.

A 15 minute walk from the station, or would have been had we not been jumped by a greasy spoon, so we had a hearty breakfast, before walking through the town centre to the market square, and down through an alleyway to the cathedral.

It is one of the oldest cathedral in Britain, or parts of it are. We saw Roman brick, Tudor brick, knapped flint and puddingstone blocks.

And that was just outside.

Inside there were surviving wall and column paintings, tiles, icons, tombs and windows of wonder.

We spent an hour or so walking round, snapping.

Staff were friendly, welcoming and interested in our story, as well as us interested in theirs.

The tower is the oldest Cathedral tower in England. And here it is, looking up.

We spent an hour inside before having taken nearly 500 shots. I decided that was probably enough. For now.

We found Jools, then retraced our steps back to the market square, and hence to a pub for some liquid refreshment while sitting out on tables beside the street.

The day had turned very warm and humid, two pints of Abbot Ale went down well.

Graham had to get back to London, as did we as there was to be a family meal later, so we wandered down the long road to the station, then onto platform 3 to wait for the express service to Three Bridges and the first stop being St Pancras.

We had missed the train to Dover by two minutes, meaning we had 58 minutes to wait for the next one, so we found a seat and people watched, as you would expect us to.

As time drew near for the departure, we went onto the platform to wait, and for me to watch trains arriving and departing. A Eurostar left for Paris from the adjoining platform, accelerating quickly out of the station.

Our train arrived, and after those on it, got off, we all piled on so to get a seat, meaning the train was so packed when it left, people were standing down the whole length of the carriage, and folks at Stratford not able to get on.

Wow.

As the train travelled into Kent, stopping at Ebbsfleet and then Ashford, more and more people got off, even then it was pretty busy, but then on the Friday of a Bank Holiday the day before a strike which will mean no rail services in Kent at all. So, we should have expected it, I guess.

We were among the last off at Dover, the ticket barriers up meaning we had a ten minute wait to get out as those with bikes blocked the entrance hall, trying to get through.

We did get through, of course, so walked to the car, then out onto Townwall Street and up Jubilee Way to home. Where there was a feline waiting committee waiting for us, telling us it was dinner time.

Back out at six to pick up a Chinese takeaway before heading to Jen's where she, John, Mike, George and Trinny were waiting to help us eat and to help celebrate my big day.

We eat well and lots, hen Jen only brings out a cake with candles for me to blow out.

No real time for cards, Mike, George and Trinny left as they had an early start as they are driving to Kings Lynn for some banger racing action, and John left saying he wanted to get home before dark. Leaving Jen, Jools and I.

So we left too, Jools drove us back home along the A2, still busy with holiday traffic, and home in time so I could watch the second half of the Chelsea v Luton game.

Thursday 24th August 2023

Last day at work for the week, before a four day weekend, and heavy storms forecast, which we have heard about all summer and none have really arrived.

We did have heavy rain, and some flashes of lightning, rumbles of thunder, and it got so dark I had to have the table lamp on.

Other than that, work was OK. I made a stand, spoke my mind and people listened, which is always a surprise, as someone who has a degree in squit generally can switch to quality expert mode when meetings start, which is just as well, really.

Not dinner to prepare as we were going out!

Only a four day week this week, and a week which we rounded off having a slap up meal at Dino's on Castle Street with our friends Sean and Ang.

What was the occasion?

Well, a one of the four of us was about to celebrate their birthday, so it seemed better to have other to celebrate it with.

So, just mains and desserts for us, spicy Italian sausage spaghetti followed by cheese and crackers for me, all washed down by a bottle of Brunello 2014.

Lovely indeed.

Wednesday 23rd August 2023`

Sometimes, weeks and months of frustration come to a head at an unexpected point.

For me, that came yesterday when after months and months of preparing, repreparing and rerepreparing, I found that those I was doing all this for were not prepared.

I had suffered a mild migraine earlier, and although that had eased, a throbbing headache started to form, so I set an out of office message and logged off. Sat in the dark for a while, then decided to do something.

A walk in the afternoon sun yesterday, stupidly hot and humid, so I needed not just one beer when I got back, but two.

Instead of the usual walk, I took the path down past the farm from our street, and down the valley and up the other side to Kingsdown Road before walking along and coming back down the Dip and across the fields.

Lots of butterflies and insects about, but best was this Horner mimic hoverfly feeding on a field scabious.

The farm has changed its business, and has now partitioned several fields into paddocks for horses.

Which meant after emerging from the hedge lined path into the field, the path was lines tight on both sides leading between two paddocks.

I walked down, across the road at the bottom, and then up the track leading to the large field the other side, now harvested and ploughed ready for the next crop.

I take the path through the hedge, and along someone's drive into Kingsdown Road, turning left and eastwards along the cycle track leading to Otty Bottom Road.

And so down to the Dip, which as Jools had told me has seen little or no farm traffic this year, so is lush and green, with just a narrow path leading down to the muddy bottom.

But the bottom is no longer muddy, that has dried out and turned to something close to concrete, and all was green and lush with fresh growth.

From there is was a slog up the hill to Fleet House, then along to home, past the harvester which was hiding behind a hedge in a neighbouring field.

I got back all hot and bothered, but after sitting inside to cool down, I found that the bench seat on the patio was in shade, so went outside with a cold Belgian beer and some salted corn Kernals, to sit with Scully and watch the wildlife.

It was so nice, a second beer was called for, and after that I felt much more mellow.

There was then time to cook chicken Kyivs, Moroccan spiced rice and fresh corn for dinner before Jools returned, so over lunch I told Jools all what had happened and that I might have to resign in the morning, depending on how meetings went.

Whatever will be, will be.

I felt like crap, not enough sleep the night before, headaches and the curse of the milligans making life uncomforatable.

I went to bed before it was dark and soon fell asleep.

Tuesday 22nd August 2023

Another day in paradise.

After laying in bed a while, I get up, and after getting dressed go to check the moth trap, which had many, many moths. Although the Eyed Hawkmoth and Death's Head Hawk Moths I had been hoping for had not been caught.

Maybe another day.

Then back home to say goodbye to Jools as she left for work, and me to make a second coffee and get ready for work.

Then I dive into work after setting up the office, and I saw that the goats were out and running once again.

I wish I could say more, but work is work, and much is sensitive. And embarassing.

So, other than stopping for breakfast, brews and lunch, I work though, trying to make sense. Lunch was crumpets, which are as close as you'll get to those American style "English" Muffins. Nothing bets crumpets with lashings of melted butter on them.

Once work is done, I get rake out and gather the thatch and other stuff from the lawnmeadow. Took less than an hour, and the lawn looked bretty good after it, if a little dry. Rain forecast for Friday which will bring life and colour back.

So no walk for me again, and through my work in the garden, Mulder and Scully supervise, just to make sure I picked up all the grass.

Dinner was easy, more Caprese and warmed focaccia bread, which went down a right trat, as did the second half of the batch of faux balsamic aged vinegar I made on Monday.

It was a perfect lat summer's evening with light winds, birds singing and us eating another slice of Victoria sponge that Jools made at the weekend.

Yummy.

No football to watch, but there's always a podcast to listen to or a magazine to read, anything to avoid thinking about real life.....