Sunday 25th August 2024

I have quite the backlog of shots to post, and with each passing day I take more. Back in the 70s, Mum was a bingo caller at the local hall, and I used to go along to help pay out lines and full houses, so got to know all the names for certain numbers: Kelly's eye, Wilson's Den, Top of the shop, and my favourite, five and nine, the Brighton Line.

Yesterday as my birthday, and reach the rip old age of fifty nine. The Brighton line.

Jools had already presented me with my present, see yesterday's post, so just cards from her and my schoolfriend, Douglas. I have no other family left, the only child of two only children. And those distant relations have all either passed away too or I lost contact.

Its something I got used to over the years, and then four years ago, Mum passed and there was no one left.

So it goes, so it goes.

And so then, to my birthday. And after coffee and breakfast, we drove out to Sandwich Bay as I was on the trail of yet another rare dragonfly. Or damselfly to be more accurate.

The Scarce Blue Tailed was discovered a couple of weeks back, so I thought, with the winds having dropped, I would go to hunt for it, the male is pretty distinctive.

So, I drove us over there, made more difficult by the closure of the level crossing in Sandwich, so we drove round the houses, then along the quay and out to the Bay.

I asked in the Observatory where they were, was told the new ponds and pointed about a quarter mile south. So set off, leaving Jools to stay in the car and read.

Not many damsels to be seen, and in the end just saw a male and female Common Blue Damsel right where the Scarce should have been, but were not.

I snapped a couple of dragons, and a couple of butterflies too. Then got a call from Jools saying that somehow she was locked inside the car. And I had the keys.

So that was my cue to leave and walk back along the estate road, back to the observatory and release Jools from her prison.

We had an ice cream then drove back towards Dover, though turning off to Whitfield as Jen was cooking Sunday dinner in celebration of mine and Cath's birthdays. Hers was a couple of days ago.

We chatted, drank wine and ate roast chicken, then after cleaning up, chatted more, until it was four and we could barely stay awake.

Back home to try to concentrate on the Brentford v Liverpool game, which was OK, with 'Pool running our 2-0 winners.

Was OK.