A hot last day of June

30th June 2013

   The Moon was sliced in half in the blue sky this morning and it followed Dee and I on our walk on the Greensand Ridge. It was already very warm at 7am and any breeze was welcome. Along the Ridge, many of the spring flowers were gone; Queen Anne's Lace is brown and burnt, the Ransomes seed pods are an explosion of triple balls, like the Big Bang! Blackberries are flowering; an Autumn gift. It was pleasantly cool under the tree canopy, as the climb to Knole was hard, hot going. The breeze in Knole Park which can sometimes chill to the marrow, was unusually warm, and we sought some shade under an ancient Chestnut tree for breakfast, with the Parakeets calling above us, unseen. Bracken was chest high and there are Foxgloves everywhere. Of course, it is well known that foxes put the flowers on their toes to creep into chicken houses quietly!
   There was an elderly lady laying prostrate, flat on her back on the grass in the Sun, dressed in thick trousers, coat and hat. She did not move, and Dee suggested I poke her with my walking pole, just to check that there was life. Then she spluttered; we were relieved to know that she was sleeping. The deer were staying away from the heat and were under the trees, keeping cool, maybe this lady should do the same! We crept away sniggering with black humour.
   It was a blessed relief when we entered the wood to Godden Green; a chance for us to cool down. Along the sunken medieval path to Bitchet Green, we wondered whose feet from ages past had taken this way. There was Common Mallow, White Mustard, Yellow Flag, Vetch and Herb Robert to lighten the uphill struggle. And at the top a small, muddy puddle for Maisie to drink from.
   There was a welcome break back on the Ridge at the Beeches, with a light breeze. Then down toward Budds, back in the baking heat of the Sun. On the side of the hill, we watched a Kestrel through our glasses hover and bank, hover and bank, with glistening chestnut plumage. The heat had brought out Red Admiral, Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood butterflies, bouncing and fluttering from flower to flower, not still long enough to appreciate their beauty. And in the hedgerows, Dog Rose, Sweet Briar and apple, the fruits swelling. We wondered what type they were, too bitter to taste. And then back into the wood at Budds, so much cooler. In there, Speckled Wood butterflies were abundant in the speckled light, and a Robin followed us for a while.
   At the end of the wood, we faced the long walk in the full Sun through the great wheat field to Shipbourne church. The heat bore down on us relentlessly until we reached the woodland close by Ightham Mote. Then back to the car and home.
         Then in the afternoon in Molly's garden in Paddock Wood, a pair of Peregrines above!