BEE LUCKY

I was excited to find this bee orchid in Spion Kop cemetery on the Headland. I was keeping my eyes open without much hope as I could only find one fully out pyramidal orchid and a few more coming through and suddenly there it was! I thought I'd have to wait another week and for better weather.

I was up there for a walk after a GP appointment about my painful knee. The doctor said he'd refer me for an x-ray and tapped away at the computer. When I asked what the waiting time was likely to be he said the request had gone through and I could go straight up to radiography in the hospital if I was free, which I was. It's only about quarter of a mile from the practice and I was in and out, x-rayed, within 50 minutes of my initial GP appointment! (Not quite fast enough, though, to escape the iniquitous car park charge which kicks in after 20 minutes.)

Also in the cemetery were a couple of common blue butterflies, the only fragments of sky-blue I saw on yet another grey day (extra).

Second extra is the counter of the café where we treated ourselves to breakfast since we've got nowhere comfortable to sit and eat at home until the carpets are dry enough to put the furniture back, which I'll be doing tomorrow.