Practically perfect

A practically perfect morning stroll was had this morning, in a pretty good weekend. I hope that messages of apology are being sent to the much-maligned Met Office, as the warm dry weather continues. In the south-east anyway, he added hastily, as the soggy residents of the north and west grind their teeth.
The stroll in question was around the north section of the Lydden reserve, to check on the slow progress of the thousands of flower-buds of devil's-bit scabious. They only grow on the northern slopes here, but even these are dry chalk. As the plant generally likes 'damp' places (must be good in the north and west then hehehe) I assume that this has retarded their blooms, and they have been in bud for weeks.
But.......
....in a secluded dip which gets less sun, some of the scabii had bloomed, looking like the kind of hat my grandmother used to wear on Sundays.
As the day warmed up, combining hot sun with cool breeze (perfect), butterflies appeared - including about 30 adonis blues looking stunning in the bright light, and at least 40 silver-spotted skippers, dashing from flower to flower.

Also, on marjoram of course, some small coppers.

To add to enjoyment, three buzzards floated over, calling to each other. Other highlights of the weekend included watching Newcastle beat Palace (my ears are still ringing, as we were in the Newcastle section), and switching on the radio to hear the last Aussie wicket fall.

Almost perfect. In the next week or so, the sight of all the scabious in flower should be stunning.