The Valley Way

I had a lovely day on Tuesday. After ten days without support for J - one PA away and the other absent because her son had a nasty respiratory infection which we didn't want to risk being transmitted to J - we were  happy to welcome M back. It was a beautiful morning, bright and warm with pretty white clouds floating above the valley in perfect blue sky. I walked south west along the valley, on a path which follows the  course of the Nailbourne back towards its source. It's part of the Elham Valley Way, which runs from the south Kent coast at Hythe to Canterbury, roughly following the route of a long closed railway, though little remains to indicate its former route. The last time I photographed this path, the hawthorn was festooned in glorious white blossom; now it's russet with berries, whose colour is visible on the hedge across the valley as well as the foreground trees. 

I returned to coffee on the balcony, with a few minutes to continue reading and looking the the photos in my Fay Godwin book. Later, feeling purposeful after my indulgent morning, I picked a pile of cucumbers, a good cabbage and some rather small aubergines and courgettes, then prepared half a box of windfall and damaged apples for use in chutney. For the moment they are sliced and waiting in the freezer, while I try to get all the perishable fruit prepared as quickly as possible. I'm planning to make blackberry and apple chutney - the blackberries are already prepared and frozen - and some spiced apple, which is possibly my favourite chutney and one I've not made for several years while we were working our way through large batches of marrow, rhubarb and green tomato chutneys.