Orchid tragedy

We've been keeping an eye on a group of new-to-us orchids growing on a path below us. Yesterday, after the flowers began to open, Kaye went to take pictures. Before she could get any good ones, the sky began to drip, so she hurried for cover. This evening we went to have a look, planning to go back for photos at the next sunny spell, and discovered that the path had been mowed, and all the orchids are gone, along with another mystery plant we'd been watching! We did find two tiny versions of the orchid, as yet without a flower stalk, growing on the side of a rut, out of reach of the mower. We'll continue to watch and try to get some good pictures if these are successful. These are the Common Twayblade (really!), Neottia (or Listera) ovata. Here's a bad picture of the plant, which stood about 25cm high:

The flowers are tiny, about as wide as a stack of two pennies is high. (A good close-up of a single flower can be found here.) Here's the flower stalk on the same plant:

It's another common orchid, but exciting for us to find. Meanwhile the Early Purple Orchid continues to brighten the roadsides. The Burnt Orchid that was blooming in our yard at this time last year has still not made an appearance.

But the cuckoos are a-cuckooing and the frogs are a-croaking. And the woodlands and roadsides are full of bluebells. This sight is on the path to the twayblade, but even the South Forty is covered with a blue haze.

Our new freezer was an energy-efficient version, which entitled us to a rebate. We send the invoice and our bank information to the tax office and within two weeks we had our money back. Amazing.

But no one will be surprised that we are still waiting for a call-back to learn what's happening with Ed's Carte Vitale.

Last weekend we went to an organ concert at the church (where Ed's choir sings) in Montbron; the concert was part of an organ festival being held at various venues throughout the area. There were solo bassoon pieces, bassoon and organ duets, organ solos, and a choir. Some interesting music and some screechy modern stuff.

On Tuesday we saw the Russian National Opera do highlights of operas and ballets. Yes, famous arias from dozens of operas and dances from dozens of ballets. One excruciatingly terrible tenor, an excellent soprano, and a couple of average baritones. The corps de ballet was good, as you'd expect.

Ed's been busy installing screens on our bedroom windows. He'll put ones on the bathroom and kitchen windows next week. Sleeping with the north bedroom window open, we find the air perfumed by the wisteria growing on our neighbor's barn and shed. It's blooming beautifully this year, and Kaye will try to take a cutting for our garden before long.

The weather has been quite warm and very dry. Last night we finally had a bit of rain that refilled the cisterns. There's rain forecast for the next days also, which is nice for all the fields and gardens around.