And a very pleasant good evening to you to Chez Jelltex. We've had roast corn-fed chicken, hazelnut and apricot stuffing, roast tats and lots of vegetables. For a Monday evening, it was a very pleasant meal indeed. I made the night better by popping a bottle of Grand Vin de Bordeaux 2005; very nice, and so I'm feeling quite, quite mellow.
For a Monday, it was a pleasant day; some work, got some money back from one of our supplier; or at least a promise of a repayment, which is as good as it gets. For now. The rest has been more background reading, and listening to Friday's Steve Lamaq show on the i player. I called in Tesco on the way back, in a bid to change fro the shopping happening at the beginning of a weekend to the end. I had shopped at Waitrose last week, and vegetables are so darn expensive, I put it off. Put it off to Monday in fact. But we have a fridge full of stuff, and milk enough for a dozen breakfasts.
The weekend began some time Friday afternoon, with me sneaking out as I felt pretty rubbish and so made space tracks.
Saturday morning, we decided to have a lay in bed for a while, play with cats various and then head out to Folkestone for some chores; one of which was to photograph a listed pub, and sample their ales. we wandred around the town centre, mixing with the shoppers and freaks. I was drawn to a stall selling old time sing along music on CD and tape. It did attract an odd mix of folks; the best of which was a rotund bloke in Oakley shades, sweat pants and a Stetson. Not many could carry that look off, he being one of them.
I went to the grand parish church now that the scaffold was down around its tower, and to sample the atmosphere inside. And then onto a different pub than planned; The British Lion. I had a pint and Jools had a cider; and we chatted to the barman in the twee surroundings of the snug.
So, the plan was to walk to the Coastguard and snap that. But the heavens had opened, and so as the car was on the way, so we hopped in the car and went home. And so the rest of the day was spent listening to the radio; football as usual, maybe with soe snapping of the kittens and such.
In the evening we went out for a meal at one of our favourite places; the Rising sun in Stourmouth. we had planned to have Spanish Paella, but we got seduced by Chateaubriand; which is a kind of fillet steak, big enough for two. which is good as there was two of us. The meal was spendid, and one time I will have to take some shots of the inside of this fine public house.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early for a trip to London in the car, to be on Richmond Park as early as possible; maybe to see some deer and enjoy the wonderful autumnal morning. we zoomed up the M20, along the Ms26s and 25 and then up the M3 into rich suburbia-land, past Twickenham and into Kew. This we realised was not Richmond, so being metrosexual, I checked the map and we headed back south into Richmond to the park, and actually found a parking space.
We put on our boots that were made for walking and headed off into the gangs of dogs off the leash and their bohemian owners. we spied a gate in the fence beyond and made for it. The path lead through a Rhododendron thicket and into a quiet wood. All over the floor were plump chestnuts, which we collected.
we came out of the fenced area, and beyond was a splendid vista of woodland, fern covered health and a distant lake. And to our left was a group of deer. we crept up, but we made so much noise the deer shuffled off a little.
we walked through a semi-cleared forest and out into the heath; two stags ran past, I tried to snap them, but only got blurs. Families walked past, many with dogs either on leads or running madly barking at whatever or diving in lakes and ponds.
As we made our way back to the car, we came across a doe, inbetween some bushes, she was not afraid, and we got some wonderful shots of the deer.
It was a short drive back to Kew; we parked like everyone else on a cycle lane and walked to the entrance. after a coffee and a bit to eat we walked around the wonderful gardens. Of course the trees were a riot of reds and oranges, but there were some summer flowers and blooms still giving it a go.
Of course the tropical house and the temperate house were stunning, in all their Victorian glory; all full of fabulous plants and in the case of the tropical house, humid to heck. To an extent that all the camera was coated in condensation.
We walked to the new treetop walk, a hundred feet up in the boughs of mighty trees, with great views over the the city of London. And all the while, the sun shone from a clear and deep blue sky.
And then it was time to head home, back along to craziness that is the m25 in daylight hours and back into Kent and back to our clifftop home and the arms of our kittens.
No comments:
Post a Comment