Saturday 9 April 2011

Saturday 9th April 2011

And back to the working week. well, not quite, as I asked if it was OK for me to work from home, and my boss said yes.
So, I laid in bed a little later whilst jools got ready for work and made the morning go by stroking the cats who love someone laying in bed.
In the end I got up, I had a phone conference with my boss and the one other person in our department. That done, it was lunch time, and looking outside the sunshine made the garden look very inviting.
But, I knuckled down and worked away, but at three I had to return the car to the place in Dover. I filled it with fuel, £66 for the return trip, not bad. and then down to the harbourside to return the car. No problems were found and I was free. I walked around the harbour, snapping the scene with the castle high above the town. Feeling thirsty I decided to have a drink in Cullen's Yard next to the marina, and ordered a Bitt.

Sunny Dover

It really was very nice indeed to be sitting in the late afternoon sunshine. I finished my beer and walked to the promenade and took a seat on a bench and did some people-watching. I passed the time watching folks walking by and the ferries coming and going on the flat-calm sea.
And then it was time to head to my chosen viewpoint, as a steam train was due to pass. I chose a bridge just as the line comes out of the harbour tunnel and on a sharp bend. The locomotive should be working hard as it accelerates away from the tunnel. Or that was my plan.
Others took up places on the other side of the bridge; did they know something I didn't? I think they were staying there as they thought the light would be better, gambled that the angles and my skill in metering would see me through.

70000 Britannia at Dover 7th April 2011

5 minutes late, 70000 Britannia came into view with a long rake of carriages of different colours. I began snapping, and swapping to a different camera as it neared me. Then rushing over the other side of the bridge to see the train puff round the curve and away along the coast line towards Folkestone. Long after it was out of sight, I could still here the loco working as it's huffs and puffs reverberated against the cliffs.

70000 Britannia: Cathedrals Express 7th April 2011

And then on Friday, and back into the office for just one day and then its the weekend! And all the while the sun shone down fro a clear blue sky. In the end it was a busy day getting ready for my road trip next week where I will sample the delights of Warrington and Esbjerg.

But before all that, we have the weekend. Last night we watched half of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in anticipation of the latest episode arriving over the weekend, and so need to catch up with what is happening in the story.

A bug's view

And today, I had arranged a flickrmeet at Walmer Castle, as the gardens there are wonderful, and once again the sun shone down from a clear blue sky. Jools and I walked from St Margaret's along the cliffs into Walmer. It was very pleasant, with the sun on our backs and spring in full force all around.

About a dozen of us were there for the start at half ten, and we went inside, through the castle and into the gardens. The gardens are not quite in full bloom yet, and the daffodils had just gone past their best, but it was good enough to wander round and talk and snap.

Green

And then it was time to head home for lunch; we cadged a lift with our friends Gary and Julie, and they dropped us off at our car on the cliffs and then we drove home.

Time then for lunch of crusty French bread and stinky soft French cheese; nothing better.

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