Weekends come round so slow and yet pass by in the twinkling of an eye. But, the weeks do seem to pass by quickly; it is now the 8th of November; I mean, where did October go? And September for that? These next few weeks are going to be hectic, as I am running the department, kinda, in the absence of my boss who is in Egypt on holiday. And after that we have a week long trip to Denmark , which will be a round of meetings, meetings with more meetings thrown in. After that I have three days holiday, during which time we are heading to Manchester and Blackpool to visit friends and for me to take some snaps. The week after that I have a first aid course for three days, and beyond that I have to go to Kendal for a course. Which that brings us to the week before Christmas.
Phew.
And so, we must take our relaxation where we can. And that is what weekends are for.
Saturday, a friend had arranged a Flickrmeet in Deal; Jools had a bead class, which gave me time to hunt for birthday presents for her too. And so just before nine I headed off on the great hunt for a parking space. Not that Deal is too bad, as long as you’re up with the larks, getting a spot is not difficult. But, at nine parking charges begin, and so anywhere near the beach and pier is full of cars owned by fishermen who think nothing of standing for hours waiting for a bite. Don’t see the attraction myself, but who am I to judge?
I got the last space near the pier, and walked to the High Street through the narrow and picturesque side streets. I bought a couple of books and then made my way to the record shop. Deal still has an independent shop, and the owner is knowledgeable enough. I got a load of stuff I recognised from the radio show we listen to most evenings.
That job sorted, I walked back to the pier and bumped into a friend; and so together we walked to the café at the end of the pier to meet the others. 12 of has gathered from all parts of East Kent for a chat, and to take a few shots. And breakfast. In fact some of the others had already finished their ‘megga’ breakfasts and were nursing swollen bellies. I ordered a small one and we sat down to chat and exchange news and other upcoming shoots.
Back outside we make our way up the prom the castle, snap that, and wander back past what is left of the fishing fleet, which, as normal was beached high up on the shingle bank.
Just before twelve, we all left, with my friend Matt and I heading to a country pub to snap that, and to sample their ales, before heading back to mine to try the porter which is now perfect for drinking.
The Haywain is a fine pub on the main road from Sandwich to Canterbury , and is in the hamlet of Bramling; which also gives its name to a strain of hop, which as any fule kno, is used in the making of beer. So, we ordered a couple of pints of Bramling Cross, made with those local hops, and settled down to listen to the banter of the locals.
Time then to head back to the house and that date with a couple of bottles of porter, and to chat more about photography and possible trips. We had the scores from the afternoon’s games on the computer, before it was time for Matt to head off to the station to catch his train back to Ashford.
That evening, I cooked chorizo hash, which is probably our favourite meal; or one of them anyway. And then we settled down to watch a documentary on the last day of The Great War; of which I plan to write more about on the 11th.
Sunday the rain did fall. Oh yes it did. And so we did not go for a walk, either on our own or with the ramblers. In fact we just visited Jools’ Father and then headed back home for lunch of bacon sarnies and to watch the rain fall down the window. That afternoon, Jools did some beading and I made a huge pan of stew and watched the football on TV. Not a bad afternoon all in all, and the games were great with both Arsenal and Chelsea losing.
For dinner we had roast beef and all the trimmings, which was all very nice, and afterwards we lay on the floor listening to Desert Island Discs with kittens asleep on our bellies. I had lit the wood burner, and as the wind howled outside we lay quite, quite happy.
We slept well last night, until at five past three, we were awoken with the house shaking as a single crack of thunder boomed directly overhead. I lay awake listening to the thunder getting quieter as the storm moved away, but then the rain fell once again.
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