And not just any ordinary Friday, but it’s been the final work Friday of the year, and tomorrow the Yule break begins. I say that, because the idea of a break from work at this time of year pre-dates Christianity by a long, long way.
Yesterday saw the shortest day of the year. It was dark when we went to the supermarket sometime before seven in the morning, and seemed to begin to get dark at about half two. I know this because I was off work, getting ready for Christmas. Which involved getting to Tesco before the crowds; not that we had a huge amount to get, but we just hate shopping in crowds, doubly so this time of year.
We have been getting stuff for the last month, which meant we only had to get fruit, vegetables and milk yesterday. As most people seems to be saying this year, if we haven’t got it by now, we’ll just have to do without.
I took the day off work yesterday, as the last steam tour was due to pass through, and I really didn’t want to play hooky from work, even if I could have got away with it. And as it turned out, I got lots of other stuff done, well, shopping at Tesco, tried to repair some lighting at home (I failed with both lights), went to the butchers to pick up the turkey and other assorted meats and snap the train. And maybe find a pub selling Shepherd Neame’s Christmas Ale. I did all with great satisfaction.
The shelves at Tesco were fully laden, we whisked round the store picking up what we needed, got a checkout with a short queue, loaded the car and headed home. Jools headed to London to search bead shops for stock before they closed for Christmas, but was beaten by the crowds which thronged the streets and stores in the City.
I headed out for Minster, my chosen spot to photograph the train from, at just before eleven, giving me two hours to get other tasks done. I called in at the church at Woodnesborough on the offchance it was open, as I had snapped it from outside on a dull day. As luck would have it, two people were installing the parish Christmas tree inside, and the door was open. I went in, and took the shots I wanted. The church is on a small hill and dominated the view over Sandwich. I am told the translation of the village’s name is Woden’s Hill, which tells how old the settlement is, and its Norse history.
Once I had my shots, I headed to Preston to the butchers to collect our Christmas order including a turkey with a bacon lattice on its breast. It’s going to be a great Christmas I think. And then onto Minster to take up my position on the footbridge to photograph the train.
The location is great as there is a straight of about a mile, so there is a long opportunity to snap the approaching train, then, if it is going to head down to Dover, it has to slow down to cross to the other track, which means lots of time for shots with much smoke and steam. And yesterday with the strong sidelight and chilly air, there was smoke galore and the shots were really good, even if I say so myself.
After the excitement of the train, I thought a pint of beer would be in order. A pint of Christmas Ale to be exact. And seeing as I know the area quite well now, I headed towards Canterbury and then over the marshes to Grove Ferry and the Inn.
And, they had the Christmas Ale, and they pointed out that the seat beside the open log fire was free. So, I took my beer and a bag of spicy crisps to the fireside and sighed, real deep.
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