Sunday 10th January 2016

Saturday

And just like that the weekend swings round, catching me broadside with the thought of there being no work or travel. And Jools was going to be away for the day, which meant I could do whatever I wanted, all day if I so desired.

The question was just what?

The first thing, obviously, was a trip to Tesco, to fill up the stores for the next week or so. And if Jen's alarm went off as planned, they would have headed off for a show, on ice, in Brighton. They were not on ice, the show was. Or would be. Probably.

So I bid her farewell, got in the car and drove to the shop, going there means having the hand held zapper thing and not having to go through the tills. It is easy enough, I whisk round, then around again as I get the stuff I missed the first time round They are always moving stuff, right? And sure enough when I got back home, the house was locked up and they had left for the bright lights of trendy Brighton.

I put the shopping away, had breakfast then thought about what to do. First of all was to go into town to snap Burlington House. It is now no longer a house really, just a challet, and is now just three or four stories high. Indeed from the steps down to the underpass from Newbridge, the castle behind can now be seen, a view that has not been possible since the 1960s.

The shots taken I wonder what to do next. The answer is of course churches. But as all three are subject to GWUK on Flickr, I can't tell you their identities, as the cheeky buggers read my blog sometimes. But I drive out of Dover on the A20, up Shakespeare Cliff towards Folkestone and to the churches beyond. Sadly, just to one church was open, a village one. Saturday mornings is a good time for churching, as many wardens use the morning for a clean so there is a good chance ta church will be open. But then again, you are far more likely to find a rural church unlocked than an urban one.

But as ever, the real pleasure is meeting the wardens, finding out about the community behind the church, and it is always great to find it is a very much living church.

It was by now just before midday, I was hungry, and with it being FA Cup 3rd round day, I thought I may as well drive back home for lunch then listen to the radio. Traffic was light back on the motorway, passing the Channel Tunnel terminal before turning off and making my way along Alkham Valley. I went that way to see if the Drellingore was flowing: it is a winterbourne, and with all the rain recently I thought there might be a chance it would. But as it turned out the valley bottom was dry, well at least with no flowing water anyways.

Back home I put the kettle on, put two cheesy twists in the oven to warm up, switch the radio on and go upstairs to fire the boiler up so to make the house nice and toasty.

3rd round day is special, and it would be nice if Norwich made it through this year. But that was unlikely as we had drawn Citeh at home, and indeed, two down by half time, three down soon after the re-start: we would have to wait yet another year. Just once I would like to see us make the final. Just once, you know.

Jools arrived home at seven, I popped some party food in the over; it was going cheap in the shop that morning, and what with a bottle of ale too, and some music on the radio whilst the wind and rain blew and howled outside. It was a fine evening at Chez Jelltex.

We made the final arrangements for the holiday, sent in the deposit to secure the rooms and flights. All very serious now, and the reality of holibobs in the land of the rising sun now a reality. Can't wait, and in four months time we will be there.