Monday 7th March 2016

Sunday

I woke at half five, walk through the the back of the house where an ornage crescent moon had just risen in the brightening sky away to the east: it looked stunning, so stunning I wake Jools and tell her she should go and look at it too.

Another bright, if could day. So what could be better than a morning beside the seaside?

Nothing at all.

Last winter I decided we should re-visit the seaside resorts of North Kent, and we did most, but Herne Bay slipped through the net, so, I thought that was where we should go. I think it has been many years since we last were there, certainly I think 2010 when we left from there to visit the Mausell Forts.

After breakfast, we set off, with us taking the route to Ramsgate and me thinking it was just to the west of Margate. But I was wrong, it was ten miles firther along the coast, near to Whitstable, so once we crossed onto Thanet, we took the main road back off the island.

Traffic was light, but those out and about clearly were in a rush as they whizzed by us as we tootled along at 60mph or so.

We turn off and drive through the centre of the small town, turning along the promenade, and confronted with many empty parking spaces, so many, I didn't know which one to choose. In the end I pick one of the free ones, but then free is my favourite price. Apparently. We get out of the car and the arctic wind hits us. I thought it looked warm so failed to put on an extra layer of clothes on, I was chilled to the bone. And then the extra cuppa I had for breakfast wanted to come out, so we had to find a place with facilities, as there seems to be so few public toilets around these days.

We find a cafe, so go in and I use the facilities, Jools then informs me that she had chosen a Knickerbocker Glory to eat, as she had never had one. Was I going to have one, too? NO, I would have some TSP in the form of a bacon butty. It is great, sitting at the back in a booth watching the world come and go, order food and do stuff.

We finish, so have to go back outside into the cold. At least the light is good, right? Anyway, offshore are two windfarms that my employers built, with no help from me, but they look good, producing all those wiggly amps out of thin air.

We walk down the promenade to the start of the pier, which has now had the sports centre removed and instead a shopping village made of small sheds, put in its place. I am sure it will be great in summer, but yesterday, very few were open, and those that were had no customers. We walk to the end, look out at the old pier head, now separated from the rest of it by several hundred metres of open water, then turn to walk back to shore and then to the car.

Back in the warm of the car, we drive along the coast to Reculver, where once was a Roman Fort, then a Saxon Church, is now a ruined parish church, right on the edge of the sea, standing forlorn. I get out to take some shots, then go back to the car where Jools is listening to a documentary on Jeff Buckley.

It is too cold to go to Minnis Bay, so we drive the long way home, via Boyden Gate, Chislet, Grove Ferry and Preston, and then back along familiar roads home. We did drive along roads that were unknown to us in getting to Chislet, and will need a revisit to take some shots. Always new places to find and explore.

Back home there's football on the radio, photos to edit and tea to drink. So the afternoon passes quickly. I make chorizo hash, only to discover we have only one ring, so I defrost some ginger flavoured sausages, fry them and then add to the hash. Worked very well I can tell you.

It was Mother's Day, so I call Mother, and we swap news, not as bad as I thought, but always fraught if a taboo subject comes up and we can start throwing accusations at each other. Still, got that over with.

We watched some more on the Renaissance, then tiredness took us to bead at nine, pooped after a full weekend.

As I walk round the bedroom, I look out the window, and down below feasting on seeds and fat balls are a badger and a very large fox, almost as large as the badger. But the badger rules, the fox is trying to get to the seeds, but the badge lays across the seeds, trying to keep them all for itself. They dance for about 5 minutes, or at least the fox does, trying to sneak past the badger and get some seeds, but the badger is having none of it. The fox gives up and slinks off. One of them had taken the fat balls to the back garden and eaten them there, as I found the leftovers this morning.