Saturday 26th November 2016

There always seems to be something to get up for, and so when you want to lay in bed, you can't. And conversely, when you can lay in bed with nothing to do all day, your brain wakes up at 100mph and just accelerates. Saturday morning meant that we had to go shopping, so we could have something to eat. So, up dodging hungry cats, make a coffee, feed the mogs, then out on the hunt for smoked salt. Yes, you read that, smoked salt. You see in London last week, they had a small bowl of smoked salt which you could sprinkle on food or, as we did, on the slices of buttered bread. And it was divine. So, we had to get some for home. This is why on Tuesday evening I was in the artisan beer shop in Esbjerg asking for smoked salt and buying ramson salt; that is salt flavoured by local wild garlic (ramsons). Oh and two bottles of Christmas beer too. Anyway, no smoked garlic. A search on the web revealed that Sainsbury's had some, so it was there I went just after seven looking for smoked salt.

Sainsbury's is filled with so many nice things, but after some looking I find the epicure aisle, but there was so much, and yet no smoked garlic. Anyway, most is so expensive in Sainsbury's, so for the main shop, I drove to Whitfield to Tesco to buy some bread, fruit and other stuff. But amazingly, they did have the smoked salt, so I buy two boxes, so I think we could have the salt on fresh rolls to go along with the insalata caprese which we would have for lunch, which as you can imagine would turn out to be a triumph.

Inbetween then, I had a date at a church. Again.

Over the past seven years or so that I have been doing this Kent church project, several churches have proved to be resistant to allow me along with my camera. Last summer I managed to see inside Betteshager church, and then at the end of last month I visited Preston. And now it was one of my local ones, Whitfield. And thanks to the internet and e mail addresses, over the week I arranged to meet the churchwarden at eleven. Could it really be true? We shall see.

Whitfield is only a handful of miles away, near to the old folk's home, but I would be avoiding there. St Peter's is an ancient church, dating back to Saxon times, and parts of the church would show this.

Whitfield is about to explode with people, as the first phase of over 5,000 new houses are being built between the village and the Sandwich road, and indeed on the other side of the Sandwich road. For the moment it is a massive building site, and although Whitfield isn't the most picturesque of places, nor quiet with the A2 running between it and Dover. But this development will make it almost as big as Dover itself. But for the time being, it is as it always has been, a large collection of houses from the 60s and 70s, all narrow streets and rat runs leading across the fields to Guston and St Margaret's, and a way we could get home in the event of traffic jams to the port.

St Peter is tucked away down a narrow lane on the edge of the village, overlooking fields, and is almost hidden from the lane by mature trees, and invisible from the Sandwich road also due to the trees. There is a rough parking area between the trees, so I turn in and see that there were half dozen other cars already there, as well as a dreadful amount of trash from McDonalds, as clearly, sitting outside a quite church is the ideal place to have lunch or supper after picking the food up from the drive through. What I can't understand is why people then throw trash out of the car.

Anyway, from the parking area I could see the door ajar in the church, so I quickly grab my bag containing my cameras and dash inside before the warden might think of wanting to leave. From the outside, St Peter looks plain and austere, and you would think it would be inside. But inside it is full of light and warmth: in the 70s the church had been re-arranged, with the altar opposite the the main door on the north wall, with the modern chairs set round in a semi-circle.

It is a shame that things cannot stay the same, but then if they did, where would we be? The changes make the church better, and with all having clear views of the altar perfect for weddings and christenings. I think the church works this way, there are two Saxon pillars set into the south wall, also there are two small Saxon windows in the south and west walls. It works well, and my memories will be warm thanks to the light and friendship I received here.

From Whitfield I go down the hill to the pet food shop to pick up some bird food. That means mixing it with the Saturday morning shoppers, and the heavy traffic.

The pet food place is inbetween ASDA and Morrison's. with a poorly designed car park surrounding them. I find a parking place, and go into the shop, grab the seeds and mealworms and other stuff. Then there is the fuss of getting out of the car park, with people driving between walking people, taking on their mobiles or sending texts. I was so glad to get out onto the main road, driving down Maison Dieu Road to Townwall Street and then up Jubilee Way to home.

Phew.

The shed has been moved, the shelter is up, but the patio, old patio, is full of the stuff that should be inside the shed. So, half an hour's work, we put the stuff back in the shed, creating ever more space outside. It looks good.

I had pulled something in my back lifting the bbq inside. I guess I was at an odd angle, but there was no clearing it. My day was done, so I go inside to lay on the sofa, and put the radio on to listen to the end of the football. I try very hard not to fall asleep.

At three Norwich kick off, away at Derby, and playing well. But don't make their possession count, and in the 2nd half, they get tired, and one of our former players scored the winner for Derby. Another defeat, 5th in a row. A poor end to the day.

In other games, Swansea beat Palace 5-4, after being 4-3 down after 90 minutes. That would be well worth watching later.

Again, darkness falls outside, the sun sets. Half the weekend gone and what have we done. Well, churches, garden, shopping and such like.

And so to the forth part of the People's History of Pop, which we recorded from Friday night. Tis edition covered from 1986 to 1996, and in theory, my interview could have been used for this part too. But wasn't of course. In an unexpected turn, the program covered a lot of dance and rave music, which really was as revolutionary as Punk or the borth of Rock and Roll, in that a hit record could be achieved with no radio play, just through exposure in clubs.

Then there was the drugs of that scene too. Maybe Lowestoft just wasn't druggy, or I had my eyes closed, but I saw no drugs during my clubbing years, just lots of beer. I suppose many were on drugs, I can remember a few people drinking Lukozade rather than beer, a sure sign looking back they were on the happy pills, but then some of us were naturally happy.

There was also sections on Blur and Oasis as well as the Spice Girls and all told by their fans, which was great. No one had a chart book though.