Saturday 10th November 2018

And on the 6th day, the heavens did open and rain issued out. And, lo, the land was turned to water. And mud.

Yes, the forecast was grim, and was much, much worse than that.

Obviously, coffee, feed the cats, off to Tesco, back for croissants. And then.

Well, obviously with the flood about to happen, what better day to go on a little churchcrawling?

THere are a few local churches, not many I admit, that I have not revisited this year, and seeing Ringwould as we drove into Deal on Friday meant that was at the top of my list. Saturday mornings can be rewarding for those hard to get into churches, and I remembered that Eythorne was tricky until heritage weekend 6 years ago, so I thought I would give that a try.

A lake was forming at the bottom of Station Road, which meant going over the other side of the road to get round it, then many similar places until I got to the edge of Eythorne, where another flooded road almost meant I did not get there, and then there was the flashing lights of a police car, but that seemed to be stopping people going onto the Waldershare estate.

I went past those, through the village and down to the station, across the main road and up the hill to the church. And I had timed my arrival to coincide with the rain falling even harder.

I sling my gear on my back and do up my coat, then hurry through the churchyard to the door.

Locked.

I think maybe the one on the south side would be open.

Locked.

And the ran fell harder. Didn't think that was possible, but it did.

I got to my car like a little drowned rat, so i throw my gear in the back and set off for the next place; Sutton.

Sutton is a small village near to Ripple, and it has a fine little church, similar to Chillenden. As there too, the parking is hard on a narrow lane, with just enough space to allow a car to pass.

I do wonder to myself as to what I thought I was doing, but was rewarded once I got through the gate and looked into the porch as I saw the inner door open. And inside, three people were busy making the building presentable for the service of remembrance in the morning.

I take some shots, but in truth the church was so small I don't think I had missed much on my previous visit. But I manage to rattle off a good 50 shots or so.

From there it was a wet and muddy drive over the fields to Ringwould. I manage to park near the church and run to the door, finding this one too, open.

I am greeted with a warden who remembered me from my first visit, or says she did. Who am I to argue?

Anyway, I go round snapping the details, which are pretty stunning.

The rain still fell hard. It was half twelve, so I decide to go back home to find that the rain had not stopped there, and Jools had not been out. Wise choice really.

We have honey and molasses baked ham rolls; yeah, we know how to rock, and a brew, before the footy starts. And with the rain falling ever harder outside, that's where I stay. Although at one point the rain did stop and blue skies were seen out the back, the gale force wind pushed that through and yet more rain arrived.

I listened to the footy, following Norwich on Twitter, and like always, was a nervy afternoon. If we would win, we would go back to the top of the table. If.

It was one 1-1 at half time, and the same with just ten minutes to go in the 2nd. And then the madness began.

Norwich took the lead, then allowed Millwall to go up the other end and level. Tim Krul then threw the ball to their forward who buried the ball in the back of the net; 3-2.

And that was the score as the game entered injury time. After 92 minutes, City pulled level again. Made screaming from the radio and me.

And into the 7th minute of 6 added minutes, City score a winner, from a Millwall corner. Six touches and Pukki puts the ball in the onion bag, and I go mad.

To make it a perfect day, Leeds got thumped in the late game, and so we stay top for the international break.

I cook steak and all the trimmings, which we wash down with a fresh bottle of pink fizz, and the day seemed to be perfect. To make it so, I watch the highlights on Quest, and still can't believe City won that game, but they did. And I went to bed happy.