Saturday 2nd March 2018

The weekend.

And for one week only; something completely different. Mostly.

OK, there was churchcrawling, but there was other stuff too, and no trip to Tesco, as we had already done that.

My friend and colleague, Tracie, had invited us to see her and Wayne's new house in Whitstable, and reply the hospitality we showed them last December.

So we were able to start the day quietly, listen to the radio before we headed out at nine for a date with the first of the day's churches.

Good thing with the modern world is able to scour the county for churches on Google, get their post codes and going from one to the other, plan the day out.

We left and with fog having risen, it was slow going, and with other people driving like idiots, I take my time, hoping we would get to Whitstable in one piece. That cleared soon after we passed Canterbury, and from then the day got brighter and brighter.

We turned onto Thanet Way, then headed across the marshes to Graveney.

No idea what the church would be like, and although it looked fine from the outside, it was locked fast, so after taking a shot from the road, we move on.

Next up was Seasalter, the church hiding behind houses was also locked once we found it on the A-Z map.

I had thought that not many of the churches that morning would be open, so driving to the next one at Herne, I had low hopes for that. The main road twists its way though the ancient village, and parking near to the church was hard, but we go into a housing estate and find a place on a narrow street. From there it was a short walk down the hill, crossing the main road the the church where there was a sign saying there was a coffee morning on.

So it was open, and I received a very warm welcome, with the lady serving coffee very interested in the project.

We talk for half an hour about the town and the church, it is very pleasant indeed, but hard to resist the slices of sticky toffee cake they had made and were waving under my nose.

I get down to the task in hand, snapping the large church. Lots of points of interest: squint, font, side chapels and so on. It takes me half an hour to snap it all, and all the while Jools waited patiently, reading her latest book for the library.

All done, we drive to Tankerton, where I had jotted down a post code, but it turns out that was the church on Whitstable High Street, rather than in nearby Tankerton. We go to Tankerton to look there, but find no church, even hiding behind the rows of terrace houses.

So, we go to Tracie and Wayne's, parking outside their new bungalow, and apparently in taking a free space annoy half the people on the street who sees any free space as theirs.

This we fond out later.

We go in and are treated to a brew, and a slice of the baked cheesecake I had made, which was rather good indeed, even if I say so myself. Soon after Tracie serves up dinner, healthy with few carbs as she knew we are trying to shift the pounds. We have roast chicken, ham with salad and some veggies. All good stuff.

But the plan was ruin all that by walking into town to fill our bellies with real ale. Or that was the plan that Wayne and I had.

It was a pleasant stroll into town, to the Twelve Taps, a micropub they like very much. We get a table and order our drinks. And while we talk, we people watch and chat to other customers. And then repeat.

It was crazy busy, standing room only. So with there being another just up the street, under the railway bridge, we go there.

The Handsome Sam, named after a black and white kitty cat, was quieter, but the beer good there too. We hav a couple of pints of Gadds Number 3, which was very pleasant.

We could have stayed all evening, but there is only so much beer I can drink, so Jools and I decided to go home. From the pub it was a slog back up the hill to their house, where we say goodbye. Jools gets in to drive.

Wise, really.

And with darkness falling, she takes us home, back along Thanet Way to Ramsgate, then down to Sandwich to Dover.

At least the cats we pleased to see us.

I could check the football results, and find that Norwich won 3-1 at Millwall, so went back to the top of the table. And in just an hour I could watch the highlights on the TV.

Hurrah.

Jools goes to bed, but I stay up to see Pukki put the cherry on the top of the ckae with a huge volley for the 3rd goal.