Tuesday 25th June 2019

FIXMAS.

Six months to Christmas.

Get those sprouts boiling.....

Anyway, back to the blog:

BANG!

It was 03:55, I woke up, and outside the much anticipated storm had arrived.

Flash!

Bang!

And so on.

I got up to look out the bathroom window, the lightning was so bright it hurt my eyes. Three identical spikes hammered to the ground somewhere in front of the window; maybe into the sea.

I go back to bed, and the storm thunders on, the cloud so dark and low that dawn arrives nearly 90 minute late. By then the thunder was getting quieter, and the lightning lost in dawn's now bright light.

Two hours less sleep, grumpy Quality Manager ahead!

I had just fallen back to sleep when the alarm went off. OK, here we go again.

Jools makes coffee, we sit and she says she slept through most of the storm. Lucky her.

She leaves for work, and I tackle the chore of travel expenses. I scan receipts then e mail them to my work e mail address, power up the work laptop, file the shots, then create a report, attached scans of the receipts, explain each expense, and click the submit button.

Two hours had gone.

Then there is actual work to be done. Of course.

And lunch to eat, more work, more meetings.

And more chaos to herd like a swarm of unruly kittens.

Bah!

At four, I have to go to the doctor's to collect the pills I was prescribed the day before, but were not in stock.

I will take the opportunity to do a long walk.

Because I can.

Or should.

I walk down and then up Station Road, then via the back lane past the village pond to the surgery, where the receptionist makes a right meal of finding mine and Jools' pills, then getting me three quid change. It's just three pound coins, not hard. But it takes 5 minutes, I swear.

From there I walk through the mansions to the Dover Patrol Monument, then have a breather on the bench closest to France, with the ground dropping away at my feet. A cool breeze blew, just as well as the day was now downright warm, if not hot.

From there I take the path down inland, past the farm and along what used to be a butterfly rich bank, but now is oddly quiet. But it is downhill, so going is easy.

On either side, barley and wheat is ripening in the fields, and on the path between I, and dog-walkers, go about our business.

Up to the highest point, looking down onto where the Dip is hidden, and beyond I can see the houses of our street.

Phew, I mean, its hot. I walk along the cycle path, then turn down Norway Drove, down to the Dip which looked dry, but after recent rain is full of muddy water, but there is a path leading through the tractor ruts, and up the other side.

From there it is simple to walk past Fleet House, then down the path leading over the fields to home.

Now, I could have had a beer when I got home. If there had been a bottle in the fridge, but I still would have gone with the pint of iced squash, whch I set while being attended by two hungry cats, meowing for their overdue dinner.

Half five? How did that happen?

Jools had pointed out we had sausage meat in the freezer, so we bought some puff pastry at the weekend, and I make sausage rolls for dinner, which I eat with out of date ketchup.

Yummy.

And as I had put a bottle in the fridge earlier, a cold tripel too.

Jools comes home after her yoga class, so its eight by the time we have eaten and cleaned up, nearly another day gone, so we relax with some Brian Cox on the i player, which sends Jools to sleep, as expected.

Good night