Tuesday 26th March 2024

Tuesday.

And Jools was home, though she didn't have much planned, other than an aquafit class at midday. Though we did have the excitement of the new carpet being installed in the back room.

There was more stuff to sort out: which DVDs do we not want to keep, bearing in mind almost all have not been played in a decade. One of my favourites, Bull Durham, was last played on my 50th birthday. And that was one of the most recent.

I think we watched all of the Harry Potters and LOTRs during lockdown, between games of Uckers and walks in the countryside.

Anyway, a dull and misty start which really didn't get much better.

The carpet guys came just after 11, Jools went to the sports centre at half past, and there was I thinking the installation would take some time.

Twenty minutes later, they announced all was done and they took their tools and left.

I went up to look, and found the carpet and hall covered in fibres, so thought I had better sweep them up before a cat tried them.

In the time it took to go downstairs to fetch the vacuum, Cleo had eaten a couple of the fibre clumps and then thrown up.

Lovely.

I sucked the fibres up, and packed the vacuum away, so when Jools came home to inspect the works, as it will be her who will be using the room most.

It passed the inspection.

With Jools at home now, means I could take the car to go and snap another railtour, this time should be steam hauled, and it was to be Royal Scot.

Not very bight still, in fact it had been drizzling all afternoon, which should hake it better for smoke and steam.

I drove down to Martin Mill, parked up to find two people already there, so I join the waiting postie on the down platform ready to snap the train on the other side of the tracks.

It was good to have someone to chat to as we waited, one of of us checked the realtime tracker, so we knew when it left Walmer, we had about three minutes.

And soon enough we could hear through the gloom, the sound of a steam locomotive working hard. We took positions and got ready. One final check of the camera settings.

Round the bed it came, lights shining brightly through the evening shadows.

It passed in about twenty seconds, I guess. I rattled off 170 shots, and during the pass, we got a salute from the drive with two blasts on the steam whistle.

And that was that.

As the train climed Guston Bank to the tunnel portal, we walked back to our cars, and for me the short drive up the hill back to Chez Jelltex.

For the evening's entertainment, there was the latest England friendly, v Belgium, and England played well, not so well as Saturday, but in defence were a shambles, gave two goals away, and it wasn't until the 97th minute that Bellingham scuffed an equaliser in the corner of the goal.

Yay.