under another sun

Such a beautiful day, we decided to go for a spontaneous trip to Dungeness, which had so taken my fancy last year. It meant that we could pop in on Pat and Maureen too on the way home. Gorgeous day, and we drove along the coast through Hastings and eventually found our way to Dungeness. It is a strange landscape, very flat and no trees, so that anything vertical can be seen for miles. Gives me slight feelings of  overexposure there, but it is manageable. We walked from the car down to the pebbly shore, and Lorraine spotted something poking out of the water. On further sightings we decided it was a seal. Every now and then it would disappear, and on one occasion I saw a sizeable fish leap out of the sea, obviously fleeing a predator. From here we mooched about in the heat. A surreal landscape. Passed by Prospect Cottage once owned by Derek Jarman. It would be lovely to look more closely at the garden. We stopped off at the Pilot for a cold drink, before driving along the coast ...

Up early today, and off to Hove to pick up Beth and then we drove to Ashford for a day out with Pat and Maureen. Today was the day before Pat's 85th birthday, as Wednesday is supposed to be rainy. We drove to Hythe, where  Lorraine had booked us The Royal Saloon, a carriage on a little miniature railway, called the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway .  There were two plaques on The Royal Saloon saying the Queen herself had ridden in it on two occasions, so it was a fitting carriage for Pat. It took us to Dungeness, where Pat had worked in the nuclear power stations. We all loved it. Lorraine particularly has a strong love for steam trains, and spent the journey looking shining eyed, and waving at everyone as we passed, most of whom waved back. Soon Pat and Maureen were waving too, and Beth had soon perfected a royal wave that made people laugh all the way from Hythe to Dungeness. This was a corner of Kent strange to me. Pat told me was the largest area of shingle i...