Nice times in Rye.

This weekend I went to Rye to stay with my friends Karen and Ben in the small idyll they've created for themselves. I got up at 4.30 and booted all the way down there - country boot fairs are the very finest. I shall save my finds for another post but I will share with you that country folk do a mean house plant selection. Look at these little babies for the growing.

Once there Karen whisked me down to her allotment, which is a really splendid one. I should have got a better picture but I got a bit fixated on the array of fencing.

The best lunch ever with salad straight from the ground, I only thought to capture it's glory once I'd started gobbling.


Did a tour of Rye, which took all of five minute,s and found this beautiful graffiti in an alleyway by the church - maybe next time I'm there I'll take my junior hacksaw and have that away.
Then off to Dungeness.

I bloody love Dungeness.

It's so odd and beautiful, and there isn't a single house along there I wouldn't be very happy living in, although if I had to pick favourites it would be this one with an old railway carriage in it's middle.

The pub has a collection of over 2500 keyrings. The barman told me they counted them all at the last Christmas party, what a bangin' night that must've been.

And then to Derek Jarman's house for a poke about which was very inspiring but also odd because people live in it. I wonder what type of person buys that house; I couldn't live there.

Scrabbling around in fishermens' huts I was hoping to find a metal buoy but I think Derek got all of them ages ago.

Maybe an exhibit of very fine sheds for the next Five Sheds festival is in order

Phwoar.

The next day I decided to see whether my cycling legs still existed with a thirty mile round trip.

I was nervous about going off on what felt like a big ride after a year of just poodling round the east end. Luckily I've got a lot of high-spec equipment . . . that's not true.

But I do have sparkly gold handlebar grips.

It was a breeze, a real pleasure, I need to do it more. Cycling alone is nice too because you can go at any pace you wish and poke your head into abandoned farms and the like.

I had a well earned swim in the sea at Camber and then it was a short cycle back to beautiful Rye and even more beautiful Karen who fed me schnitzel and home made shortbread. Woop!

And now I'm back home having a slow night in, but enjoying myself. The Organist Entertains was so good this evening, I'd recommend a listen again if you missed it.

Night then.