Wednesday, March 11, 2009

First Sun, then Snow, then Rain

We had sun all day in Dover but the next day, it was overcast, with snow still on the ground.

snowy start to day
Not to be stopped, we intrepid travellers headed out to a farm shop that had been recommended to us. We took the back roads and once again found ourselves facing another vehicle - this time a farm tractor. He backed up, bless his heart.

he backed up

I had wanted a farm shop to get some things for a 'home cooked' dinner for a change. Eating out can get old quickly and we wanted options. I really was looking for some lamb by this point. They had winter vegetables galore. We'd had a stalk of Brussels sprouts the other evening from The Goods Shed in Canterbury and I still had some, so no veggies.

Farm store

Farm store

I got some bangers and some bacon. I'd really been looking forward to back bacon again.

ah pork!

No marmalade making for me but lovely to see. We certainly need the orange in winter! We still had some grapes and apples and pears back at the villa. Fruit and cheese? Perfect.

for marmalade

We could use the services of a Moleman on our Maryland yard but suspected it was pretty far out of his range. Lots of cards to read and think of what one might need if one lived in this part of Kent.

Does the Moleman do Maryland?

While the fish lady was in her van, she didn't have scallops which was something I was tasting for.

Good to know

With a few purchases, we headed out to make a circuit to the coast, to reach the North Sea, but as we entered a village, and caught a glimpse of what was there, we made the decision just to stop and explore. Isn't that the fun part of vacations? Enjoying the serendipitous finds? Who could resist, even if the rain was coming down in a chilly drizzle? Wingham had it all.

Wingham

gone

the postman

older than dirt
1286 AD, almost not imaginable to us.

The Dog Inn called out to us after getting our bones chilled, but managing to buy some marmalade in the empty church. What a treat to have a coffee and tea and read the papers by the fire. We were a bit early for lunch but it really would have been nice.

The Dog Inn was inviting

warming himself with fire and coffee

hops
Quite a few decades since I had seen hops hanging from the rafters. Nice to see that some things are the same.

London Pride
This remained outside of a pub that had been closed. Taxes have raised the price of drinks so high, it has changed the face of a lot of villages that once had several pubs.

Back in the car, we decided to head up to Canterbury and find the Abbey. the clouds were opening and some blue appeared.

twilight
We parked the car (!), went into a huge pub and had a quick lunch - sandwich for him, and a fry-up for me.
I play with teabag
Ah that was good after the cold rain. As it happens, the weather had changed and we decided to move the car closer to the Abbey and the way out of town.

Every church is fascinating, either by looks or just the odd bits.

We bought some marmalade in here

We started in a gateway when we saw the Abbey but some nice young ladies called us to say we were walking through a girls' boarding school and they would get into A Lot of Trouble if the headmistress knew they had let us pass. So off around we went, saw the Abbey thru the playing field fences, and decided to pass on the visit and entrance fee. Sometimes a look is enough.

Abbey in Canterbury

Finally, we made it to Sainsburys which I prefer to Tesco and got some meat pies and some lamb chops, albeit NZ lamb.

Sainsburys - Canterbury

Time to head home and wonder just how few miles we actually drove this day! yet saw so much.

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