School Starts Soon!

School starts on Tuesday - Bank Holiday Monday was last weekend and I rushed around to all the stores to purchase the SCHOOL UNIFORM. This is what I had to buy:

• mid to dark grey trousers long or short
• plain white shirt or polo shirt
• plain navy blue jumper or sweatshirt
• grey socks
• black shoes

For Phys Ed:

• plimsolls or black trainers (running shoes)
• navy blue shorts
• navy track suit
• PE Bag

Of course I should have started shopping about 4 weeks ago but how was I to know all the stores would run out??? Anyhow, it all cost no more than £25.00 which is pretty good all told. And that includes multiple pairs of socks, trousers and polo shirts. Now, just need to confirm school really does start on Tuesday....

Walking Around in Kent

We've been doing some walking around in Kent the past few days trying to dodge the rain showers and making an effort to get out and about. Because, after all, school is back next week and we won't be quite as flexible with our time. So we hope to do some pickin' of the above Blackberries this week. They are just about ready but methinks they need a wee bit of sun and warmth to spur them on for ready for a pie. We see lots of these on our walks.


Saw the Blackberries above while walking near Worth, near Sandwich (the home of the Royal St. George's Golf Club, where the Brit Open has been played a few times, last in 2003). And we saw this nice Lizard (called Lizard in England, - that's its name - not English Lizard, or Shiny Lizard just Lizard!) warming itself on a tire, and a nice Mushroom that DB says are good for harvesting - just fry 'em up!

On Friday we took a walk near and through Chilham. We used the "Best Tea Shop Walks in Kent" book to help us along. Naturally, we got lost, a lot, but had a nice time and the weather held out. And we didn't get so lost that we missed tea time at the Brass Kettle in Chilham. The photo on the book link above shows a piccy of the Brass Kettle. Tons of history in Chilham. More recently it is overrun with tourists coming to look at the Tudor and Jacobean shops and buildings. The castle grounds were

apparently laid out by Capability Brown. Why Capability? Read on... St. Mary's Church was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. if you go up the tower (which we didn't) you can see Canterbury, 6 miles away.

We had a few curious horses follow us, we walked through some burnt out fields (what's with that?), and poor J-Rock kept getting 'Stinging Nettled', and Sheep Dung was in good supply in the fields we walked through! But on we walked. Auctually, it was great because we got there by train and the town was 1/4 mile away from the town center. With our Rail Pass it was quite a cheap day out. On our return train journey it was quite noisy from people people talking on mobiles (cell phones) -- "Hi, where are you?", "What are you doing", etc etc and with one yobbo watching a mobile video player volume turned WAY up. gee whiz.

On Saturday we took a walk around Worth and Sandwich and saw some shorebirds on the newly created scrape on the Bird Reserve. Wood Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper were highlights at close range. There's a big open day there today which we are about to go to. Kids activities, walks of all sorts and refreshments and food. I need to walk off my weekend of Ginger Cakes, Crisps and Lemon Slices. Good thing I'm running again - up to 40 minutes aiming for a 10K or half-marathon in the late fall.

One observation not related to anything else - people drive over here on the left. OK. So why does that mean people also seem to walk down sidewalks on the left as well? I keep bumping into people or saying sorry cuz I have veered in the wrong direction.

Coffee Break with Mr. Kipling

Just taking a break while chit chatting with the Almonds and our Kind Hostess. Photo above of one of Mr. Kipling's "Exceedingly Good Cakes"- I've been going through all of Mr. Kiplings cakes, still need to try the Lemon Slice and the Battenburg....Especially nice if paired with a nice cup or tea or coffee. And no double double or single cream or any of that sort of thing. Over here you ALWAYS get the milk in your cup of tea you just need to deal with the sugar choice. With coffee you ask for it white and do the sugar yourself. All good lessons to learn.

Went to the Powell-Cotton Museum in Birchington yesterday because well, yes, um, it was raining again. Powell-Cotton and his family did a ton of exploring in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Mostly travelling in Africa and Asia they brought back over 6,000 mammal specimens and collected another 18,000 artefacts. One of the quirkiest things we saw there was the Congreve Clock - physics/mechanically minded types types might be interested in this. It's main operating mechanism appears to be a small rolling ball that goes back and forth every 30 secs keeping the time.

Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire

We had a busy weekend starting Friday morning as we made our way up the M2 -> A2-> M25 -> M11 towards Thurlby in Lincolnshire. We were booked for 2 nights at the Thurlby Youth Hostel so we could go to the British Birdwatching Fair the next day. Now the amazing thing is that there are 3 Thurlbys in the UK all in Lincolnshire. Since we were starving when we arrived we figured that was a good time to go grocery shopping. Which we did in nearby Bourne at Sainsburys. And we passed some lovely thatched roofs on the way and even more exciting an Edward VII Letter Box in Manthorpe. Yes, yes, yes. That's the photo of our hostel - we had the room at the top left. Very comfortable, ensuite, just been renovated, friendly proprietor, good facilities and a comfy bed. We even ran into people who were going to the Bird Fair as well.

So up and at 'em the next day fortified with Weetabix and tea to the Fair which was well organized for kids. J- Rock and I went on 2 hikes and he was quite a star finding all sorts of dragonflies, spiders, moths and insects. I seem to be doing a lot of the "I'm from Canada not America spiel".

Next day we went to a Museum in Duxton - prize to the first person to guess what museum and the name of one of the objects we saw above!

Fish Pies!

We had a delicious Fisherman's Pie last night which was made from the Delia Smith's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course. I'd reproduce here but don't want Delia to get me for copyright infringement! All I can say is get the book from the library and try it out.

Picture above is where the fish for the pie came from...Ramsgate Harbour - the harbour is actually a Royal Harbour which means that - In 1820, King George IV embarked, with the Royal Squadron, at Ramsgate on his way to Hanover. In appreciation of the hospitality he received, he decreed that Ramsgate Harbour should have the right to add ‘Royal’ to its name. This status of Royal Harbour is unique in mainland Britain.

Tomorrow we are off to the British Birdwatching Fair, staying in Thurlby, and have hired a car -a sporty Citroen C4 that has a dashboard full of digital stuff - even the gas (petrol) level. Citroen is the company that does the transformer like commercials.

Cathedrals, Hides and Sun!

Embarked on a trip to Canterbury today (can one even embark on a road trip?) - Anyhow, we did and had a great day. Got going around 11 so were able to get into Canterbury in time for lunch...It is a a bit of a tradition in our family to embark to Canterbury and while there buy sandwiches from M&S, aka Marks & Sparks aka Marks and Spencer that look somewhat like this.. All nicely rounded off with chocolate and crisps. But man, Canterbury bustles. Really nice town. Above piccy gives a bit of a feel. Buskers abound - we even saw a man with a music machine thingy where in the 'olden days' he would have had a live monkey but today he had a stuffed monkey.

St. Johns Road sign is for the brothers-in-law John!

After purchasing a few items of clothing, knitting books and a cricket set we went for a walk to Grove Ferry. Didn't have time for a pint at the pub (which curiously enough is called the Grove Ferry Inn). Took in the hiking paths and had a look at some birds from the hides. A hide is a place to hide from the birds. Canadians call them blinds. J-Rock madly catching lots of moths and dragonflies for DB.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Some sea art to start off --

Rained all day today - sometimes really hard. But that was OK since we had some birthday presents, groceries and things to buy. Cards of any sort are a BIG DEAL over here. Everyone gives cards, for everything, almost. Anyhow, that's good because there is a lot of good choice and the price is right. You see - next time you buy a card, if you do that sort of thing, most of the really nice cards are from the UK.

So last night we walked over to Gallery Iota to look at a local exposition, SeaART 2006, a collaborative work by local artists. Really good stuff. Variety of mediums - but the best had to be the found object stuff and the watercolour/acrylic scenes of the coast and cliffs. Marj on the Marsh would have liked it! Fittingly, J-Rock and DB visited the tidal flats and the 'swimming pool' afterwards - The swimming pool is really a "Tidal salt-water open air swimming pool". When the tide goes down, the sun heats the water and makes an ideal swimming pool for children and adults, without the dangers of waves or unexpected currents. See the link for some pictures. Good place to look for crabs and other sealife.

M on the M would also appreciate that I went home to make a blackberry and apple pie. Our Kind Hostess purchased some Bramley Apples to make the pie with, because don't you know, you ONLY bake with Bramleys! And they are very good - they mush a bit like Macs but yet stay a little firm like Spys. So a good combo really. I've provided a link to the Bramley Apple Web Site for your perusal. They even have Brammy Awards!

Sporty Activities

With the current situation at UK airports today we would certainly have had to rethink a lot of our packing. So our thoughts go out to anyone travelling from or into the UK today. Heathrow is closed as I write. No hand luggage allowed. J-Rock's hockey stick would have made it through since it had to be checked through in 'oversize'!!

Besides birding and mothing and playing guitars we have been playing a bit of 'footie' (football) and watching it on TV. The thing at the moment is the Champions League - we watched Haifa and Liverpool last night with Liverpool just pulling off a winner. J-Rock's friend I-Rock will be pleased to know that J-Rock was very disappointed with the result and wanted Haifa to win! Also, I-Rock should know that the Sport Watch keeps on ticking despite being immersed in salt water!

Literally ran into some members of the Thanet Roadrunners Athletic Club the other day. I plan on joining up with them in a few weeks once I am up to snuff. I want to run another marathon perhaps in the Autumn next year. In the meantime I'm gearing up for a 1/2 mara or a 10k. It's wonderful running here - good hills, lots of flat stuff and very scenic routes. When I trained for my first marathon in 2003 I ran all the way to Deal and back and would like to do that again.

And of course our bikes - I was down the town yesterday on me bike and all was just fine. It just takes a bit of practice manouvering the roundabouts - yikes.

We also plan to visit the Kent County cricket grounds in Canterbury in a few days to take in a Kent County Cricket Club game. And, there is an ice rink about an hour away at Gillingham where they play ice hockey. It looks a little pricey compared to Bill Bolton Arena!

Other than that we scored a Play Station and have been visiting boot fairs to pick up cheap games. At £0.50 a game it's not a bad deal. Although, I did find an NHL game from 2001 and made the mistake of paying £3.00 before I realized the others were paying a lot less. Live and learn. Here are some nice colours to enjoy...

A walk Along the Cliff Top

Took a walk along the cliff top today since it was such a great day for walking. Took a hastily prepared lunch and slapped on the sunblock. The Almonds joined us midway for a '99'. A 99 is a British Institution which involves an ice cream in a cone (works best if purchased from a Mr. Whippee - translated as a soft ice cream vendor), then to the ice cream in the cone is inserted a chocolate bar of sorts called a Flake. Put the 2 together and you have a 99. Don't know why they are called 99 since they were called 99 before they cost £0.99 and yesterday they cost £1.12. So there.
Those funny concrete things off in the middle of the picture are tank defences that were put in place during WWII, to stop, well, tanks. Nearby, was a nature reserve with a very swingy gate. And the nuclear power plant looking buildings are not nuclear power plant buildings. It is an old coal generating plant that is no longer used. But the stacks provide good landmarks no matter where you are on Thanet.

And the last few photos are for Johnny F & Q - We promised both of them that we would take a picture from the patio of the pub after a long, gruelling day. Um, J-Rock is only pretending to drink that pint of Green King.



I'm inspired by letterboxes because of the Lady on the Cam - And this one is a a Queen Victoria wall box. Don't know it's rarity status yet. Mostly in these parts we see George or Elizabeth II boxes.

Seaweeds and the Seashore

Lots of seashore activity the past few days. Meandered down the end of our road yesterday and and took a walk on the exposed mud/rock/'mussel encrusted' rock flats. That's J-Rock trying to unearth a crab of some description. I should note that before we left Canada we purchased some Crocs which have done us really well on the rocky shore. They even float. And they even sell them in Ramsgate but not in as many groovy colours. KT tramps around with red ones - J-Rock in blue.

Then...we went on a "Seaweeds and their Secrets" walk on Saturday at Botany Bay. Very informative - led by a a 'bloke' from the Natural History Museum in London. Examples above and below of red, brown and green seaweeds. Course the intrepid J-Rock discovered spider crabs, Starfish, oysters, all sorts. Our Kind Hostess drove us over and joined in on the fun as well. We were hoping the Almonds would join us but they had other obligations. We see them quite a bit anyhow as they pop over every day and bring us the gossip from Broadstairs.

Photo above is of The Chine, a paved path that leads to the waterfront. J-Rock and DB have seen a ginormous Rat here that is larger than life - Ratty is his name!

Right - Now I've got to figure out these mobile cell phones which were donated to us by the lady still known as, but not really currently, the Knitter on the Cam...Problem is I need to reprogram slightly but am not finding these marvels of technology terribly intuitive. But they sure are handy.

J-Rock is enrolled in a local school - We have sent in his milk order - he gets milk once a day (drinking time in the morning the form says) and costs us £0.16 a day. Doesn't seem to come in chocolate. But anyhow, at his school he could have something similar to this menu if he wished.

We wonder what choice Paddy Wagon would make from this menu?

East Kent and a Chalk Pit

Yesterday we set out for East Kent intent on finding day flying moths. We were ably chauffered by Mod Man. Lunch in hand we set off for our first stop - the Monkton Chalk Pit - (above sign is from the 'Pit'). Our first challenge was to find a "6 Belted Clear Wing" moth which is easily attracted to pheromones - attractants that are particularly irresistable to the male moth. No sooner had we set up shop than a moth came in and nearly bowled J-Rock onto the ground. "Crikey", he yelled, "there's one now!"
Resting on our laurels and bidding good bye to the friendly warden, Ron, we took off to parts further and westerly. More moths, plants, blackberries, apple orchards, birds, buttterflies and the requisite lunch all managed to fit on the agenda.
On other fronts, I must now look into why the catalogue company hasn't delivered MY bike but HAS delivered J-Rock's and DB's and a shackle lock. (All in separate shipments for some curious reason...).
Also, J-Rock drinking an inordinate amount of milk these days due to recent innovation in chocolate - (also available in strawberry I am told!)

Kentish KT has arrived

Up and running now.
Arrived in the lovely county of Kent July 20th and have been out and about in Kent and beyond with visits to Dover Castle and the Secret Wartime Tunnels; the town of Denton, near Newhaven but nearer to Alfriston where we stayed; the Chinese State Circus; Ramsgate seafront; Tesco's; the Belle Vue; and more to come....