A final day in Kent

well, having survived on my own for 2 days and despite feeling lonely i then didn't want to come home. after a final farewell to the other guests and including plucking up the courage to ask for a photo with Richard (came out a bit blurred but i felt rude asing for it to be taken again), i left and headed back into Whistable. i wondered round the town for a bit, picked up an electric coffee which for £3.45 as our old one has finally given up the ghost.

I had hoped to go to the East Quay shellfish bar for lunch, but it turned out that they only opened Thurdays, Fridays and Saturdays. so i thought maybe Wheelers again for a nicefish soup maybe..... but the don't open at all on Wednesdays. so i hunted high and low for somewhere for fish soup. Went into Birdies as they had Lobster Bisque on their menu - except they didn't have any that day.

so eventually i gave up as it was getting late, and settled for a Jacket potato and salad at The Whistlestop. great value at £3.10 but then again it was a basic (but very pleasant) place that did OAP deals for midweek lunches.

by the time i'd finished lunch and got back to the car it was about 3pm, so it was then time to drive straight to Bluewater. i had a wonder round all the shops, stopped at M&S to pick up a snack and a cup of tea, which i they managed to spill down me. then to dinner at Loch Fyne, where i really faniced a shellfish platter, however on their menu they didn't have the half platter like i had when i had lunch at the Loch Fyne restaurant on Loch Fyne. plus it what a lot more money that i would normally spend. but i sill have enough of the money that mum gave me (that grandpa gave to her) which was my budget for my meals, so i decided to have blow it and have a "last supper". the staff where suprised when i ordered it and said i could take anything i didn't eat home with me, as long as it was then eaten the next day it would be fine.

i was kind of pissed off the way the staff kept checking on me, i just wanted to enjoy my meal in piece but because of their fussing it was kind of spoiled. and the thing is what people don't think about is when you are presented with a shellfish platter how much of it you can't practially eat. think of a whole crab - how much of that is shell and how much is meat?

anyway i got my platter which included a whole crab, 3 squat lobster, 4 oysters, 3 langoustine, 3 crevettes (giant prawns), a ramekin of marinated squid and baby octopus, about 30 shell-on prawns and a bowl of cooked mussels and clams. and needless to say i wasn't going to waste it and once i'd got ride of all the shells, heads and skin etc i finished the lot, but then i didn't have anything else with my meal other than slice of bread either.

after dinner i drove the rest of the way home and was home by 9pm, as by that time the traffic was flowing easily. over all a good experience, if a little lonely. but then if i hadn't have gone i would never have met Richard Briers!

Another Day in Kent

Dinner last night at Wheelers was nice, however i didn't feel as happy with it as i expected to. i don't think that was due to the food though. i had a £10 mixed seafood platter (crab meat, shell on prawns, shell off prawns, a crevette, brown shrimps, crayfish, 2 whole baby octopus, mussels, smoked mussels, cockles) with a slice of bread. even through i was still hungry after (i mean room for a dessert, not that the main course wasn't enough as a main course), mentally i just didn't feel like it, so i forgot the cheese and biscuit, picked up a grapefruit at a local somerfield and headed back to the B&B. i think my mood was due to sheer exhaustion because i woke this morning feling a lot better.

Well, it's been a mixed day. Breakfast was a bowl of mixed fruit (fresh, stewed and dried) (pears, prunes, apricots, melon, grapefruit, cranberries, raisins, figs, crytalized ginger) and a slice of toast. My day got all the more exciting at breakfast when Richard Briers walked in with hs wife and sat down to breakfast. i was suddenly filled with this nervous excitement. i felt like i wanted to jump up and down and tell the world but the most i could do was text mum. being a big fan of The Good Life and also Monach of the Glen i recognised him instantly.

i wanted to ask for a photo, and had plenty of opportunity when i stood talking to him and his wife for a good 5 minutes outside our rooms (they are opposite me) after breakfast. but i don't want to be rude or intrude. i'm sure with his level of fame he gets asked a lot but they are here on their own break visiting friends, not here for a photo shoot. so i didn't ask this morning, however i hope i get the chance tomorrow because if i don't do it i will kick myself.

so anyway, after my brief visit to Herne Bay yesterday and discovering there didn't seem to be much there (apart from the place i found for lunch) i asked Linda and Hugh the B&B owners for suggestions. Linda said Broadstairs was a lot prettier and would only take about 30 minutes to get to. so that's where i went. i wondered along the beach there and then through the town, then headed back to Herne Bay for lunch.

Lunch was something i've been wanting to try for a long time but have only know to be available in London and not in the parts of London that i normally go to either - Stewed eels, mash and liquor. the liquor didn't really have much flavour other than the flour they add to the liquid from the eels, and the colour comes from the parsley, but the flavour from that didn't come through. i enjoyed it nevertheless, i just wish the fish was easier to eat, i still can't eat the skin like some people do and there are the odd little bones that detatch themselves from the main spine.

After lunch i headed back along the coast stopping at Reculver Roman fort and villa and then into Canterbury town centre. i wanted to find a farmers market shop, The Goods Shed. i was convinced it was next to Canterbury East station, but no - it was next to Canterbury West. so i walked across town but found a wholefoods store on the way (i had put this on my list of places to visit in town but i left the list in the car!) and bought a big spaghetti squash for £1.50.

i found The Goods Shed, but didn't see anything i felt i had to buy, so i stopped at the cafe for a pear and ginger juice. on my way back into the town centre i spotted my restaurant i'd booked for dinner. After a wander through the town centre to by a lip balm for my poor chapped lips (i think the sea breeze got to them) i stopped for a cuppa and to warm up. i found a M&S Kitchen, a new franchise that M&S seem to have started. apparently this is their trial branch, the only one so far.

then i got the crowded bus back to the car and drove to a car park closer to the restaurant, Cafe Belge. They advertise "mussel 50 different ways", and i went there especially for the mussels. in the end i chose them with tomato, garlic, celery and onion. 1kg pot mussels, a small white crusty bagette and a side salad (i had the salad instead of the frites) just the perfect end to a lovely day and great value for money at £9.95. the service there was lovely and friendly and attentive too and although i booked i don't think i really needed to midweek.

now though i feel like i don't want to go home. i still have a day left though, which i think will be the morning and lunch in whitstable and then the afternoon/evening at Bluewater for a spot of retail therapy, not that i have any plans to buy anything so i might watch a film instead maybe. who knows, lets see what tomorrow brings.

Hello from Whistable!

well i made it!

i got to faversham at about 12 midday, except i thought it was 1pm and lunch time because i had forgotten to change the clock in my car and on my phone....oopps! so anyway i just had a little more time to kill, which didn't turn out to be such a bad thing as it took me a while to find somewhere suitable for lunch.

by the time i'd had lunch at a coffee shop near a craft centre which i found when i popped into a farm shop. i bought a very ripe kaki (to keep my poor confused brain going until lunch!) and a guava, something i haven't tried before, and i have to say won't be trying again!

by the time i'd had a bowl of tomato and coriander soup for lunch and a cuppa it was half 2 and time to start looking for the B&B, which wasn't that hard to find.

my room is lovely and cozy with views over the sea looking right over to southend. with an ensuite shower and toilet it's all i need.

after being show my room, meeting the dogs and the cat then dumping my bags, coats and laptop i decided to drive through whitstable town centre to find where i'm booked for dinner tonight, which i again found with no problem but i still have quite worked out where i'm going to park. so then i headed onto Herne Bay. doesn't seem to be all that much there, however i did find a pie and mash place, so i'm going to head back there for lunch tomorrow to have some stewed eels and maybe mash, depending how breakfast goes in the morning.

i've got about half hour now until i think i need to leave to find dinner in time. time to blog about part 2 of the picnic hamper i think!

24 hours in the land of Farming and Cider

A mixed weekend of Exhaustion, Relaxation, Stress, Anxiety and Depressive shopping, in Somerset and Cirencester.

David wanted to go to a railway group meeting thing, because it was the only place he could get hold of some specific things he wanted, so we drove to Wells dropped David off at the meeting and then Mum and i drove onto Clarks Shopping Village. a factory outlet village in Street. there were plenty of shops and plenty of choice but Mum and I just couldn't find anything we liked. we started with lunch in the Food Factory, where we made up our own lunch with choices from the salad bar. then worked our way round the shops. what did we manage to buy in almost 4 hours other than lunch? - An apple corer...... something we did need at least i guess.....

so then we headed back and picked david up and went into Wells for a walk around and a drink. Ended up here. nice quiet cosy place, but wouldn't want to be there at 8pm when the rugby started!

we then headed to Wookey to find the B&B, The Burcott Mill. Dinner was just across the road in the form of The Burcott Inn. The basic menu was nothing exciting, however the specials board was more enticing. The 4 Main course specials were braised rabbit, guineafowl, shoulder or lamb or mediteranian monkfish casserole. Mum went for the lamb (£13), David chose steak and ale pie (£8.50) and i chose the monkfish (£11). the shoulder of lamb that mum chose was exactly that! - A WHOLE shoulder of lamb! plus carrots and courgettes and new potates... the meat was enough to feed 2 or three by our noraml portion sizes. needless to say mum didn't finish it all. David seemed very pleased with his pie which came dished up on a plate with the puff pastry lid placed on top, again served with carrots and courgettes and also chips. my monfisk was in a tomato, leek, pepper and mushroom casserole sauce and came with carrots and courgettes - i requested it with out the new potatoes though. with a cheese plate for pudding of Cheddar, Stilton, Biscuits, Celery and a couple of orange wedges the food was superb in every respect. the service was attentive and the landlord provided a welcoming and warming atmosphere. even when the locals came in to waatch the rugby (there can't have been more than 10 of them!) they went into a seperate room from the bar area (we chose to eat there rather than in the dining area) it still wasn't too roudy and remained a pleasant atmosphere.
so then back to the B&B for a restful nights sleep.

breakfast this morning consisted of a full english (sausage, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and a fried egg) for david and scrambled egg for mum. bread, both white and brown (made with flour from the mill by a local baker) was on the side for you to help yourself to make toast etc, as well as homemade jams, marmalades, mustards and local honey. also on offer were a selection of cereals, yogurts and fruit.

we then headed on towards cirencester to see david's parents. on route we stopped at farringtons farm shop where we came away with some oatmeal (for my home made veggie haggis), a bottle of pear cider and a bottle of Bath beer/ale.

The toilets @Farrington farm shop

our only other hold up on the way was the queue to get into Westonbirt Arboretum to see the autumn colours.

a quick stop at Waitrose for flowers and wine for David's parents proved succesful for me also in that i found some McSween's Vegetarian Haggis there, so bought 3 to stock up the freezer!

after lunch at david's parents' in cirencester (which proved to me i'm not able to eat at other people's houses even if i can eat out at a restaurant/cafe) and a walk round cirencester, which a little retail therapy for me it was home. we made it by about half 7pm finally with some busy motorways.

so a mixed weeked from my point of view i guess.