Why This Is Hell

It seems to be an intensely choreographed set of maneuvres for an hour's meal. The smoked salmon has been forgotten in the freezer for a year or more, forgotten under a tray, and the bread was made Christmas Eve.

Wednesday I was to meet Tim for a coffee and post some mail, so I had a time to get to the farmer's market and buy cheese (I hadn't got round to an order) and Basque sliced ham and bacon (the pheasant was already in the freezer, to be taken out Christmas Eve). I also need to meet the deficiencies of the veg box - to wit, the lack of brussels, spuds and parsnips. The first two were acquired at the green grocer on Sr Dunstan's, whose exotic veg I should sample more of. The brussels took some hunting, as some of them were the size of small cabbages, and I prefer the button sized ones. That gave me enough time to meet Tim and his kids in Caffe Nerd, and to go to the Perst Orifice to get th last stuff off in the perst. I dropped into Aldi for dark chocolate, eggs, crackers, butter, lard - for a change - a bottle of beer, and some bread rolls. That should have been it but -

- well, cream, milk and toothpaste, and how about a new brush for Christmas? And obviously I needed to fill the prescription which I should have done on Tuesday. Plus two cheques needed depositing. I needed to go out, and awoke later than planned on Thursday, so it was 10.30 time I was in town. I called into Wilkos to price clippit tupperware boxes (cheapest thus far) and buy a cutlery box to go with the new draining board stacker, and hit Tescos. (I'd tried spending money in HMV, but decided that could wait). Tesco was clearly turning into panic buy central, although not with the two overloaded trolleys at once I recall from a Morrison's a decade ago. But I should have food to last me well into next week.

It took longer than planned to prep - zuzz and oven dry bread for bread sauce and stuffing (cloves were already soaking in milk for the former), chopping and parboiling spuds, chopping brussels, peeling parsnips (carrots were just chopped), and getting all ready.

It was thus gone noon when I went out for a walk, up Guildford Road and onto Lime Kiln Lane, then right onto the play area in search of evidence of old railways. I looked at a picnic table, and figured this might be a place to bring a lap top for quiet work. In summer. Then across down the side of the cultivated part of the field, and up to the hedge, where rows of apple trees start. Of course, the housing estate is still visible, but this feels countryside - although the A2 is noisier than I recall. As the path ascends, so does the cathedral: first Harry's tower, then the other spires and the main body of the building itself. It's moments like this that I get worship - but my admiration is reserved for those who spent centuries building such monuments to eternity.

The sun was already sinking, of course, and it was gne one before I trudged back home to cook.

Yes I know I haven't reviewed XLIII yet - there is a reason... Watch this space.

XLIV: Alan Sillitoe and Fay Godwin, The Saxon Shore Way: From Gravesend to Rye (1983)

Or the loneliness of the long distance hiker.

An account of a walk I want to do, although I'm not sure I'll do the eighteen mile sections he does. Impressive. Although there are a couple of point where he seems to catch a train, which is cheating. It'll be interesting to see what has changed in twenty-five years - I must try and replicate Godwin's photographs - and what has survived. One thing I note is he only gets to Rye, not Hastings (although the sign at Kelmsley only points to Gravesend and Rye). I note he tends to take the route nearest the sea - so he follows the coast not the hills at Folkestone (on my Explorer map the exact lower route is not clear until the canal). I worry by the amount of wall climbing he does.

You've got to admire someone who writes "I find and enjoy, on my zigzag perambulations, no fewer than three secondhand bookshops - always the mark of an interesting town."

But he would find it interesting today?

There are odd route maps - the walk is shown as straight on strips. I've seen these for cycling and surely a left or right turn is necessary for navigation? But I'm glad I stumbled upon this.

XLV: The Stour Valley Way (1995)

An account of a 51 1/2 mile route from Lenham to - well I'd better not give away the ( twist )

Again, two books in one, and it may be that I test the water proofness of it at Wye tomorrow. It may be more Stour than Valley. I don't quite get the mileages - Wye to here is about twelve miles, but if you add up the segments it's 16. I hope to get as far as Chartham. The extra two hours (which looks flat) may be too much.