Morning Haze

That's the name of the boat (see extra) not my sea state on a brief  re-up to Deal. Not so much for drugs - 're-up' is Wire talk - as wine and Croustades .

The latter always causes consternation. What does one call them when asking for directions to them - 'vol-au-vent cases' produced something else entirely in the Craigleith Sainsburys. But we got there eventually when I asked for the 'specialist foods'. It's all so unbearably pretentious but they make a fantastic hors d'ouevre filled with fried mushrooms with a reduction of cream and sherry and the  mushroom juices. Best to crisp them up in the oven before filling, I find.

It reminds me of that Waitrose joke. The green-wellied one baying across the aisle, " I say, Jocasta, do we need parmiggiano for both houses?'

I popped in to see John after nine days away. He was in remarkably fine spirits and heartened by Arsenal's 4-0 loss to Southampton (he's a Chelsea fan). He opined that, 'the Arsenal manager is always on the TV and is always so measured' and that this defeat seemed some kind of natural justice. Who was I to disagree.

I served round the chocolates and gave him a brief rundown of our travels.

We had a good catch up and I promised to call in tomorrow. Then I was off to Sainsburys. I stopped on the Deal sea front on the way back and waded through the shingle (at Dungeness they used a sort of ski to manouevre across the great stony wasteland) to take a few shots of boats hauled up.
They use greasy railway sleepers or pipework to create a slipway for the boats and chuck down old oil to help the process.

I rather liked the cropped close up of the crab pots after sharpening them from an iPhone pan. Pan is in the extra.

I was fascinated to hear that Ruth, of the BBC Radio4 Archers, has abandoned the family and gone to New Zealand for Christmas. I hope some NZ Blippers might catch sight of her on her travels. David is, it would appear, pretty *dismayed*.