6 April 2012 (Friday) - Good Friday


Traditionally Good Friday has for some years been synonymous with Chambers Bar Beer Festival followed by a pub crawl round Folkestone. And while I cannot deny that I have enjoyed the beer festivals immensely, Good Friday has also been synonymous with a cost of over one hundred pounds, having no recollection of large parts of the evening, and feeling like death warmed up on the following Saturday. So in a novel break with tradition I decided to give the beer festival a miss this year. After all money doesn't save itself and weight doesn't lose itself.

So today rather than going drinking to excess, we had a day of healthy exercise. Four of us cycled to Singleton where we picked up a fifth member of the party, and the we got off our bikes and pushed up Singleton Hill. Back when I cycled more often I would have been able to have cycled up without stopping, but today was the first cycling outing for a year. Mind you, once at the top of Singleton Hill I certainly zoomed down the other side. We were soon at Shadoxhurst, and from there it was but a wiggle until we were at Orlestone woods.  Admittedly more of a wiggle than I was thinking it would be, but it was worth the effort.
At Orlestone woods we met up with those who'd come down in the car, and we broke out the picnic. It was a lovely place to sit with friends in the sunshine. And a picnic was a far better dinner when cycling. In the past we've cycled and had a pub lunch and then tried to cycle back when absolutely stuffed. A picnic was far more manageable.

And after an hour's sitting in the sunshine it was time to move on; tempting as it was to stay put. There's no denying that getting back on the bike was very tender on the barse, but we'd cycled there, so cycling back had to be done. It was a very pleasant cycle ride back through the woods - the weather forecast hadn't got it right at all. And we soon found ourselves cycling past the King's Head. The Rear Admiral fancied a crafty half, so we stopped for one. Or, to be precise, a half. There's no denying that I haven't been in pubs much lately. I couldn't believe the prices. Five halves came to £9.75. That's £3.90 per pint. Nearly four quid for a pint of beer. I don't think I can afford to go in a pub for a long time....

And back on the bikes (oh - that hurt!) and back to Steve & Sarah's for a well deserved cuppa. We sat in the sunshine and chatted for half an hour. It was tempting to stay longer, but we needed to push on, and soon were back home where we again sat in the sunshine chatting for a bit before waving goodbye to our fellow cyclists.
My mobile rang - it was the first fruit of my loin asking if we wanted to go round for tea. I am always keen if someone is going to feed me, so we set off. And we had a wonderful evening. I got totally thrashed at an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" card game; I got Fudged, it was brill, and a wonderful way to round off a wonderful day.
It's having days like today that make it worth bothering with the grotty ones in between them....

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