Morning all

Seven hours ago I was sat. Looking out of a window. Wondering what denture care involved. And I was happy.
Now I am sad. Seven hours later I am sat. Just. It is 4.20 a m. There is nothing to see outside. It is black. As is my mood.
Let me explain.
I am in pain. No. I am in a lot of pain. I have been awake since 2 a m. A pain arches across the top of my right buttock. It is impossible to get comfortable, sitting, lying or standing. This pain was not there seven hours ago. Seven hours and six minutes now to be exact. It was not  there when I was happy. Happy to be with Pam and Ollie in the Akash Restaurant eating Chicken Madras and looking out of the window at the sign "Denture Care" and wondering what it involved that required High St premises in Berkhamsted. Happy because I had just finished a near perfect week. Perfect except for a funeral of which more anon.
 And this pain.

We have been to Kent. To visit Caz, Philip and Florence.
We stayed in a house near the centre of Faversham. We spent the time entertaining Florence, or perhaps it was the other way round.

Wednesday. We went to Mount Ephraim (which the locals pronounce "E Frame" or at least one of them did) which is a house and gardens  http://www.mountephraimgardens.co.uk/   in Hernehill near Faversham. We didn't bother with the house figuring it would probably be too boring for Florence and certainly for Pam. The gardens are wonderful. The best man made gardens I've ever seen in terms of not looking man made if you see what I mean. 
Here's some photos.

I think I was left on my own for a while and got bored and did my impersonation of Ephraim 

Ephraim /ˈiːfriːəm/; was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph and Asenath. Asenath was an Egyptian woman whom Pharaoh gave to Joseph as wife, and the daughter of Potipherah, a priest of On. 

Pam does her Easter Bunny impersonation with Florence's soggy shoes

 Time for Tai Chi-a perfect setting.

And we had cake.
And Pam did some Tai Chi
And Florence got her feet (and shoes) wet, fortunately not on my watch.

In the evening we went to Chilham. "What's the way to Chilham?"
"Shut 'em in the fridge"

Chilham is a beautiful village with a wonderful pub The White Horse where we dined, Philip drove which was kind so I had an extra half. .... Or two. It also has Chilham Castle owned by Stuart Wheeler, UKIP  moneybags. Worth a look.    http://www.chilham-castle.co.uk/

Thursday. We went to Whitstable. It was glorious. I like Whitstable and I especially like it when the sun shines and we can picnic and play in the groynes. They can't touch you for it. (Groyne: a low wall or sturdy timber barrier built out into the sea from a beach to check erosion and drifting) You were thinking of the other one.

Some more photos.

In the evening we had an early drink with C,P and F and dined in The Sun in Faversham. It turned out that the couple at the next table were farm owning neighbours of Mount Ephraim. They had come to the Sun because of a power outage at home, apparently a regular event. When the Gentleman farmer asked imperiously "where have you come from" I was highly amused by Pam's response. "Hertfordshire, where power cuts hardly ever happen" Hee hee . Game set and match.

We broke our return journey on Friday to attend a funeral in Enfield. I mentioned the passing of John Gerber last time(see below) especially what a kind bloke he was. The tributes at the funeral only confirmed this in all aspects of his life.  I was grateful to Pam for coming with me as I was more overcome than I'd expected. I'm a soft sod on such occasions and the sight of John's small coffin in the hearse before the service got me going. A wimpering condition exacerbated by the picture of John (below) by his narrowboat "Kingfisher" at one of our gatherings.
I was greatly saddened to hear that John had gone to that Great Marina in the Sky, aged 81. For the last few years John had been in a flat in Northchurch and we kept in touch usually by chance meetings in Waitrose, birthday and Christmas cards and the odd phone call.

 There has always been a high level of camaraderie amongst boaters and John exemplified this. He would help anybody in any way he could and his more than adequate carpentry skills were in great demand and of greater benefit to me in my early Cowroast days. He had a great sense of fun-who could forget his wing nut ears worn for his impersonation of Prince Charles when we celebrated HMQ's Silver Jubilee? I must dig out the photo sometime.

Although short in stature "Little John" was a giant to me for one major reason. In his former life he had been a steam engine drive. Enough said. He was a God for that reason alone but I think his kindness, sense of humour and gentlemanly demeanour confirmed his position as a top bloke. RIP John.

John's funeral is at 11.45 at Enfield Crematorium 
Great Cambridge Road
Enfield
Greater London
EN1 4DS

His son David tells me that  donations to  either of the following would be welcome.

http://www.chilternsdogrescue.org.uk/

or

http://www.stfrancis.org.uk/

I have David Gerber's address if anyone needs it.

It was a non-religious send off as so many are these days. I wondered if John remembered how much I disliked "Strangers on the Shore" (Acker Bilk). It featured in the service.
A nice touch; the floral tributes included a Kingfisher... from the grandchildren I think.
It was a lovely send off and I drank to John's memory that evening before hitting the Akash and wondering about Denture Care. And waking up with this ****ing pain.