After a leisurely start (well, it is Christmas!), we bestirred ourselves and climbed down to the street.

Rainy Boxing Day in Ramsgate

As it was now around 10 am, brunch rather than breakfast seemed appropriate. We soon found a cafe open that served our purpose perfectly.

Next came the above mentioned light shopping. We found a supermarket open and made a judicious choice of foodstuffs that need neither a microwave nor any elaborate preparation. (Did I mention that neither of us cooks? Hence the importance of microwave ovens in our joint life.)

Served by Caffè Nero (Photo by Tigger)

Having done our duty, we retired to Caffè Nero for a well earned rest.

Quite a few shops are open today, not only those seemingly run by their owners but also those staffed by employees. I hope the latter are paid extra for working on what most of us would consider to be a holiday.

We have survived Christmas and here we are on the morning of the day after, commonly called Boxing Day.

Here is a photo taken by Tigger a few minutes ago from the bedroom window.

Dawn over Ramsgate Harbour

Beautiful, isn’t it?

The next thought that came mind after noting its beauty was an old saw that my mother often quoted:

Red sky in the morning, shepherds’ warning

In other words, a red sky at dawn forecasts bad weather. It could be right as a quick look at the weather app on my phone shows rain later. We shall see.

As mentioned, lack of a microwave together with lack of ovenproof dishes has disrupted our ability to feed ourselves. So, as midday approached, we climbed down the 53 steps, clicking the light switches as we went. (The light on the stairs goes out very quickly, leaving you stumbling in the dark until you catch on to the idea of clicking each switch as you come to it.)

View of Ramsgate

Once out in the street we began visiting each pub of cafe that seemed to be open to ask whether they were serving food. It turned out, as we expected, that either they were not serving food or only doing so for customers who had reserved.

Another view of Ramsgate

Having drawn blanks everywhere, we encountered a shop that was open. It was a newsagent’s and general store, selling tinned food, crisps and a few other food items. We decided that this was good enough. We made our purchases for the princely sum of £4.99 and carried our booty home.

We made lunch (“made” being a relative term) and retired bedwards to rest from our labours.

There is probably food enough left over for another healthily light meal this evening and this will free us from the necessity of confronting the 53 steps again until tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas sunrise over Ramsgate Harbour

Ramsgate Harbour on Christmas morning