Saturday night at Camber sands- in which I venture into the darkness all alone.

Saturday night in Camber sands.

OH (other half)  watching utter drivel on TV. 

Dr Who is teaching some rather weedy Vikings how to fight off intergalactic warriors. Vikings are wearing horned helmets. OH loves to inform me on a regular basis that Vikings never wore horned helmets back in the day when Vikings lived and marauded. 

What do do when internet free and unable to play with my iPad. OH is convinced that I am addicted to my iPad. I am convinced that he is addicted to many things...... TV drivel for one.

I have read the paper, cooked a meal and now I am in need of some action.

Time to go outside with my camera and see what I can find in the dark.

It is very quiet. I can honestly say I didn’t encounter another human during my hour outdoors in the dark. I am not a brave person, and the dark was a test. On the beach there is no moonlight  to lighten the sky. I resort to shuffling my feet tentatively on the sand.

Without a tripod, for I am lazy that way,  I decide to see what I can achieve in the Camber night. I ramp the ISO up to 8000 and later to 16,000, then 32,000 as it gets darker and darker. I explore the bushes, the street and the beach.  No matter if none of them are worthy of space on my hard disk.

It kept me amused, and iPad free.

So here are a few to share with you.

First the bushes.

wind in the trees

verge

Then the street

the telephone kiosk, camber sands

full english. cheap at the price

sleeping prohibited

Then the carpark

self portrait of the artist at night

the toilets, camber car park

the car park union jack

The beach

lights at sea, camber sands

beach houses, camber sands

And finally the telephone box, receiver hanging ......

All a bit grainy and a bit blurred, but you get the picture.
 

Streaming on the intergalactic superhighway

 Dungneness sunset

OH ( other half)  has decided that we need a broadband upgrade.

Doctor Who keeps stalling during intergalactic transfers

And  footballs keeps getting stuck between the player's boot and the goal………

Daughter in Canada freezes mid sentence on Skype. Not always a pretty sight; strange contortions held until the cogs get whirring again.

It is time to embrace the super highway he says.

I have to admit to having shown little enthusiasm for this change, despite being the 'early adopter' of technology in our relationship.

Status quo versus internet black hole as everything goes pear shaped and we are left with nothing but a land-line is my preferred option.

I am quite happy with what we have now. The thought of losing contact with my friends in The Arcanum or not being able to back up or upload  my photos are my main concerns . OH is not a technical prodigy; his expertise lies elsewhere, in the land of real people.

So when the new internet box arrived through the post, my heart sank and I decided to head south, to Camber Sands, in order to be absent throughout the period of teeth gnashing and mild to moderate swearing.

Down there there is no internet ( at least where we stay), so I have to read books and work on my images of rocks on the beach .

So this morning, I got up early to be down on the beach at low tide, to see how the rocks are doing. Men in high vis clothing and cranes were in action early. They looked picturesque on the bank. Photogenic even.

I switched on my camera. 'low battery'

This is becoming a habit, and is one of the perils of trying to escape suburbia. I always leave something behind. 

I framed my first photo, and the camera died. So I am going to have to share some old images of the works, taken when the workmen had all gone home.

 After a short walk in the early morning soft and gentle sunlight I headed off to my studio to prepare for the 'Feast of Delights'.

My 'delights' are boxed sets of cards and small framed images that might do for Aunty Mabel's or Uncle Bernie's christmas presents. I am an expert on making white boxes, and find it very therapeutic after the travails of worrying about my internet connection and a very unwell family member.

Camber Collection © Caroline Fraser

Light on Water cards © Caroline Fraser

As I sat making boxes OH rang me. He was busy setting up super fast broadband.

'I need your password to BT ' quothe he.

'It is in my book of passwords' I replied, and advised him where to find it.

He duly found my notebook of passwords and read what he could of my incredibly tidy handwriting.

I realised what was written and told him what the encrypted note said.

'that's a really stupid word' was his response.

'well it works fine for me'……..( and anyway, it was meant to be a secret , thought I)

'And how was I supposed to know that from what was written?'

'you weren't…………passwords are meant to be secret……..a book of passwords that anyone could read would not really be a very good idea……….' 

(Even I know that………)

Anyway reader, the really good news is that we now have new wifi that works, which is  huge relief.

Later that day I asked OH if it is faster and fulfilling his wildest dreams.

' I guess it does…..' he replied.

 I quote verbatim here.

Not really the response I was expecting. 

'I'll only really know when I try streaming…..'


What could I say?

Nada.

But I was so relieved that we remain connected that I went into Rye to buy cakes and took them over to Dungeness for a cup of tea and watched the sun go down with gentle folk who are lucky enough to work and live in the land of big skies.

tea and smoked garlic at the Dungeness Smokehouse

Roll on the next episode of Dr Who. Then we ( OH)  will really be riding the intergalactic superhighway.