Lao Tzu (Circa 6th Century BC)

The Norman tower-keep of Rochester Castle was built in around 1127 with Kentish ragstone. It is 113 feet high and has three floors above the basement level.

On my recent trip to Kent I payed my first visit to Rochester and one of the first things I noticed as I entered the city was a weather vane in the shape of a ship. On further investigation I found that it was on top of the guildhall which was built in 1687.

Outside, mounted on the roof, is an amazing weather vane in the form of a fully rigged 18th-century warship. This is 1.52m tall and weighs just under 51kg. It is made of gilded copper and lead alloy and has weathered the ever-changing climate since 1780.

In the 1860s Charles Fechter sent Charles Dickens a Christmas present, it arrived in 58 packing cases at Gravesend station. The present was a prefabricated Swiss Chalet which Dickens assembled in the garden at his country home at Gadshill Place. He constructed it in the second part of his garden which was across the Rochester road. In time he built a tunnel under the road so that he could access the chalet without being seen.

A lot of his later writing was done in the upper study of this chalet which was kitted out with all the things he liked to have near him when he was writing. In his studio on the second floor he included a number of mirrors so that the light would reflect around the room and surround him.

The chalet has been preserved and moved to Rochester High Street as a memorial to the writer.

I have now returned from from my second journey (in a month) down south.  It is such a long journey (5 hours) that it feels like a trip to the moon.    Making the journey by road is less than ideal; it is mostly motorways, which currently have a lot of roadworks that slow down the traffic.  Life has been a bit hectic lately so on this occasion I made the journey by train which was far less stressful than a trip in the car.

The leisurely train journey gave me an ideal opportunity to get started on the first Vision and Verb book group read.  I arrived home feeling relaxed and ready for dinner which was prepared in my new kitchen. I then had an earlyish night for me and enjoyed my first opportunity for a long lie in since well before Christmas.

My lie in set me up for a day of emptying boxes of kitchen items that are being stored in the dining room. As part of the emptying, the kitchen items had to be washed and suitable places found to store them in the new kitchen.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out Whistlestop PhotoHunt.