Expensive meal and Nobby gets soaked

I have put my caravan at the SeaView Caravan Park Whitstable for the whole of the season. We returned home on Tuesday and came back on Wednesday. Val had decided the grass round the caravan needed cutting, so obviously we needed to buy a lawn mower and strimmer from ALDI. Val made a good job of cutting the lawn so I treated her to a meal at the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company.

Little did I know it would cost £90.20p for the two of us, I have listed what we had

1 Potted Shrimp £8

1 Whole Lobster £26 Val only eat ½ of this so we brought this back and I finished it

2 Glass House Chardonnay £10

2 Glass House Red £11

1 Dove Sole £27

Service Charge £8.20

Total £90.20

I had no complaints about the food and wine both were very good but it was the cost of the Dover Sole? Is a Dover Sole a very rare fish maybe a Fisherman can explain to me. A local fishmonger told me this time of the year Dover Soul is at its cheapest he sold them for £4.50p and on the internet you can get one delivered for £6.50p. I did resent paying a service charge as far as I am concerned this should be included in the cost of the meal, I normally tip but on this occasion they got what was on the bill.

When my son John was about 13 he had a lot of problems with athletes foot a Homoeopath suggested taking him to Tankerton which is in between Whitstable and Herne bay and get him to paddle in the Sea water. By all accounts the sea water in that area is cleaner and as all other remedies had failed we gave it a try. Yes it did work, John was not happy about going 3 times a week  and paddling in the sea in February.

On one occasion my father Nobby decided to come along, this would be an occasion when the day would go into Clarke History and Clarke Humour.As I said it was February time so the sea was quite rough, John would walk to the sea and I would accompany him on this occasion Nobby said he would walk down with him, I would remain on the sea front. John finished his paddle and returned to the shore, Nobby turned to walk back, stopped to roll a fag Old Holbourn . I noticed a big wave coming to him, did I warn him of course not it would have ruined the surprise. The wave went right over the top of him hilarious, I remember him shaking still rolling his fag saying “what the F**K was that” and started laughing. Us Clarke's have a strange sense of humour, when my father Nobby was very ill in Hospital I went to see him before I flew out to Moscow. He had been in what we thought was a Coma for several days, I tried talking to him but to no avail. It was the beginning of December, so just before I left I said “Can you make up your mind what you are going to do as I need know whether to buy you a Christmas Present” He opened his eyes smiled and said you Bast**d and then closed his eyes. That was his last words to me as he died on December 7^th at least his last thought of me was with a smile