I Love Hastings

Georgina had Time Out of Mind playing on the stereo and I was sort of almost dancing- shuffling  my feet to the beat- while Ailz looked through the Indian fabrics. Georgiina said she'd seen Dylan play live in some Midland town just after he went electric and the set was  half acoustic and half him tearing it up with the Band behind him. Then she showed us an original photo she has of three off duty dudes and asked us to guess. "Think super group," she said, and I said "Is that Ginger Baker?"  Her shop is called Ruby in the Dust and it's full of beautiful things.

We'd eaten at Pomegranate- which is a fish restaurant, mainly. This is the second time we've been there. I had fish nicoise and I don't think the fish had been out of the sea for more than an hour or two.  We drank Biddenden cider. I had two bottles- hence the dancing.

In Robert's Rummage (where I got two 19th century prints for £6.00) the proprietor (Robert presumably) was taking conspiracy theory with another old bloke.

"The Americans blew up the twin towers, you know. And then there's Kennedy. No way was it Oswald who shot him".

"So what was Oswald doing in the book depository with a gun?"

"But that's the main thing. He didn't have one."

I could live in Hastings, I tell Ailz. "I still think Margate has the edge", she says, "I know what", she adds. "We'll live in one and take our holidays in the other."



Ailz in finery from Ruby in the Dust