The second instalment on my week in Margate is a rag-bag of photos I took. The weather was gorgeous and so I took my camera on the daily beach walk, the daily trip to Pantelli’s for a latte and a jacket potato, and the daily delve in the house clearance shops. Here are some of the things I saw:

The cat giving it her best Bridget Riley on the cushion I made and the Ikea rug.

The sofa – yes the one I moaned about being so uncomfy in London has been moved. It now fits perfectly into this alcove in Margate. As I hoped, the faded green upholstery takes some of the sweetness out of the pink walls. And the cat loves the end by the radiator, so we’re all happy. In fact the difference in how it’s made the flat feel is huge. Suddenly it feels like a home, after 18 months of sitting on pretty but spike-like vintage wood chairs. I never really used this half of the room before either, and now I can loll on the sofa looking out at this…

One day we walked along the beach to the sea bathing pool. It’s on the beaches of Clifftonville, once fashionably packed with bathing machines but these days near-empty. I wouldn’t have considered swimming in a tidal pool, but this one looked gorgeously clean, if not exactly clear. My understanding is that local company Haeckels has been organising clean-ups in this area with local volunteers, and you can really see the difference.

Can’t wait for a warm, still evening, when myself and himself have agreed a race across to see who is fastest. Don’t put any money on me!

Lastly, you may have read that a certain Princess was in Margate last week. Lured by the excellent chippies and a passion for crazy golf? Who knows. But we read about her imminent arrival in the Thanet Gazette and I insisted we go down and have a nosey. This was the scene outside Resort Studios as everyone waited for her to arrive. Thanet bin lorries kept driving past slowly to wind everyone up. The crowd was like something from Nigel Farage’s fevered imagination – people from all over the world who just happened to be living in the street, all out of their houses for a nosey. Brilliant.