Monday

I was at the Folkestone Art Car Book Fair on Saturday - first day of the Folkestone Triannual. I like Folkestone and you can get the bus from outside my house all the way there (Unlimited bus travel in Kent is (£6.70 a day). It’s a lovely journey along the coast through Rye, Camber, Lydd, Romney, Hythe, Sandbrook and Folkestone.

I love traveling on the top deck of the bus - it reminds me of living in London - while we were driving through Hythe (which is very nice) I looked through the giant front room picture window of a modern house, the bus was paused at the lights so I had a great view of an unattended toddler in pyjamas smashing a selection of 12 inch vinyl records against a large screen TV showing Peppa pig.

The bus went past Hattie Jaques old house in Sandbrook - which is lovely - but very... very narrow.

The weather was a bit changeable but there was a Spitfire overhead all day looping the loop, and France is so close you can almost see the houses. I like the Harbour Arm and the town centre seemed good and busy - but I’m not sure about the outskirts.

It was a strange day - we were next to Vic Reeves who was selling his debatable paintings and taking requests. Peter Blake seemed a little lost and I gave Janet Street Porter a free postcard, she seemed appalled. Later I saw her drinking cocktails letting anyone take selfies with her.

Coffee was £3 for a small cup - they were clearly making a lot of money. I sold enough not to be embarrassed, but not enough to make a profit.

At the end of the day, as I was leaving Folkestone - from the top deck of the bus I watched a man of about 35 cross the road - he was a bit of a wreck and had clearly spent most of the last 20 years selling tablets to strangers in pub toilets, the girl he was with was equally displaced and I presume he was on the way into town to do a bit of *ducking and diving*. A he ran across the road a fat wedge of £10 notes fell from his pocket and blew into the road. He didn't notice. Nobody noticed apart from me. Not a great deal I could do about that one.

I was exhausted yesterday - and I’m feeling pretty crap today. I’ve come to terms that a very large client is not going to pay my invoice and may be about to go into administration. I can’t say anything now but It’s a disaster for me - 2 months down the drain.

Both dogs have fleas. That's an expensive problem.

Had lunch at a friends house yesterday. Mikey’s little girl was there, she’s doing well - his X Wife is paying for a very elaborate funeral with a glass carriage and horses that will tramp around town for an hour - he would have found that hilarious - his part of the joke is that Mikey will be buried in a cardboard coffin - I can hear him laughing now.

Mikey and his daughter Marina - pic by Paula May.