Eastbourne evening

Up and feeling excited, made off to my desk by 7.00am and wrote a grown up reply to Wolfgang, accepting his kind offer. It all felt a little realer after I replied.  

Lorraine and I had breakfast and she made off to her personal trainer. I got down to some editing of the podcast, and at lunchtime made off to the gym. Walking past Blatchington Pond, I bumped into Guy. He is on the committee of volunteers who look after the pond.  He had been woken up this morning by someone sending him a photo in the early hours. It was of one of the pond's carp with the O of its mouth breaking surface, apparently gasping for air. He and another man then worked to aerate the water with a pump for a few hours, and was just finishing when I walked past. Something about him being sent a carp mouth photo tickled my sense of the ridiculous, but this is important work. Another symptom of the effects of climate breakdown. 

Lorraine and I heard the sad news from Adele today that her mother had died.   

I enjoyed my gym session, and then home for a little more podcast editing, before Lorraine and I drove off to Eastbourne to go to a pleasant and quite stylish pub called The Pilot, in a lovely part of Eastbourne I'd never been to. A pre-pottery bite to eat to continue the celebratory feel of things. Lots of young staff, all in shorts, a classic ditzy young barmaid, an ancient pub dog that pooed on the carpet, luckily out of sight. It must do this a lot as it was cleaned up instantly. Staff cooed at it, and coaxed it back upstairs. People love dogs don't they, even when they befoul an eating area. 

L and I ordered cheeseburgers, delicious as we were both hungry after personal trainer/gym business.  Robin arrived, just before Lorraine for her Pottery class.  Robin and I had another cheery drink discussing the podcast. Telling Robin about the acceptance of One Day Forever, made it seem real too, and she was genuinely chuffed for me. I thanked her for giving me the final nudge I needed after I sent the MS to her recently.  Then Robin and I walked down to the seafront, near the Italian Gardens, where some Shakespeare was being performed. The air was thick with flying ants, as it seems to be flying ant day, and we walked along the coast, brushing ants off. Robin then left for home, where Nick was cooking fish for dinner, and I continued along the coast till I reached Seaside Road, where Lorraine was doing her pottery.

Being early, I thought I'd wait in a pub. I swerved an excrescent looking place called The Phoenix, and settled on the Town House, which had a drunk barmaid, a one legged man, and a load of geezers about my age sat at the end of the bar who fell into suspicious silence when I ordered. I'll not be back.

Met my post-pottery lovely in the little Tescos, and we drove home over the sun-browned fields to watch an episode of Babylon 5. All well.

Down by the sea in Eastbourne.