under another sun

After Quorn sausage and fried onion sandwich for brunch then off to see Adrian and Diane who were having 'a drawer sale' on behalf of Macmillan Cancer, i.e. work that had been in his plan chest drawers. We were able to buy prints of Adrian's amazing seascapes at a bargain price. And we bought two, and had coffee and chatted, listening to Adrian's jukebox. Then into Brighton for a bit of non-nosebleed-inducing shopping after which, we walked down to the seafront, wandering into Jack & Linda Mills' prize-winning Brighton Smokehouse, where we bought locally caught kippers served piping hot in a bread roll. Simple and delicious eaten looking out to sea on Brighton Beach. Home for an evening of lounging. Watched the recent Prometheus movie on TV, and really enjoyed it. I wasn't expecting too much, having heard the disappointment of Alien fanatics. Wish I'd seen it in the cinema now. Lots to enjoy and some genuinely horrible moments. Less single minded th...

Off to Lorraine's friend Carolyn who was hosting a coffee morning and art sale on behalf of Macmillan. Looked at her pictures, she is very good at detailed botanical work. There were a dozen or so ladies who'd worked in the upper echelons of Education or who still did, talking a good deal in the kitchen. I repaired into the garden after buying a cup of tea and a bit of blueberry cake and basked in the sun beside a little garden pond. Soon joined by two men with whom I happily discussed football, gardens and fishing until it was time to melt away again, with Lorraine having bought a picture of snowdrops. Lorraine and I then then drove off to a Sussex Nature Conservation area, Burton Mill pond, and the Burton and Chingford ponds . Had an hour and a half walk through woods, and past swanned and dragonflyed ponds. Also walking past somewhere called The Black Hole, and walked on a plank walk above the peaty black water and dense vegetation. It is connected with ancient ironworks w...