under another sun

Unhurried teas in bed. Up for breakfast. Lorraine driving off to pick up Calliope's medicine then off to Paul in Hove to get her hair done. I stayed at home, to sign off my accounts, write a few emails and then walk to Hove (where I was almost run over on the pavement by two brats on an e scooter) to meet Lorraine, who I discovered browsing in a shop called Velvet. Not able to see her,  I called and heard her phone from one of the changing rooms which made me smile. She eventually emerged with silky hair, which as tradition dictates, appears longer than when she went in.   Drove back having a judicious nap, then called Mum to arrange seeing her and Mas next week, then made ourselves ready to go out. James collected us in Betty's lipstick coloured car and drove us to their place. From there we walked down to Shoreham harbour to a place called The New Port Arms where we sat outside for a bit, then went in to have food. Heartwarming to see Beth and James. They are obviously very ...

Dreadful nightmares. Up fairly early for a Saturday, and we drove off to Hove. We stopped at the small parade of shops on Richardson Road not far from Betty's place, and Lorraine went into a flower shop to buy a a sort of mid autumn Secret Santa pressie they were doing at work. I loitered outside, finding myself looking at Lion Mews, the name of which made me smile somewhat, ('mews' being a cat noise to me.) and even more when I discovered there was a Cat Grooming service in one of units.   I was still Pooterishly chuckling about cat grooming at Lion Mews when a cheery Betty hove to, and Lorraine came out of the shop and we wandered down to the seafront.  Betty was in good spirits, helped by her and James going nicely. She was off in the afternoon with James to see his mum and cousin.  You could really see the sky there, with occasional minutes of blue skied sunshine, when it grew surprisingly hot, and then bands of ominous cloud. Beautiful light. We ambled along and sat ...

Lorraine and I had a happy day, pootling off to Shoreham to choose paint for our bathrooms, and bits and pieces for the house in  Dunelm, and popped into Lidl  to buy some food. Just felt cheery to be zooming off in the car on a bright day to go shopping a little further afield. We were pleased together out of there as it was an unpleasant experience, with a woman getting panicky and aggressive as she tore around the place. It was crowded too, with few wearing facemarks. We bought some a crate of the nice lager they sell there, and a small bottles of rum and gin.  Only when we were home did we find the security tags had not been taken off, so we will have to return to the store again at some point. I tweeted them about it, but the offered no solution other than returning to the store. Nevertheless, a restful afternoon and evening. I even had a cheeky snooze. Then vegetarian chilli and binge watching Modern Family .

Boxing day, and Lorraine and I tore ourselves from bed reluctantly. Beth up and off on the London leg of her festivities. We had a bit of a slow day, but in the afternoon we drove off with Claudia, Pat and Maureen to Shoreham to a shop called Dunelm Mills where we looked at curtains, and curtain hooks and so on. Outside it was very grey and soon began raining in icy drops. Felt a bit sorry for Claudia as this probably wasn't the most intensely exciting way to spend a boxing day for a twenty year old. Home to eat cold turkey, pickles and bubble and squeak, which was tremendously nice -- and a cheery evening slumped before the TV eating things in best British festive spirit. Below whilst browsing around in the shop, I also amused myself by trying to take photos of Maureen being menaced by a giant squid. A photo I later forwarded on to Betty.

An interlude in Shoreham Lorraine came by this morning and drove us off to Shoreham, which is just a bit further west along the coast, the other side of Hove. This is where her new school is, and she wanted to walk around the area to get a feel for it. Actually some really nice bits there, and close to the Adur river. It occurred to me that being a deputy head teacher is an important job. It was interesting to look at the little school, and walk about the nearby streets and think how much the job is rooted in a community, and a real place, and making a real difference to the lives of children and their parents. It struck me just how physical and practical this is - and far more meaningful than working as a copywriter. Had a large brunch at a cafe called Teddies. There were two teddies on the street outside the cafe and inside there were several dotted about. A very friendly place. From there to a farmer's market, where I bought a large leek and some Sussex butter. In the afternoo...