Mini reunion

Casper was back in town for a couple of days and so Oscar and Tryfan got to hang out together just like old times.

Weeee're off to see the Wizard

... the wonderful wizard of Oz!
Rhiannon was a really cute Munchkin in her school's production of the Wizard of Oz.

It was a really great performance and we all enjoyed the evening.  Tonight is Grandma's last night with us and she will be flying back home tomorrow. We are so glad that she was able to change her flight to be able to see Rhiannon's performance.

Lewes depot

This afternoon we went into Lewes. First we went to one of the old bookstores where Grandma Debi was buying one of the old copies of Poldark, and then we walked down to the Lewes Depot to have food and then watch Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindalwald.  The shop where Grandma got the book was a tiny tiny olde world shop on the high street. It was so tiny that the lady running it didn't even have a desk for a cash register! She had to stand perched in the back with the cash register on a stack of books.

Birthday dinner

I went out to dinner with 3 of my good friends tonight for my birthday - Anne Marie, Liz and Emma.
We went to the Hurstwood pub and had a really good night. The table next to us even had to 'shush' us for laughing too loudly at one point!

Ladies brunch

This morning Rhodri and Tryfan went off to football first thing, so Rachel, Rhiannon, Mom/ Grandma and I had a leisurely morning.

Pumpkin pie with canned whipped cream is fabulous for brunch!

Thanksgiving in the Gate

We invited about 10 families to join us in a Thanksgiving potluck at the village hall.

My cousin Rachel came down from London as well, and it was wonderful to spend time with her. She and Rhiannon did the main decorations around the village hall and it looked beautiful. Mom/ Grandma put a lot of effort and care into assembling little cups of imported candy treats (candy corn, autumn colored M&Ms and blister peanuts), and they were set at every place sitting. We also hung a big banner of a Thanksgiving turkey in the pride of place above the buffet table. So it was all very festive!

 It was a lovely event, though not without some 'lessons learned' for next time! Note to self: designate a buffet table supervisor for when the hoards of kids come through the line, especially if the kids go first. Anyway, the event ran from 6-9 pm and it all went fairly well. Most of the kids just ate (while some unfortunately threw their little candy goodies at each other) and then ran outside unsupervised.  One of the perks of having events at the village hall is that the kids just kind of go feral outside playing in the woods and on the football pitch even in the dark. The theory is that the kids all look after each other, and if an adult is needed then someone will run and fetch one!

Living room scene in the evening

It has been nice to have Grandma here. While Rhiannon gets help from Rhodri with her homework, Tryfan gets to play Dragonvale with Grandma and I get to cook dinner. Although today is Thanksgiving, we are going to delay our celebration of it until tomorrow.
Good times!

Outing to the big city

Today I went along with Tryfan's class to the British Museum in downtown London.
We all took the train into Victoria and then transferred to the Underground, changed lines once and then emerged to walk across a park to the Museum.

 There were 26 kids and 6 adults including me. I had Tryfan, Oscar, Aaron and Mimar in my little group. We had a good time together keeping close and transiting across London.

 It was a stunning autumn day, and also pretty cold - just single digits in temperature - and so the kids got to run wild for about 10 minutes before we continued to the museum.

 We went into the museum and saw the Elgin marbles and the Rosetta stone, then we went up to the Saxon and Celtic room to spend a couple of hours studying 'Sutton Hoo'.

Then we made the same journey in reverse and got back home around 6pm. 

A magical day

Mom arrived into Gatwick on Friday afternoon and I took her home to reunite with the rest of the family after school. After a failed attempt to get dinner from the Hop Yard, we picked up fish & chips from Den's and then came home to watch The Sound of Music (Sing along version) to try and keep Mom awake until 9pm. That worked pretty well. Yesterday (Saturday) was a pretty busy day doing various things, then today we had Lou come over at 9:45 am so we could all go to the florist wholesaler's shop and buy crafty stuff. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we spent about an hour at the florist place, then decided to go somewhere for a spot of lunch.

We discovered The Wiremill lakeside pub - what a find! Good thing we were there before the crowds arrived so we could nab the heated gazebo.  I didn't realize there was actually a lake over in this part of the area, and while we were there a waterskier was doing his stuff right there in front of us. Live entertainment!

 We had an absolutely lovely time together with so much laughter. What a day!

Then for dinner we drove to the Xenia Lounge in Crawley for my birthday dinner.

This is a Brazilian meat house type place that I had been to for lunch one time and wanted to use my birthday tokens to bring the family. It was pretty good, and they even brought me a piece of cheesecake and sang to me.

November plans

Its going to be a busy couple of weeks! My Mom will arrive tomorrow, then its my birthday on Monday, then Thanksgiving, then the Wizard of Oz performance that Rhiannon will be in during the last week of November.

Winnie and Una

In the meantime, we will continue to fit in opportunities to go on some good dog walks in the forest, complete various pieces of homework and work-work, and Rhodri will continue to 'kit people out' for their winter expeditions to cold and exotic places!

Winnie and Peter

Today we reunited with our long lost friends Winnie and Peter. Although they live fairly close by, our paths have not crossed very much these past few years and we just lost track of each other. Today, however, we fixed that. Winnie prepared a gorgeous dinner for us and we had a wonderful afternoon catching up with them.

Free movement

Today Rhodri and I took Winnie (the dog) on a long walk so we could get to a big field that she could run freely across. We aren't quite ready to let her run through the forest since sticks, bracken or brambles could possibly reopen her stitches, but a nice field of green grass should be just fine.

It was a stunning morning and what a treat to go on a walk with just Rhodri and I (and Winnie).