Leap Day

Today was Leap Day, being the 29th of February.  It was sort of a normal Thursday in a lot of ways, with deadlines and work and school and all the usual stuff.  One special thing about today was that our friend Gemma was here visiting from Guernsey and stayed the night with us.  It was so great to catch up with her!  A couple of friends joined Gemma and I and we went out to dinner at the Coach & Horses pub.  I didn't manage to take a photo of the occasion, but it was a good one.

An old friend in the rain

 I've been trying to find a time to meet up with Polly, my geology field camp tent-mate from Leeds University all those years ago.  We decided to meet at a country park that is about halfway between us.  I was really glad to be able to do this.  It was raining the whole time, but we were fine! Then we spent quite awhile in the cafe near the car park and had soup, tea, and cakes, and then said goodbye and went our separate ways.  It felt so good to spend time with an old friend.

80s and 90s disco at the Club

 We've been trying to support our local club in Danehill, called "The Club@Danehill", and tonight was a fundraiser for Danehill school.  Even though our kids have long graduated from this school, it felt important and also fun to attend a fundraiser here!  I went as kind of a K-pop fashionista with Tryfan's satin jacket and my hair in two top buns (didn't turn out very well in the photo). I couldn't drag Rhodri along, unfortunately.

It was a good laugh, and although I felt like I was leaving too early, I was very grateful that Rhods came down to collect me and a few other friends to drive us home. A memorable night :-)

Still swimming

Going for a dip in the sea at Tide Mills is still a fixture of my weekend, using on a Saturday morning.  We always take a photo because each time is different.  Here is today's crew: me, Sarah M, Joffy, Emma B and Cat. 

Sometimes we go to the youth hostel in Southease afterwards for a coffee and food, and we did this today as well.  The conversation we had round the table at the youth hostel ended up being very interesting and thoughtful. I got home around noon feeling very rejuvenated and inspired. Love that.

New roof terrace

 This leak in the roof terrace that has caused us such a wet headache these past few months is finally fixed! Hurrah!  The scaffolding is still up because the welder needs to come and weld the sanded-and-repainted wrought iron railing back together, but at least the floor is redone and we can use the laundry room again.

Twickenham

Lucky Rhods and Tryfan were given tickets to go watch England vs Wales in the Six Nations Rugby Tournament up at Twickenham stadium.  First they watched the Scotland vs France game from a big screen that was set up nearby, then went into the stadium when it was time for the England v Wales match.  

They had a brilliant time, although Wales sadly lost 16 - 14. 

I picked them up from the train station around 9:30 pm and we all got home safely.

HH Rugby team photo

 Here is Tryfan (front row, 3rd from left) with his rugby team at Haywards Heath Rugby Club.  Looks like it was taken after the game (although I wasn't there to watch it, unfortunately, due to the fact that I was at the Sauna day).

Beach sauna day

Today was the long awaited 'beach sauna day' at the Nomadic Sauna in Seaford.  This was a birthday present from Cat and Emma B, and there were 7 of us on the day that went in together.  It was quite a stormy blustery day and although we had planned to do a sea swim before the sauna, it was too rough to go in so we just used the little aluminum tub outside the mobile sauna when we got too hot.

Afterwards we went to the cafe at the youth hostel YHA Southease, which has been our favorite recent post-swim haunt lately.  I don't have a photo but we were sitting outside and it was quite chilly but sunny by then.  Emma B had made some delicious brownie-type cake and they sang to me and it was all very nice.  

Progressive Dinner

It was so fun! We should definitely do this sort of thing more often.  We started at the Lawrences, then went to the Filskows, then ended here.  The Popes brought dessert and we brought the cheese.  It was a great night!

From l to r: Kerrie, Duane, Sara, Rhodri, Frank, Clare, Tim and me.

Cuddling on the couch

Saskia came round today and hung out with us for the afternoon.  Ok, well, actually she was mainly hanging out with Tryfan rather than 'us'.  Look how cute they are together with Annie.

In the meantime, Rhodri and I are heading out for a long-awaited Progressive Dinner with the Lawrences, Filskows and Popes.   Tryfs and Saskia are going to help get things set up at our house where we will all be ending up for the dessert and cheese course.

International Fashion Show

Apparently today was a fashion show for the international students.

It is great that we have some thoughtful friends in the audience at assemblies like this who take photos and share videos with us!  Thank you Leslie :-)