Champing adventure

This was a long awaited champing adventure and we had a brilliant time!  https://champing.co.uk/  This was planned back in September 2020 and we couldn't go because of covid, and it kept getting delayed and rescheduled until finally this week.  We had a really great time in Failand.

It was pretty amazing sleeping in this space.  The weight and thickness of the walls really made a big difference to the way the space felt. Highly recommended!

Open Mic night at the Bluebell

Our local vineyard, the Bluebell, has started a season on monthly open mic nights, and last night was the first one!  Rhi and I went down there and hung out with Sharon (Rhi's boss at the farm) and Grace (Sharon's daughter who is a year younger than Rhi). 

It was a great set up in this converted out building! Excellent sparkling wine (obvs), nice lighting and a good atmosphere.  Ok, it was a little cringey but not too bad.

Eggs and more

Rhiannon started working at a nearby farm where she is collecting eggs. Every day is like Easter!  Here she is in the sorting area. 

In the meantime, Tryfan has been doing his normal 15-year old boy stuff, playing soccer/ football and hanging out.  I often find him and Annie snuggled together.

And now here he is with his Forest Row football teammates

Peter Kay at the O2

Back about 8 months ago, Anne Marie was able to book a bunch of tickets to go see Peter Kay at the O2 Arena in east London.  I would have never heard of this guy except that he was a famous comedian here in England and had disappeared off the radar for many years, and now he is back!  So there has been a lot of hype about his show and it was apparently very difficult to get tickets, so well done Anne Marie.  There were 10 of us all going together to it, and we combined it with an early dinner at Cote Brasserie down near London Bridge at Hays Galleria, then took the Tube to the O2 where we enjoyed the show!  

We had nose bleed seats, but it was really fun!

One of the funny things about this event was that there was a train strike going on which started at 9pm.  So that meant that we could all get into London just fine but would not be able to get back home at the end of the evening. Fortunately someone realized this before today, so we had a workaround plan!  Gordon would drive the Haywards Heath Rugby Club bus and we'd park it somewhere close enough to be able to take the Tube (rather than the train), then make our way back to it and drive home after the event.  So just the 4 of us drove the 'Fun Bus' up to Balham and used 'Just Park' app to find a driveway big enough for this 20 passenger van, then all 10 of us rode back in it afterwards.  It was a really long afternoon/ evening, but super fun!

Slow leak

After I got home last night, Tryfan was playing a video game for a precious few minutes, and he said in a rather casual way, "the ceiling is dripping" and then went back to playing his game. Well. It turns out that we have had a slow leak for months and months, and today it finally dripped its way down to the floor below.  Whoops!  So that was the end of Tryfan's video game and we all helped try to minimize the damage but mopping things up but it was too late. 

So we've had to move all the stuff out of the room and take down the ceiling panel so that a handyman can come and repair it, then we will need to paint the whole ceiling and probably do the walls too.  Eye roll. 

Some old friends in Scotland

This week I was up in Aberdeen from Monday through Thursday and it was great! 

I was mostly there for a conference which ran Tuesday through Thursday, but I did a different work thing at our office in Aberdeen on the Monday and then the highlight of the trip BY FAR was getting to see Christian and Sally on Wednesday night.  

Christian picked me up from the hotel straight from his work in his camper van and we drove to their house quite far out of town, where we went on a hike with Sally and another friend, then back for dinner.  

Rhodri and I used to hang out a lot with Christian and Sal when we all lived in Perth, Australia at the same time in 1996.  We saw them at some point in the early 2000's when they lived in north Wales, but we hadn't seen them since.  It felt so wonderful to reconnect with them, although too bad Rhodri wasn't there with me.  Anyway, we vowed to make plans to see each other in the near future, so that will be great.

Gong Bath

I first heard of having a Gong Bath about 5-6 years ago and I've been curious ever since! Tonight after work, my 'mermadam' friends and I finally went to such an event in the nearby village of Ardingly.  It was a strange but memorable evening!!

The King's Coronation

Now that the bluebells are finally here, its time for the warm spring to start and for the 'summer' to kick off. In fact, Prince Charles is becoming King Charles this weekend and we will get a day off for it! Woohoo! Village picnics have been planned and everyone is sprucing up their properties with bunting and other festive decorations.

Here at the Jubilee Green, we had a community picnic and BBQ, and it was just fine! Not super fun, but there was enough of a crowd to make it feel festive.

More bluebells

They are now spectacular and I can't get enough of them!  Here is Annie on one of my favorite sections in the Chelwood Vachery.

 

Bluebells at last

The bluebells have been late this year, and I'm sorry that Leann and Pat missed seeing them in their full glory! It has been a really cold and long spring, so all of the plants have been a little bit reluctant to wake from their winter hibernation.

Long lost friend finally comes to visit

Dearest Leann, our long suffering and amazingly resilient inspiring next door neighbor from when Rhods and I lived in Reno, finally came to visit us for 10 days and arrived yesterday with her boyfriend Pat.  She came all the way over here just to visit us!  We had such a brilliant time together. They stayed with us for the weekend, then headed over to Italy for a few days Mon-Thurs, then came back to us for one more day before flying home.

Rhiannon went into London as a tour guide for Leann and Pat and they had a great time, coming home with lots of stories about the day.  We had a hilarious time over dinner laughing about their encounter with the male model David Gandy!

Its sad to say goodbye to them but we are so grateful for them to come visit!

Quick tour in Europe

I've had an exotic few days where I first went to the Hague (via Amsterdam) in the Netherlands for 2 days, then to Paris for 1 day (where I got to see Flo!), then home.  Here is an official photo from the first part of the trip. 

As part of the Hague event, we went for dinner at a beach cafe. It was surprising and beautiful!

Originally I thought our Paris meeting was going to be at the site next door to Flo's house, but it was moved at the last minute so it looked like I wouldn't be able to see her!  However, by great coincidence, I was flying into the Orly airport only 30 minutes after Flo's flight to the same airport was arriving! So the two of us got to hang out together in the airport for an hour or so just catching up. I was so grateful for the chance to be with her, even if just for a few precious minutes.

It was a beautiful day in Paris and I felt lucky to be there, if only for the day.  I took the Eurostar back to London in the evening and got home around 11pm. Not bad for a whirlwind trip of 2 countries in 3 days!

Still swimming, more the merrier

The Saturday morning sea swims down at Tide Mills are such a wonderful part of my life. Its great when new people come along and we share a morning of beauty and togetherness in the sea. 

Easter weekend, us girls

 Since the boys were away in the Netherlands, Rhiannon and I went into London and had a little mini adventure. It was only about 24 hours long, but it was still great. We started by having lunch at The Ivy Asia near St Paul's Cathedral (which was amazing!), then went to the Van Gogh exhibit and then walked to our hotel on the banks of the Thames.

We had a strange but nice room and we settled in before going for dinner at Wagamama on the other side of the river by the Tate Modern. 

The next morning (Easter Sunday!) we went for a rooftop brunch which was quite entertaining, then rode the bus to the Columbia Street Flower Market, which was busy due to the Sun and the fact that it is only open on Sunday mornings!

We got home in the late afternoon and reunited with Annie (who had been over at Camp Denslow Party Palace) and spent the rest of the weekend in low energy restful mode.