Category: Families

A Brighton Blast!

A late summer Sunday at Brighton Beach making the most of the weather before it breaks and autumn sets in.

Loads of fun at The Upside Down House.

Brighton

A browse through an art installation on the beachā€¦

These deck chairs were just waiting for us!

And finally the, in a rugged way, beautiful West pier.

Photograph by Emily Dudley.

I never stop feeling blessed living on the South Coast.

The Crocodile by Roald Dahl.

ā€œNo animal is half as vile
As Crockyā€“Wock, the crocodile.
On Saturdays he likes to crunch
Six juicy children for his lunch
And he especially enjoys
Just three of each, three girls, three boys.
He smears the boys (to make them hot)
With mustard from the mustard pot.
But mustard doesn’t go with girls,
It tastes all wrong with plaits and curls.
With them, what goes extremely well
Is butterscotch and caramel.
It’s such a super marvelous treat
When boys are hot and girls are sweet.
At least that’s Crocky’s point of view
He ought to know. He’s had a few.
That’s all for now. It’s time for bed.
Lie down and rest your sleepy head.
Ssh. Listen. What is that I hear,
Galumphing softly up the stair?

Go lock the door and fetch my gun!
Go on child, hurry! Quickly run!
No stop! Stand back! He’s coming in!
Oh, look, that greasy greenish skin!
The shining teeth, the greedy smile!
It’s Crockyā€“Wock, the Crocodile!”

Carved crocodile. Standen House Estate.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, which occurs on the fourth Thursday in November, is based on the colonial Pilgrims’ 1621 harvest meal. The holiday continues to be a day for Americans to gather for a day of feasting, football and family.

Unfortunately due to the 2020 Pandemic things might be a bit different this year. However there is the virtual option.

ā€œBe thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.ā€ – Oprah Winfrey

Afternoon Tea.

Last week (10th- 16th August) was Afternoon Tea Week. Iā€™m a bit late with this post, but couldnā€™t let the occasion pass completely.

Afternoon Tea is a tea-related ritual, introduced in Britain in the early 1840s. It evolved as a little meal to stem the hunger and anticipation of an evening meal at 8pm.

The tradition of afternoon tea made its way into English literature around a decade after the brew made its way into British drawing rooms in the early seventeenth century. I love this quote from C.S. Lewis:

And of course donā€™t forget the sandwiches, scones and cake. Especially the cake…

We as a family made a lot of cake over the lockdown period. It was something to do and something to share from a social distance and became quite special to us all.

Here are my two favourite Afternoon Tea pictures from the unprecedented times of 2020.

The Grand Hotel treat after lockdown and VE Day 2020 during lockdown. We did a virtual afternoon tea.

#ESCBA East Sussex Children’s Book Award

So this year I am involved in this, so will be posting at intervals.

East Sussex Childrenā€™s Book Award an annual event run by East Sussex Library and Information Service aimed at raising the profile and value of reading for pleasure. Children vote for their favourite book from a shortlist. A series of author events at schools across East Sussex and Brighton and Hove are organised to which all participating schools are invited and a final celebration at a prestigious Sussex venue to announce the winner is held in June.

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespere

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

     If this be error and upon me proved,

     I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Sonnet 116 is one of William Shakespeare’s most well known and it states that love is constant and remains true regardless of the changes that time might bring.

#hemilywedding2019