The second week in Hassocks

On Monday we went into Brighton again, primarily because we had an appointment in the Bank and also because we wanted to have some fish and chips. The Bank went well, all was sorted, but we were so hungry by the time we finished there, that we didn't walk out to Hove, as planned, instead we hoofed it no further than The Basketmakers in the North Laines. This made it our second visit in 4 days, but we didn't mind. I had the seafood platter and Roy had fish and chips. As we walked to The Basketmakers I carried on photographing Brighton's amazing graffiti. I really loved that big wall full of famous faces near the Station.

Lovely depiction of John Lennon on the wall

On Tuesday it was Lucy's birthday and we let Stephen and Lucy go out for a lovely stay in a hotel to celebrate and we had the children all evening and overnight until the following noon.  It is amazing how well they behaved with us most of the time.  It was as if they sensed that the usual tricks that work with Mum and Dad most certainly don't work with us. Xander woke up once, asking for a drink, but otherwise they were no bother whatsoever.

Once they were back they took us all out to a nearby pub for a celebratory lunch. I have never been to The Sportsman in Goddards Green before and it was really nice food, good service and not too expensive.  The children were occasionally a bit fractious, but nothing too drastic. And the weather was good too.

At the The Sportsman with the birthday girl on the right

Wednesday saw a brilliant visit to Monkey Bizness, an indoor play area for small children, which is amongst their favourites. As Stephen had gone away again for 3 days' of gigs, we went with next door neighbour, Jen, her 4 year old Charlie and the 5 of us. It was a real hoot. Lots of climbing, crawling, sliding and other athletic excitements excited and exhausted the children, which they liked and we were all looking forward to a quiet afternoon as a result. Xander found some of the climbing areas a bit of a challenge, but persevered and the only slide he didn't try was the big flute, which I was quite glad about.

Xander on the slide

Peek-a-boo

Thursday was another one with travel into Brighton, but this time the trains were all over the place. The one we waited for was cancelled, the next one was late, but was supposed to stop.  Obviously nobody told the driver, because it went past at a great rate of knots. Most people were moaning about missed appointments and such like, while Roy and I were smug, as we remembered the days when you had to go to the station with about an hour to spare if you wanted to make your appointments and acted accordingly. I even remember the days when after the large number of mass accidents on the railways they started to repair the track almost everywhere all at the same time and the chaos that followed. The slogan in those days was: "If it goes roughly in the right direction, get on it, because there might not be another one for hours!" Well, it wasn't that bad this time, but we only made Roy's optician's appointment with 10 minutes to spare when we left home with almost an hour to spare on top of estimated travelling time.

The optician found the early signs of a cataract in one of Roy's eyes, so that is something that we will have to give some thought in the future. He didn't think anything could be done about it for quite a while yet, so Roy just got himself 2 new pairs of glasses, one for distance and one for reading, which will be ready in about 3 weeks.

As the trip to our favourite fish and chips shop was missed last time, we caught a no. 5 bus and travelled through town all the way to Hove for Ramsbottoms.  The fish and the chips were superb as ever. The portion sizes are enormous, the service good, so I must say that Ramsbottoms did not disappoint.  We were so hungry, that unfortunately I forgot to photograph the food, so I can only insert the shop front which was taken on our way out.

On our way back we came across The Albion, an old fashioned pub with bevelled glass windows and stained glass decorations inside, so we had a pint there before returning to the station.  On this visit to Brighton I was taking pictures from the top of the bus right through and ended up with some interesting shots from strange angles. Once we got off the bus we walked our way back to the station through the North Laines again, photographing twittens, graffiti and The Royal Pavilion along the way.

The Royal Pavilion from the gardens

On Friday we decided to have a walk to the Jack and Jill pub for lunch and on the way back we visited a Natural Burial Ground and the Garden Centre for a cream tea. All of this was done at our leisure, slowly, at our pace and it was very relaxing. On Thursdays and Fridays Elian and Xander go to nursery, so the pace of life is a bit slower and more relaxing. This was a day that was ours and where we didn't have to fit in with anything or anyone. I enjoyed it a great deal. The lunch was gorgeous: Roy had roast lamb with all the trimmings and I had a jacket potato with prawns and salad. I took lots of photos of the pub, the food, the windmills up on the Downs, then of the burial ground and the inside of the newest building in the Garden Centre where the cafe was. It was an oak timber framed structure, looking absolutely gorgeous. I love seeing that the old craft of making timber framed buildings not only survives, but thrives.  It has returned to fashion to have your house built round a timber frame and long may it last! We invited Lucy to come and have a cream tea with us, but while she did come, only had a cup of coffee.

A selfie in the pub

My jacket potato with prawns and salad

Roy's roast lamb with gravy and the trimmings

The Jack and Jill pub

Jill mill on top of the Downs with maximum zoom

The burial ground with the Downs in the background

My scone with butter, jam and clotted cream

The glorious timber structure of the Garden Centre cafe

Stephen got home in the middle of the night on Saturday, so when he was up we all went for a hike in Butchers Wood, or tried to, but were beaten back by the mud. We ended up instead in Costas for coffe, tea, cappuccino and several babycinos. I met 3 months old Iris in Costas, which was a very special event for me.  The Dempseys now have two daughters, Rosalie, aged about 3 and half and Iris.  They are both stunningly beautiful and superbly bright.  I have never seen a 3 months old as aware as this tiny little person was.  I had a little cuddle, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Once home we packed and our visit was over. The flight home was great and we were indoors by 4.35pm. Ever since then, however, we are both playing catchup with all our outstanding jobs and chores, which I am sure is going to take at least 2 weeks, if not more.

Clayton tunnel's Northern entrance

Iris and me