Camping in Suffolk

 A super fast turnaround  this week. After two nights in Wales, we had two nights at home and then I re-packed the car again for the drive to Suffolk with Scarlett and Flo. After years of camping, Rob has declared this year that "I will not camp". Undeterred, we met Rick and Justin at their cottage before driving to the field next to their wood, where we loaded all the gear into the tractor for the muddy drive to base camp. We were joined by two other families and all set up our tents around the wood hut and R&J's brilliant Indian marquee, which became our Mess Tent. Rick soon had a huge charcoal barbecue going, cooking amazing Suffolk sausages and burgers, and Justin lit a huge campfire. While the kids and assorted dogs went on deer stalking adventures in the woods, we all mucked in setting up a bar table and a long dining table in the marquee. Brilliant night of great food, wine and laughs around the campfire before collapsing into the tents.  It was the perfect end to a long hot summer, which finally feels like it's turning into Autumn.

Welsh Wales

Two brilliant days in Welsh Wales on the Gower, for the first time in 7 years, visiting favourite pubs and beaches and going up to Cefn Bryn to see where my Mum's ashes are scattered. Here are a few pics of the amazing beach at Rhossilli, which reminded us of the beaches in New South Wales, our afternoon flying kites on the beach at Oxwich Bay where we stayed,  and of the girls and Rob at Cefn Bryn and with my Aunty Elieen in Bristol.  Fab.

Two Weeks left

The summer holidays are racing by and with only two weeks left before the girls go back to school, we are packing in as much as possible. This week we had a fantastic bbq on the beach, with Rob serving up his trademark chicken marinated in soy and honey. Although we have long been loyal gas bbqers, our little portable charcoal one is not to be sniffed at.  On Wednesday I took the girls to Batemans, a National Trust house  and former home of Rudyard Kipling. We went for a special Jungle Book themed day of face painting, treasure hunting and story-telling which kept us entertained all day. Last night we joined our neighbours Janice and Roger, Maria and Lol and my boss Lottie, for a twilight open-air screening of Dirty Dancing in our local park. We had a such a laugh, helped by blankets, beanbags and wine and a generous, fun crowd who enjoyed whooping and yelling through the film as much as me. Or was it just me? Nobody puts baby in the corner.

Cuckmere Haven

We are enjoying such a wonderful summer school holiday. We have a week here in East Sussex before the next leg of our summer tour and couldn't be happier. Today, while we waited for Rob to come home from work, we bought all of Flo's school uniform for her first day next month - huge excitement. Then once Rob appeared (11am) we packed the car with a picnic and two small girls' bikes and drove for 45 minutes to the other side of Eastbourne, through incredible, picture-perfect villages with Angelina Ballerina thatched cottages, incredible barn conversions and fields of grazing sheep and cows to Cuckmere Haven.  Almost 5 years ago my sister had made us endure a similar drive to the same location, but due to several wrong turns and what seemed like hours in the car, we never really appreciated the beauty of the environment. However, once we arived, nabbed a free parking space and installed two small girls on aforementioned bikes, we were off on a wonderful walk/ride down the river to the beach, sitting right under the glorious white chalk cliffs of the South Downs, surely one of Britain's most beautiful and identifiable sights.  We spent the day eating, dozing (Rob's favourite thing in the world ever is either sleeping with his head on another or having another's head on him), walking, pebble hunting in hot sunshine. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Hastings for roast chicken with perfect, buttery avocado and tomatoes from our garden. Another perfect day.

p.s
A splendid full moon over Hastings last night which I have attempted, rather clumsily, to capture here. Looks more like a sun.

Airbourne 2011

A cracking day on Eastbourne beach, sitting side by side with thousands of plane spotters, watching a brilliant flying display by numerous jet fighters and prop planes. Get me and my lingo - picked up from those in the know around us. I was particularly taken by the wingwalkers in action, something I have secretly, but doubt I have the bottle, always wanted to do since watching The Great Waldo Pepper. Beautiful sunshine, M&S picnic (including Percy pigs), glasses of rose and Pimms. C'est tout.

Zoe, Paul, Sam and Bronte and then Rick

We had only been back from Scotland a night when Zoe, Paul, Sam and Bronte turned up from Sydney. Annoyingly our holiday plans of late totally clashed with theirs. While they were in nearby Eastbourne staying with Zoe's sister, we were away in Majorca and Scotland, and when we were in Hastings, they were further afield. Yesterday was the only day we could finally get together and then only for lunch. Zoe and Paul were great mates in Sydney before and after we had children -  their two, Sam and Bronte, are almost exactly a year older than Scarlett and Flo and shortly after we left Sydney last year, they sold up and headed north to a resort-style home on the Central Coast. It was so much fun getting together, as if no time had passed, and it was amazing for us all to see how much bigger each others kids were. Zoe looked like a gorgeous skinny minny, the result of a new devotion to 5 days a week of outdoor kick boxing and circuit training, leaving me feeling quite plump after 5 days of Moira's wonderful cooking. We managed  a lovely lunch and lots of chat, and typically the kids all finally got used to each other and started to play nicely about 20 minutes before they had to leave. They fly home to Sydney tonight. It feels weird every time other people are boarding planes to the southern hemisphere while we remain behind. Two hours later, Rick arrived, minus Justin, via 2 trains, from his work in Bedfordshire. We had dinner and a great catch up and he headed back to work this morning. Always a pleasure. The girls and I will see him in a couple of weeks when we go to Suffolk to camp in the boys' wood. Smashing.

Scotland's for me

Just back from 5 highly eventful days in Scotland with Fraser, Moira and Lily. Decided to take the train all the way from Hastings to Glasgow, rather than flying - half  the price and only a couple of hours longer. On paper at least. As soon as we reached the platform at Euston the true horror of the bun fight ahead emerged. Queues to get on the train, argy bargy with luggage and people pushing in front - not allowed I'm afraid, old chap, even if you are drawing a pension. Once we had shoe-horned ourselves on board we discovered, despite reserving seats, we didn't even have two seats together, still better than all the people who were standing and sitting in the aisles. A bit of jostling and seat swapping later, we had two seats together for the girls, me in a row behind, and Rob skillfully several rows ahead watching a movie on his iTouch. Still the 4 hour journey whizzed by, even though we never got to play the planned card games. The girls squabbled the usual amount until a kind lady gave them her iPad to play with for an hour. We arrived to find Moira's brother Neil at the station to meet us, a lovely treat. He and his wife Lorna having reached the end of their 2 week stay in Scotland, hung on for a couple more nights to see us. A top dinner at home and a rousing and loud game of Pit ensued before a reasonable bedtime. The next day Fraser and his mate Gav had their Christmas presents to enjoy - a day driving fast cars at a racing track. To be honest us spectators thought it would be a bit boring, but once we'd found a spot where we could picnic while enjoying a great view of the track, we became giddy with excitement every time Gav or Fraser's cars emerged around the hairpin bend. Brilliant fun. 

Meanwhile, Neil, Lorna and their kids were trying out their new inflatable kayak on Loch Lomond with Moira and Neil's mum Anne. Unfortunately the day had barely begun when Anne, while gathering wood for a fire on the beach, tripped and fell, blacking her eye, cutting her face and breaking her arm. She spent two nights in hospital and had to be operated on.

 The dramas didn't end there. After our day at the racetrack we returned home and were joined by Gav and Kirsty who pitched their tent in the garden with their kids so we could continue all hanging out together. We had another great night of laughs. Until 4am, when I was woken by Scarlett running to the loo to be sick. This continued for a couple of hours. We awoke to a day of cloud and rain, and the discovery that Lorna has also been sick in the night, but decided to go for pies and a walk to a nearby beach. Scarlett was still feeling rotten and there must few things worse than working in the rain when feeling so bad. Fraser kindly carried her most of the way there and back on his shoulders, because Rob was now not feeling the full quid. On the way home, Moira had to pull the car over so Rob could be sick. Later in the day Moira and Neil drove to Glasgow to visit Anne in hospital and on the way home, Neil was sick too. It was an early night with the remainder of us wondering where the lurgy would strike next. Moira and Lily were next, later that night. On Monday we drove to Balmaha for a pub lunch and walk around the loch before walking up to the lookout. Once home, Flo took herself off to bed at a strangely early 4pm before waking and being violently ill. Fraser and I now felt as if we had targets on our backs.

 On Tuesday, with everyone quite recovered and the sun shining we packed a picnic, swimwear and chairs and drove to Ruth and Archie's place on Loch Lomond to spend the day on the beach and, in the girls' case at least, swimming in the loch. Scarlett and Flo, while big fans of a punch up with one another, both adore Lily and we rarely see the 3 of them, apart from at mealtimes and on outings, allowing lots of top grown up time. Another brilliant trip in beautiful Scotland. Huzzah!

Old Town Week - phew what a scorcher.

The weather has been amazing recently, with many days hotter than when we were in Majorca. It's been all go in Hastings this week as the Old Town celebrates, er, being old I guess, with various parades, parties and concerts and the Pram Race. Teams pick a theme and dress themselves and their pram accordingly before parading through the town, stopping at every pub for a drink, collecting money for charity.  Another excuse for the good people of Hastings to get blind drunk. We went down to join the crowds for a look on Wednesday night as a few of the people from Judges were on a Greek god themed team. Pictured above is my boss Lottie, who was so hungover at work yesterday morning she was unable to stand, and went home after 2 hours. Here are a few pics of the night, plus a couple from an evening picnic we had on the beach with friends Lucy and Aid. The girls donned lifejackets and were taken out on Aid's sailboard on an utterly still English Channel.

Surprise!

There is a postscript to our trip to Majorca. As we were leaving the villa, we had to take our rubbish down the road to be disposed of at a recycling place. While there, Rob found a penny which he picked up, the old adage running through his head - "Find a penny, pick it up, all day through you'll have good luck." We arrived at Palma airport ready for a Friday night flight at 8pm, to find it delayed by 3 hours. This would mean missing our last train to Hastings and staying in a hotel at Gatwick. The girls and I were very excited about this. Me, because I love watching TV in bed in hotel rooms, and the girls because it meant the holiday continued. For some reason Rob was not keen on the hotel idea and was pushing for a taxi ride home from Gatwick to Hastings. I reminded him we had the return tickets for the train and that as we had nothing to rush home for it would be a fun end to the trip. On arriving at Gatwick at 1am, with two little girls who fell asleep every time they sat down, we cleared passport and customs and tried to check in to Yotel, a hotel with capsule rooms, rented out in 4-hour slots, but found it fully booked. At the Hilton we were offered two twin rooms for 190 smackers, rather defeating the object of the cheap flights that got us to Palma and back. At 1.45am we agreed the taxi really was our only option and booked one for 70 quid all the way to Hastings. By 2am we were on the road, the girls asleep within minutes, and zoomed along the empty motorway and roads  through East Sussex. About half an hour from home the taxi's engine gave a loud squeal and the car broke down. Really. At this point we couldn't stop laughing at our misfortune, it seemed so ridiculous to have been  presented with so many obstacles. So there we were on the A27 just outside Polegate, for an hour, in the dark, waiting for an AA van and a replacement taxi.  At 3.30am, just before the second taxi arrived and we lifted the sleeping girls from one backseat to the other, Rob revealed why he had been so keen to get home. Brett was coming the next day for lunch, all the way from Sydney, via Edinburgh, as a surprise. I was thrilled, but now rather too tired to leap about with excitement. On the way to Hastings the new taxi driver told us we couldn't pay with a card so we told him to stop in the town centre so we could use an ATM. Rob jumped out to get the money, returning empty-handed momentarily as the ATM had eaten his card, leaving it to me to get enough cash for the taxi and the food shopping we would need to do in the morning for Bretty's lunch.  As we finally made the final approach  to our front door at 4am, Rob rolled down the window and tossed the coin away. We finally crawled into bed at 4.15am, and awoke 6 hours later, to get ready for Brett's 2pm arrival which was still a wonderful surprise for the girls. Here are a few pics of a wonderful afternoon and evening. Ooh, and look at the size of my geraniums.

Plus a shot of Flo trying on my wedding dress last week. Bless.