The Iveys come to town

A mixed week weather wise, with howling gales and lashing rain as well as bright, hot sunshine. The garden doesn't know whether it's coming or going. Plants are growing wildly out of control, but must be tamed. Oh yes, they will be tamed.  On Saturday morning, things were looking bright though blustery, a perfect day for being blown along the seafront to the funfair with our lovely friends the Iveys. Giles, Lucy, Thom and Olivia joined us for larks on the dodgems and a brilliant new ride that looks hilalrious when you are not the one riding on it, terrifying if you are. Scarlett went on with Giles and  had her hand over her mouth for most of the ride, so we thought she was about to throw up. She didn't. We had  a smashing lunch at Dragon, where we ordered most of the menu, before settling in for an afternoon of newspapers and  chit chat at home. Giles can never be too far from a Tv in case something significant happens somewhere in the world of sport, so he became extremely comfortable in Rob's armchair, in front of the telly, snoozing and snoring wild abandon. Dinner was a windy barbecue, before the kids disppeared off to their beds, the cheeseboard and red wine made an appearance and we spent a funny evening talking over An Officer and A Gentleman, a film that we knew far too many lines from. On Sunday, we woke to a downpour but as the rain cleared, Giles asked if, instead of walking in the woods, we could visit Pevensey Castle, the first castle he had visited as a lad. Bless. It's only a short drive away and we had a great couple of hours, clutching audio guides in a gale, exploring dungeons and turrets, before having a drink in what could be East Sussex's worst pub. Home then for roast chicken and more papers, before the Iveys drove back to London. We then all watched England lose in a penalty shoot out. Good grief, why do we bother?

Above is a short video of a great weekend.

Town and country

Half term ended with more wild and wet weather and saw us board the train to Brighton, an hour away. We were blown all the way down the main street from the station to the totally fabulous Brighton Pavilion, built for the highly hedonistic Prince Regent in the late 18th century. After initially muttering under our collective breath about the high admission price, we were immediately blown away by the gorgeous excess of the interior - the incredible decadent dining room, the superbly outfitted kitchen and the extraordinary music room. We spent two very happy hours, audio guides in hand, exploring all the rooms. The girls found it fascinating and it turned a miserable weather day into a great one.

At the weekend, I took the girls to Bedgebury Pinetum, a vast forest of walking and bike trails, a Go Ape highwire adventure course and loads of brilliant playgrounds. We had a lovely time walking from one adventure playground to the next, trying obstacle courses and swinging off things. Here is Scarlett looking up at  someone zooming overhead on a fly fox.

On Sunday it was Dad's birthday. Unfortunately, he hasn't been feeling great over the last few weeks, and has spent a few days in hospital. Despite feeling pretty rotten on his big day, he put on a brave face and met us all at the The Swan in West Peckham. It's a perfect village pub on a small cricket pitch, surrounded by fields and we had a lovely lunch before Dad had to head home for a rest. I'm pleased to report, he is feeling  a lot better this week and we are all meeting up again today for another pub lunch to celebrate Father's Day. Here he is with my brother in law Lol .

  On Thursday, Rob, our neighbour Janice and I drove through beautiful East Sussex and Kent countryside to Rolvenden, surely one of the area's most scenic villages, for the Midsummer Fair. This huge event is held in the grounds of Hole Park and is all about the food, the plants, the crafts and the lovely bowls of Thai food. It was also one of the few fine days we have had recently, so we ended our excursion with a stop at the smashing village pub, The Bull, where are returning for lunch today.

On Friday I got the train to London for a lunch to celebrate the publication of the magazine I have been working on since January. Everyone involved at the the agency met for lunch in Notting Hill, on the corner of Golborne Road and Portobello, one of my old stomping grounds.

After lunch I raced through London to Soho to meet Keith Austin, an old friend and former Sydney Morning Herald colleague. Keith is the East End personified, revelling in his strong cockney accent and turn of phrase over the years despite working in senior roles at leading newspapers populated by public school boys whose work keith corrected. Though still based in Sydney, Keith is in the UK for the summer, in part to publicise and launch his first novel, Grymm, a horror for young adults. A few jars in Cambridge Circus and I was on the train home before things got too messy.

Yesterday, Saturday, we were on the train London-bound again, tis time to Peckham Rye to warm the new house of our friends Ed and Cass. They are brilliant at buying places no one else could see the promise in, and then ripping down walls, repainting, sanding floorboards and voila! , they get an interiors spread in The Guardian magazine. Good for them. We spent a lovely afternoon with 20 odd of their friends feasting on roast lemon chicken. Several train changes later, we arrived home at midnight.

Arise Sir Gary and wet weather camping

 The Diamond Jubilee concert was a cracker. We loved it - Grace Jones and her hula hoop, Madness on the roof of Buckingham Palace with those amazing light projections, even JLS, and Gary Barlow and his shoulders all ready to receive the touch of Her Majesty's sword. After a day of rest (read 12 people in the house drinking Champagne and watching the Queen's carriage procession), we headed west to Uckfield, East Sussex to Wowo, a campsite  in the grounds of something or other manor - 3 fields, lots of streams, rope swings, mud and fields. Open fireplaces make camping for me, so this was great, as does at least one walk to a great pub, also good; but at the end of the day it's you, your tent and car, facing in on a field full of other people's tents and cars. Australian and US camping has spoiled us for good, with their fancy surf beaches, lake, mountain and riverside options, so a field has several hard acts to follow. Nonetheless, we had a great 24 hours in pretty much continuous rain,  a great laugh swinging on ropes, splashing in mud, eating good food and sleeping snugly in our brilliant tent.  Job done. Next, hopefully, 10 days camping in France and a few days in Rick and Justin's wood and that will probably be our camping for the year.

Diamond Jubilee!!

 It's been Jubilee-tastic in our house this week. We began with a slightly un-patriotic pirate school disco on Tuesday, at which Rob and I were helpers. Aside from shouting "Arrrrggghhh!!!" intermittently, we cooked and gave out hotdogs and drinks and judged dancing contests.

 By Friday, Jubilee fever had reached well, er, fever pitch. The girls were allowed to go to school dressed in red, white and blue (see above) and I set to, alongwith  a bunch of other mums, making a shedload of sandwiches- spam (shocking) corned beef (really?) and coronation chicken (champion) as well as icing 300 cupcakes in red, white and blue.

 On Saturday we spent a lazy afternoon in the garden of a pub in Winchelsea with two other families. So lazy I forgot to take any pics. Needless to say the kids had a ball, as did the grown ups, before being poured back onto the train in time for the final of The Voice.

We spent most  (all?) of Sunday in our Pjs, preparing for and then watching the Diamond Jubilee Thames regatta. It could not have rained more and we couldn't help commenting on how different things would have been if we had been able to replicate last weekend's amazing hot weather. We spent this afternoon at Maggie and Popi's Jubilee party, meeting great people and eating wonderful poached salmon, pork pies, eEon mess and more. Brilliant. xx