Perfect weather for walking, woods and welcome friends

Half term began last Thursday and continues all this week.  On Friday I met up with  three other mums and their kids from school and we had a great day at Bedgebury Pinetum, a huge forest with walking and cycle trails and loads of brilliant climbing frames and obstacle courses.  I took my two alongwith Darcie and Scarlett. As with any car trip containing more than one child, a loud singalong CD was the order of the day. Once at Bedgebury, the kids charged about, screamed, fought, laughed and played on huge swings, obstacle courses and ropes things while the mums gossiped and had a laugh. The weather was pretty dire, cold and grey, but it was a really fun day. As I lassoed 4 tired, muddy children back into the car, I noted how much flatter the back tyre was looking than when we left Hastings. Rob had spotted it the day before and advised me to inflate it on my way out, but with all the noise and chaos of the 4 kids, I completely forgot. 

As I drove out of Bedbebury, bound for the nearest garage, I scraped the curb edge with my semi-inflated tyre and the whole thing came down. U-turn to Bedgebury where a kind young man from the bike hire shop offered to help (literally he was a 19-year-old with baggy jeans you, and have never felt more like a middle aged drone). As soon as he got the Jack out however he discovered it was broken. Arrrgggghh. Luckily his car was parked right next to mine and using his Jack, he had the wheel off and my spare on in 10 minutes. The kids were brilliant, waiting patiently on a picnic table nearby in the cold. 

On Saturday, Dom, formerly of Melbourne, then of Richmond, then Hastings, now of Sydney's northern beaches, arrived for breakfast. Dom and his wife Cathy had become very close friends in our first year in Hastings, but set off for Sydney in August of last year in search of a change. It was brilliant to see him and find out how Sydney had been coping without us.

An hour after Dom left The Iveys arrived from Wimbledon. After a quick lunch we spent a lovely cold but sunny afternoon in nearby St Helen's Woods, seeing how much mud it was possible to get on wellies before walking them back into the house. As it turns out, a lot. Fire lit, games and white wine and pink Champers out. Get in.

Sunday morning was all about the seafront, the funfair and a quick drink in the pub before a long lunch, red wine and newspapers before the Iveys drove away from Hastings once more. Hooray for the Iveys.

London

We spent the weekend in London, however the only evidence we were there is this photo of Scarlett and Florence looking deranged aboard a double decker bus. That's what travelling by bus in London does to you - sends you potty with frustration as you sit in traffic watching lights turn from green to red and back again without  moving an inch.
We began the weekend in Peckham Rye with the top and international Ed and Cass, she - NZ quilt maker and interior decorator extraordinaire, he - muso, brainy, advertising god. No pics due to excessive eating of tremendous sausage and lentil casserole, washed down with a lot of very nice Pinot, followed by a huge cheeseboard. Lots of talking, late into the night. On Saturday after pancakes and tea, we rolled our lardy bods onto the 345, which took us from Peckham through south London and over the bridge to South Kensington - our destination, the V&A for the Hollywood Costume exhibition that opened that morning. We arrived at 11am, keen to see Dorothy's red shoes, Catwoman's PVC catsuit, Audrey Hepburn's gowns and more. However, due to high demand, the next available entry time was 4pm! We tried to make the best of it by first visiting the shop, and then finding another permanent fashion exhibit where the girls marvelled at dresses from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Time for lunch, but as South Ken would never be at the list of  my top dining spots in London, we grabbed some rolls and got back on the bus to Peckham.
Back in the car then and on to Crystal Palace to see old Hastings neighbours Janice and Roger in their new abode. Quite different from the Victorian 4 storey townhouse they enjoyed here, they have moved to a much smaller, 1960s 3-storey townhouse in need of total renovation. It had tonnes of potential and with a huge garden, leafy surrounds, views to the north downs and a walk to very cools cafes, bars and shops, we totally got why they made the move. They will both have a lot more work opportunities there, Mathilde has a choice of brilliant schools when she starts secondary school next year and they feel much more as if they have found their tribe.

We dined on spectacular Moroccan chicken, with their friends Jools and Vlas,  and drank lots of fizz, while the girls played happily upstairs and watched X Factor. Yesterday we had brunch at fantastic Crystal Palace cafe Joanna's before heading back to Hastings in the drizzle, to light the fire and curl up in front of Downton Abbey. Autumn has us firmly in its grip, and it's rather nice.

Cold and dark

This is one of the favourite times of the year. We ordered our first load of logs of the season and have been lighting the fire in the evenings. The clocks haven't changed yet, but it is darker later in the mornings and earlier in the evenings.
Lots of social engagements this week, with the girls both on playdates on Tuesday and then two friends of Flo's coming over Wednesday. Their mums arrived after tea, cueing an unscheduled G&T or two. On Friday evening I organised dinner out with 10 mums from school. We went to the Old Town to the Thai bookshop I've mentioned before. They opened just for us, having been closed for renovations for 2 weeks, but it didn't take long to realise they were woefully unprepared for diners. Despite us having emailed our orders ahead, the day before, they still took more than an hour to appear. No matter, as it was lots of fun.
Saturday was a mixture of torrential rain and bright sunshine and, after a lazy start involving pancakes and papers, our friend Adrian came over to take some family photos of us. He knows what he's doing as a professional photographer, one of his photos recently included in an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. While Rob and I were a tad uncomfortable at taking direction, the girls were absolutely in their element, posing for pictures.
 In the afternoon, Ruth and Pete arrived for the weekend from sunny north London. We had a hugely enoyable dinner and then watched the massive fireworks display, taking place just outside the window, celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.  For reasons that escape me, I have no photos of the fireworks. Or Friday night's dinner. Or Saturday night's dinner.
Sunday was another corker weather wise, cold, but sunny, and we enjoyed a lovely long walk along the seafront, to the Fishermens' Museum, around the Old Town and then to lunch at Dragon. Here is Ruth enjoying Scarlett's elite bumper car driving skills.

Coast and country

A bit of a lull in proceedings blogwise, due to life and its ability to get in the way of blogging. How dare it! After  more than two years in Hastings, I finally found the perfect Flat White last week in a small cafe in St Leonards. I wonder if the fact that the barista is a Kiwi made a difference.

We are well into Autumn now, dark mornings and evenings drawing in and the clocks haven't even changed yet. It's a gorgeous time of year, and last night we lit the fire for the first time since the Spring, which we all loved. I walked into the Old Town to meet a friend at the cinema in the week, but as I was early, I strolled along the beach to take a few shots of the fishing boats. With the blue sky and a chill in the air, it was a near perfect day.

In other news, Flo lots her second tooth last week. It fell out at school, but she managed to keep it safe all day so the tooth fairy could reward her. The tooth fairy has been rather tardy of late, and keeps falling asleep instead of leaving money under Flo's pillow.

An amazing full moon over hastings last week. It is quite a spectacle watching this huge orb appear to rise up out of the rooftops on the opposite hill, and has me totally captivated every time.

Rob went off on a boys' weekend away on Friday. Due to the complications of his visa application, that mean if he leaves the country he can't get back in, Giles and the other boys, kindly decided to make it a local affair this year. Last year, they all headed off to Budapest, where Rob, accidentally on purpose methinks, missed the plane and stayed an extra night. This time, Giles rented a gorgeous farmhouse in Crowborough, less than an hour from us, and conveniently about half way to my Dad's house, so after dropping him there on Friday evening, the girls and I carried on to Barming for the weekend.
The weather started out  a bit grim on Saturday, but we decided to head to Dover for a walk along the cliffs. Dad dropped us and Alexandra at Samphire Hoe, a country park at the base of the cliffs, created from the earth extracted in the creation of the Channel Tunnel. The plan was to do a circular walk around the park and then head to a clifftop cafe for a drink. The park itself proved to be very small, so Alexandra and I decided we would walk the whole way to the clifftop cafe, Alexandra certain it was 'just around that headland'. It was a super walk along a shingle beach, with the great white cliffs soaring above us, and huge boulders of chalk creating a vivid moon-like landscape. We walked and walked, but could not see the clifftop cafe above us. We asked a couple of people we spotted coming the other way, who assured us it was 'just a bit further'. Still we walked, then Alexandra slipped and fell in the slimy chalky clay, then Flo fell and cut her knees and shins. Then the sun came out and it started to get rather hot and tiring. We were wearing wellies and thick jackets and though everyone had been great up to this point, Flo's knees were hurting, Alexandra's ankle was killing her and we were still seemed to be nowhere near this allusive cafe. To complicate matters, we were unable to contact Dad to let him know we had changed our plans and were not coming back to meet him at the car. The car park where he was sitting, happily reading his paper, was in a mobile phone blackspot so despite several attempts to call him, we couldn't get through. We then found ourselves in a blackspot under the cliffs, but eventually I managed to call the kiosk in the car park and get the bloke to bang on Dad's window and tell him to meet us at the cafe. It was nearly 3 hours before we were eventually reunited at the cafe, after fighting our way up a steep hill through brambles, stinging nettles and lots of mud. Once there I let the girls order whatever they wanted for their patience and hard work - hot chocolate, ice cream and doorstep tuna sandwiches. The view from the top was stunning - we could see all the way to France - and it allowed us to look down and see that we had walked about 2 miles more than we needed to.

On Sunday, the valley below Dad's house was filled with mist, the sun came out and the day was spectacular. The girls and I did one of our favourite walks, down the track through the field behind the house, a look around the churchyard looking for new graves, plus looking for the names of old friends, then we always walk down the lane to the river for a game of Pooh sticks.

Walk over, we drove back to Crowborough to pick up Rob. Some of the boys were still there, so I got to have a quick catch up and a hug with Jim, MJ, Giles, Mike and Tim. They had evidentally had a great time judging from the empty wine and beer bottles, had eaten well and made use of the heated pool at 1am.

We arrived home to discover a massive leak under the floorboards in our boot room. As I type, I am waiting for a plumber to arrive with his wrench and his bank account details. I can hear the water gushing out, can see the floorboards are wet, but have no idea where the water is coming from and where it is going...