A Windy Waffle - 8/6/26

We had a lovely weekend.  Hubby and I got together with all 6 of his remaining siblings and their partners (14 in total) at the youngest sister's house in Brighton which is on the south coast of England and a typical seaside town, complete with pier.

Parking in Brighton is really difficult and limited, especially if staying overnight so 8 of us took a coach from Stratford right through to Brighton Station and then it's about a 20 minute walk.  The coach ride was smooth and we didn't hit any traffic so we arrived on time.  It took 2 1/2 hours and it was nice to just sit back and relax.

We all gathered at our host Sarah's house joined by the remaining two couples, one who had travelled from France.  It was the first time we'd all been together in a while so lots of catching up to do.  Friday's evening meal was fish and chips.  We had planned to sit on the beach and eat it but by the time we'd all arrived and settled it was a bit late and therefore a bit too chilly to do that.

Saturday dawned dry and sunny so we all took a walk into town.  We walked around the Royal Pavilion and through the Lanes area before finding a pub with enough outdoor space for us all.  At that time it was still sunny and warm.

Look at the blue sky!

But as they had forecast the clouds rolled in together with 50mph winds.

We got caught in the downpour but all managed to make our way to here for lunch.

This is the appropriately named Shelter Hall and that picture is from the web because those umbrellas would not have stayed up in the wind on Saturday.  It is a large space inside with various street food vendors serving food.  There was lots of choice including Mexican, Portuguese, Thai, Burgers and Pizzas.  We managed to get 2 big tables to accommodate us all.  There were a lot of people taking advantage of being inside, including at least one Hen party and one Stag party.  Brighton is a popular destination for these.

After we'd eaten a few of us went back to Sarah's by Uber while others braved the rain and did more exploring, although that may have been the inside of a pub lol.

Saturday evening Sarah and her partner Grace laid on a lovely meal for us all.  One of the reasons we'd planned the gathering was to celebrate another sister's (Kate) 60th birthday.  Her birthday was actually back in January but we decided to wait until the weather was better to celebrate and also it was a bit of a house warming for Sarah and Grace.  Sarah bought the house back in September and has been gradually furnishing it and decorating.  They split their time between the Brighton house and Grace's home in London.  

We had a gnocchi, green bean and asparagus starter, followed by fish pie and then strawberries, shortcake and cream dessert.  It was all really good.

On Sunday morning we took a walk along the beach away from the centre of Brighton towards Black Rock where you can board the Volks Electric Railway service that runs from there to the Aquarium along the beach.  It's the oldest working electric railway in the world and opened in 1883.

One of the electric trains

This stretch of the beach has a boarded walkway which makes it so much easier to walk on as the beach is actually very stony.

After our walk we headed back to the house where we had more food before setting off for home at 5.30 pm.

One huge feature of the Brighton house is that there is a huge garden between a square of properties and only 3 of those home owners have the right to use the garden and Sarah is one of them!

Here we are in the garden.  The two white arched windows on the right are Sarah's house and the gap in the greenery you can see below is a gateway into her own private small courtyard area.  We were lucky enough to get some sunshine in the afternoon so we could sit outside and enjoy our lunch.

The journey home on the coach was just as smooth and we arrived back at Stratford by 8.30 pm so we were home by about 9.45.  We all had a really good time and believe it or not we all get on really well.

Friday's Fave Five - 5/6/26

It's Friday so time to look back on the blessings of the week then link up here with Susanne and the gang.  

1)  Grateful for Hubby's family.  We're all getting together this weekend - 7 siblings and partners.  His youngest sister recently bought a house in Brighton which is on the south coast of England and is a vibrant seaside destination.  The weather isn't looking too good but I'm sure that won't stop us having fun.

2)  New glasses!  I tried to take a selfie but it wasn't very flattering so I gave up.  Glad that we can afford things like decent glasses - they're so expensive when you need varifocals and like them to react to the light etc.

3)  A quieter week.  It was lovely having family here last week but it's also nice not to have such early starts etc.

4)  Rain and cooler weather.  We needed the rain and the beginning of last week was a heatwave.

5)  Lots of volunteers on Thursday at the Foodbank.  Many hands make light work.

Have a good weekend all.  

Read then Write - 4/6/26

Since my last book post I have managed to finish Three Things about Elsie by Joanna Cannon.  A re-read for me but it was the afternoon book club pick and I couldn't really remember all that happened in the book so it was a good reminder.

I really enjoyed it.

I've also managed to finish Welcome to the Neighbourhood by Jane Fallon.

This was a slow burner for me at first but then I found myself wanting to find out what the various characters were going to do.

Kitty moves to London after the break up of her long term relationship. She thinks the move will improve her life but is initially disappointed. Then she gets new neighbours, Sian and Rich and suddenly she has a new friend in Sian and her life seems better.

But then she spots a mysterious woman leaving their house and the plot thickens. The saying "oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive" springs to mind as there is a lot of deception going on and at some points it's tricky to keep track of. Some of it is a little far fetched but I did find myself sucked in during the second half of the book. The subtitle on the book was "Good neighbours or bad people?" and there's a good mix of both.

It also ticks a prompt on the 52 Book Club prompt.

I've now moved on to this one:

This is the choice of the evening book club and although I won't be attending the meeting when it will be discussed I thought I'd read it anyway as it's not too long (just short of 200 pages).  

Ephron is the screenwriter of When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle so it sounded promising.  However it is written in the first person and very much in a Stream of Consciousness style. The blurb says it will make you laugh.  I think I'm missing my sense of humour so far.  

Blogger issues? 3/6/26

Is anyone else having problems with their reading list?

Despite refreshing it, some of the blogs I follow, who I know have posted new posts, are not showing up in my reading list.  Annoying!