Beaches and castles

What a lovely day. Temperatures in the mid-20's, a slight breeze to keep it comfortable and a day out.

The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen met up with Simon and Alison and their son Stephen. Simon works at Starfleet, and the Gorse Fox used to be his manager. We had threatened to get together and finally managed to get it into the schedule.

We met up at the East Beach Cafe in Littlehampton and had a cup of coffee, then grabbing Stephen's bike from the car, we set off to wander along the promenade. It was an opportunity for Stephen to use his bike on the flat and for the rest of us to have a chat and catch up with all of the latest news and views.

Clearly life in Starfleet is just as stressed as it was when the Gorse Fox was still working, and all of the stories that Simon related just went to reinforce the sheer delight of retirement. It was important, however, to prevent any smugness from setting in - and just to provide sympathy and encouragement.

After couple of hours we all made our way to Arundel.

Above a shop, called Spark's Yard (opposite the old Eagle Brewery Offices), is a restaurant called The Loft. It is family friendly and the quality of the food is excellent. We enjoyed a lovely lunch and chat, then, parting ways, the Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen did some shopping before heading back home.

Once home, we had just sat down in the Orangery when Chris made contact. The wine that we had asked him to pick up at his discount shop was ready. We carried the cases over and stood chatting until Trudy and Ian arrived and so the discussions expanded. A lovely afternoon - and an opportunity to "come clean" regarding the giraffe.