Mouth mining

This Summer weather is just wonderful. It's like the times that the Gorse Fox was working in the USA - bright blue skies, lovely warm days and evenings, and a degree of predictability. Our usual Thursday schedule was scrapped for today. We had the usual Ocado delivery but then headed into Chichester. The Gorse Fox had an appointment at the dentist (hygienist) and the Silver Vixen wanted to wander round some of the shops.

We parked up and wandered into the town. There was time to spare before the Gorse Fox had to undergo his torture session. We started at our favourite jeweller. Jasper had caught the Silver Vixen's necklace and broken it so it was time to get it replaced with one that was a bit more robust. While we were there, given that we have a Wedding Anniversary next week, we looked at some of his other necklaces and pendants. One rather caught the eye, so we picked that up to celebrate.

The Gorse Fox disappeared off to the dentist. The hygienist spent about 30 minutes mining among his teeth. The conclusion was that there wasn't much to find other than the amalgam that previous dentists have used over the years. At least he got a clean bill of health. The Gorse Fox then wandered back to centre of town to find the Silver Vixen. We hit a few more shops before stopping for lunch.

We had booked lunch at "The Ivy", which has only been open about 6 weeks. The first thing that you notice when you enter is how big it is - not only wide, but also very deep. The interior design is striking. It is reminiscent of a cross between an interior designer's fantasy and a palm house. The next thing that is apparent is how busy they are - every table was taken (it was a good job we had booked).

We settled down with the menu and debated what to have. The Silver Vixen started with a Kiln-roasted Salmon Tian whilst the Gorse Fox had Bang Bang Chicken. Both were delicious. For our main dishes the Silver Vixen had an Halloumi Salad while the Gorse Fox had a Malaysian-style Monkfish and Prawn Curry. We cleared our plates. The Gorse Fox was tempted to lick his clean. The curry was delightful - creamy, sweet, not hot, but loaded chock full of monkfish and prawns. The Silver Vixen also finished every morsel from her plate. There was no room for a sweet - and no need to eat again today. Thoroughly enjoyable lunch, and we will certainly return.

Leaving Chichester we stopped off at Sainsbury's before heading home and spending the remainder of the afternoon in the cool. of the lounge, reading our books.