End of the Pier Show

It had been cold overnight and there was a hard frost. It was nearly 8 a.m. before I got up and filled the kettle and coffee machine. We had breakfast and then prepared to head out into the crisp, bright, sunny morning.

We parked the car near West Park and set off for a walk along the promenade towards the pier. As we looped through Marine Gardens, we realised the paths were quite slippery so we dropped out of the park onto the pavement which was in the sun.  Crossing to the promenade we continued in the winter sunshine, marvelling at how few people were actually out and about.

The last time we approached the pier, parts of it were closed where new boards were being laid. They have finished the maintenance and we were able to walk out to the end and look back across Bognor Regis. 

We walked back towards West Park and stopped at the cafe for a coffee before heading home.

We had a quiet afternoon in the Orangery with our Kindles. I also spent some time editing the extract from last year's blog and preparing it for printing. I have only got as far as the end of March, so there is a fair way to go.

By lunchtime tomorrow, the forecast is looking wet and bleak, so it was nice to make the most of today's conditions. (We are in a Met Office Amber Weather alert at present, due to the cold weather).

Day Out

 Yesterday's rain and wind had blown out. This morning dawned cold, bright, and clear. I was up and about by 7:30 and settled with my coffee and iPad. Diane came down a while later. After breakfast she started to potter around and, clearing some of Ellie's toys, knocked the spare table that I had stacked next to the toy shelves. The table slipped and fell and bashed her leg and ankle. 

Lottie came this morning to do the cleaning downstairs. We decided to make the most of the sunshine and go to the Weald and Downland Museum.

Being members, we could get into the museum at no charge.

We started by wandering along to the Carpenter's Workshop where a chap was explaining how the village carpenter would fill in between jobs by making brooms and small household wooden articles.

From there, we walked along to the Smithy where a couple of chaps were beavering away around the forge.

We carried on around the museum, stopping off at a display of the Tudor Kitchen where volunteers (dressed in costume) were preparing food for the Twelfth Night feast.

Next door, volunteers were talking about the clothing of the 1500s and the life of the yeoman farmer and his family.

We looped back up the hill and back towards the restaurant where we stopped for a coffee and a bap.

We stopped off in the gift shop as we left the restaurant and then after a final look around, we hopped in the car and headed home.

We had a quiet afternoon in the Orangery with our Kindles before I zipped to Sainsbury's to grab some tea bags... but was concerned by how long it may take when I saw the gridlock in the car park. This turned out to be the result of an accident just by the car park exit. It turned out that everything had been cleared by the time I left.

A New Chapter

We didn't stay up to see the New Year begin. Ellie was still having a lot of discomfort and again we swapped beds. She settled fairly quickly once Nana was in bed, despite the fireworks exploding throughout the late evening.

This morning, New Year's Day, was the start of a new chapter in the journal of life. I was up first and had a quiet hour with my coffee and iPad before Diane came down. Ellie decided she wanted a pyjama day... and stayed in bed until mid-afternoon.

Gales had blown in overnight and there was rain battering the windows. The idea of going for a walk didn't really penetrate my consciousness. Starting to populate this year's accounting spreadsheet seemed a much better bet. Once that was complete, I headed up to the study and started to process the 2024 blog. The text and images were extracted into an "HTML" file. This was opened in MsWord and the correct stylesheets were applied and the file was saved as a "docx". Then I started to work through each entry and apply the correct formatting, check the spelling and grammar, and resize and position the photos. By mid-afternoon, I had finished January and February.

Ellie finally got up, got washed and dressed, and came downstairs. We watched a recording of last night's fireworks from London and then she sat and played quietly until Zoe came to collect her.

I wish you all a healthy and peaceful New Year, I wish you happiness, love and contentment.