October started out with a couple of really good weeks of mild weather which was fantastic. I managed to get out a few times on the paddleboard which was good fun, as well as a few trips down to Southwick beach, meeting up with Laura and Dennis and kids, as well as Elle and kids too. So nice sociable beach visits as well as just the four of us.

More progress happening on the building works, with the kitchen boarded up, the extension roof on and now just waiting for the structural changes to go through. We decided to replace the side wall with an internal steel beam to avoid the wall jutting out, but could now delay things a bit, so we'll see...

From the middle of the month, the temperatures dropped quite a bit and really did turn cold. You wouldn't think we were swimming and paddleboarding just a few days before that! We did manage to get out to Brooklands Park playground, as well as Worthing Beach and the Marina, so the cooler weather certainly didn't scupper us too much :)

Last weekend we headed out to Walton to meet up with Greg, Kim and the boys for lunch at their place, so good to catch up and the cousins all thoroughly enjoyed themselves seeing each other. The following day we went pumpkin picking at Poynings Pumpkin Patch, followed by me heading out paddleboarding over Ian's nap, then that evening down to the Basin for fish 'n chips in the car overlooking the waves.

This Thursday just gone I had taken the afternoon off work, so after Ian's nap we drive into town and wandered around Churchill Square shopping centre and the plan was to grab dinner there but realised Ed's Easy Diner closes early during the week, so back to the car and over to Holmbush we headed for McDonald's - a favourite of Ellen and Ian's. At least on the Friday we heard back from the structural engineers and building control, so good to go once again with the building works!

The biggest excitement of all over the past 6 weeks, but mainly recently, was the Rugby World Cup with it all coming to a dramatic and exciting finish on Saturday with SA only just beating NZ by a single point. As much as we have enjoyed watching it, it has also been a lot of stressful Saturday nights which I won't miss :) But what a way to finish the tournament, beating the All Blacks by 12 points to 11. Amazing!

Oh, and also Halloween this evening where we headed out around Southwick all dressed up to go trick or treating :)

September was a rather busy, active and warm month with rather busy weekends. The first weekend we headed into Hove on the Friday evening for a walk along the seafront, past the 'Upside Down House' and to the playground alongside it. On the Saturday we spent the day in the garden with a nice evening braai on scallops and prawns bought from La Poissonnerie down the road. Then on the Sunday we drove up into the South Downs for a walk along the side of Devil's Dyke which was scenic and nice to get out into the country.

The following day, on the Monday was back to school with Ellen heading into Year 1, so we all made our way up to school to see her off for the day :) The rest of the week was really nice and warm and made a few visits down the beach in the afternoons when we could. That Friday evening was the start of the RWC 2023 which was going to entertain us all for the next 7-8 weeks, really looking forward to that! That weekend was once again super sunny and warm, so both days were spent down on the beach.

On Monday the 11th we started with Phase 2 of the building works which will involve knocking down the kitchen bolt-on and replacing it with a slightly bigger, more open extension off the kitchen with a nice seating area and large picture window looking out into the garden. The rest of that week was very messy and dusty as they knocked everything down and started to dig the new foundations. But good to see things started on Phase 2.

During that week I decided to buy myself a paddleboard - I had been eyeing them out over the summer and thought I'd eventually get one, but decided why wait and jump straight into getting one now. So it arrived during the week and the next Saturday decided to take it out for a bit to give it a test and try out. Then on the Sunday it was the Saddlescombe Farm Heritage Open Day, so we spent a good bit of the morning there before getting caught in a massive pourdown and heading home all fairly soaked :)

After the following week of more messy building works, we all headed over to Hove Park on the Saturday for the Summer Fiesta party to meet up with a few others who we knew would be there. That was good fun - the weather was warm, food was good, beer was cold and the kids had a great time, so all round a good afternoon out. Then the Sunday was a slightly more subdued day, chilling out at home.

This Monday just gone by I had booked off work for the day, so after dropping Ellen at school, myself, Ian and Una headed into Hove for a casual walk on the beach then over to Rockwater Hove for lunch before making our way back home to fetch Ellen and head home. On the Tuesday I decided to invest in a wetsuit, to hopefully try to do a bit more swimming (and paddleboarding) next month if possible. Then on Wednesday it was a lunch time visit down to Kingston Beach for a quick lunch time swim which was nice and refreshing!

These past few days have still been rather mild, so we managed a few trips down to the beach, either for lunch or just a run around, and good for the mind to feel the sea breeze :)

After getting back from Seal Bay Resort on Friday the 18th, we spent all of Saturday at home and then Sunday was a visit down to the beach to soak up the warm August sun.

Monday afternoon was Seth's birthday party at Hollywood Bowl at Brighton Marina, so I finished work a bit earlier and we all headed over to the Marina for that. After Ellen had finished with her bowling, we stopped by Five Guys for dinner and then headed home.

Last Friday evening was the South Africa - New Zealand rugby game at Twickenham and Raul had kindly offered me a spare ticket to join him and Ronaldo at the game. I finished up work a bit after lunch and got the train up to Clapham which was absolutely rammed with both Springbok and All Black supporters. After getting to Twickenham, I headed over to The Cabbage Patch and met up with Raul and Ronaldo for a couple of lightning fast beers before we made our way over to the stadium. The game was really good, plenty of SA support and the Boks managed to beat them by 35 points to 7 which was a great win! Hopefully this puts the Boks in a good position ahead of the Rugby World Cup next month!

With this past weekend being a bank holiday, we chilled at home on Saturday, then drove up to Devil's Dyke on the Sunday which was crazy busy so we decided on the South Downs walk instead. Then on the Monday afternoon we headed into Worthing for the late afternoon with a few rides, some ice-cream and then fish and chips for dinner.

Then these past few days have just been normal routine days with school, work and busy around the house :)

This past week we spent at Seal Bay Resort, which is a holiday park in Selsey, about an hour and a half drive away. We left home on the Monday morning and checked in that afternoon before heading out to explore the holiday park. The entire resort was massive, split over a few different grounds with a bus shuttle service between each one. We managed to go swimming a couple of times, head over to the White Horse Holiday Park and the rest of the time was either in the mobile home or in the entertainment area.

Ellen and Ian had a great time, it was like Vegas for kids with the lights, music, dimmed lightning, etc. Somewhat less relaxing for the adults :) But we did go for a couple of walks out to the edge of "Medmerry Nature Reserve" which was a bit more peaceful and relaxing. Maybe it was just the size of the complex and the number of people, or maybe the good weather after a few weeks of rain, but it felt rather chaotic and hectic, not actually a relaxing weekend, but good to get away for a few days.

Once back home this afternoon, we unpacked and headed down to Hove for dinner at Marrocco's to bring to an end our holiday week :)

The past couple of weeks have been busy with beach, swimming, birthdays and enjoying the August weather. We started off the month with a few trips down to The Basin for a fish 'n chips takeaway in the car followed by a run around on the beach and the shoreline. We did have a rainy day on the first Saturday, but then on the Sunday we headed into Worthing for a swim at Splashpoint, which is always a favourite of ours. The next Thursday I finished work a bit earlier and we all headed down to the beach on the Cargo Bike for a beach braai and evening on the beach.

Yesterday we had Jack's birthday at Portslade Sports Centre, which was pirate themed :) Then today we've just been at home doing a bit of packing before we head off to Seal Bay Resort tomorrow for a week away.

We've just come to the end of July and it's been rather wet, windy and miserable for the most part. Hard to believe we're in the middle of summer! It started off alright, but gradually turned into more of an autumn feel to it than mid-summer.

The first weekend we spent mostly at home and tried to get down to the beach when we could. During the first week, on the Wednesday, we had the floor sanding crowd in to do the upstairs flooring, and since it's crazy loud, I had taken the day off so decided to pop down to Drury Coffee Shop with Ellen and Ian for a coffee and a treat, but mainly to get out the house to avoid the noise! That evening, I had dinner and drinks booked with the Southwick guys, so headed off to Hove and met up with Pete, Lee and Ben at The Lion and Lobster for a bite to eat and a couple of beers. On that Friday, Will was over in London, so he'd organised a steak night with a few of us, so after work I headed into town and met Will and Duncs at the Blue Posts pub before heading over to the Guinea Grill for dinner with the others.

That Saturday, Ellen had her Wizard of Oz PQA concert, where she played the part of Dorothy and was exceptionally good, considering it was the main part in front of all the parents... super proud :) However, that afternoon, Ian's temperature still hadn't dropped and decided we needed to head to Worthing A&E to get him seen, which they did and managed to get it down again. Nothing serious in the end, but always worried when it stays high and can't get it down. Poor little guy :( On the Sunday, we kept it fairly low key, and since Ian was feeling better, decided on a drive over to Lancing Widewater Lagoon and a brief walk along the beach for some fresh air.

On the middle Saturday we had tickets for Brighton's Pub in the Park festival, which was being held at Preston Park. We got the train over there just before lunchtime and had a good few hours there, which was really good. A nice mix of food, drinks, music and entertainment for both the adults and the kids. The weather forecast did predict thunderstorms and gale force winds, but luckily didn't make it as far as Preston Park. That is, until we decided to walk from there down to Brighton for a drink along the promenade, where the wind really did pick up! Landed up enjoying our drinks with mouthfuls of sand! Anyway, after one drink there, we decided to head up to the station, grab some chips for dinner and then get the train home.

The following Saturday was meant to be Croftonbury, our garden party at home. However, with the forecast being gusts and downpours, we decided to postpone it to the Sunday which seemed to be fairly sunny and not quite as windy. Glad we did, as the Sunday turned out to be rather nice, and had a good turn out of almost 40 people in the end. A lot of prep and planning for just a few hours in the afternoon, but it was nice to have a good crowd over, and know the kids all had a great time :)

The following week was just rain and miserable grey weather. Definitely not what we had hoped for at the start of the summer holidays. Then on this Saturday just gone by, I had tickets for Brighton on the Beach to see Royal Blood. Duncan came down mid-afternoon, and we headed off into Brighton and met up with Lee and Sarah and thoroughly enjoyed the gig. Afterwards, we decided on "just one more" at the Royal Sovereign pub, which then turned into another couple of drinks at Molly Malone's before calling it a night and heading home :)

On the Sunday, Una had tickets to see Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at Brighton on the Beach, but unfortunately the weather wasn't in her favour with the gusts and rain (again), but she still managed to see them play and enjoyed the gig as best you she could in that sort of weather! Hopefully August brings some better weather...

June's been quite a nice warm month, with the first weekend spent down on the beach, a visit to Hove Park, a couple of braais in the evening and a day out at Sheffield Park Gardens which was nice. On Monday the 5th, we finished up Phase 1 of the building works which was great, still got the painting to get done, but quite enjoying a bit of respite from the builders.

On Thursday the 8th, it was Ian's birthday which we celebrated at home with some presents and of course, plenty of chocolate cake :)

The next day, on the Friday, I had a work meetup in town in the morning, then after that I caught the train over to Redhill and met up with Duncan and we drove over to the Airbnb we had booked into. A couple of months ago, Una had bought me a voucher for an all-day outdoor fire and cookery experience for our anniversary and had organised with Duncan to join me, so this was part of the present. Once we had checked into the Airbnb, we decided to grab a couple of beers down the road, first one at The Blackhorse Pub and then one at The Bull. Nice beers, but probably not the pubs you want to stay too long at :) After that, back to the Airbnb for the evening. On the Saturday, we drove over to Priory Farm where the cooking school was hosted, and spent the better part of the day up amongst the trees surrounded by fire, BBQs and outdoor cooking equipment... can't complain :)

On the Saturday evening after getting back, Una had tickets to see Dara Ó Briain in Brighton, so she and Sylvia headed off there for the night. On the Sunday the four of us made our way down to the beach for the morning to make full use of the midday low tide. That week it was Ellen's school assembly/concert on the Tuesday morning which was super cute, and then on the Friday we met a couple of other parents and kids down on the beach for an evening beach braai which was good. On the Sunday we headed over to Lancing Widewater Lagoon for a bit of a stroll and chill out on the beach there.

This past weekend was the Glastonbury Festival weekend, so we (Una) decorated the garden with all things Glastonbury related and we set up the projector on the outside wall and enjoyed the festivities of the weekend but in the comfort of our own home :)

The past few days we've had Daniel in the house to do the painting which includes all the upstairs, the downstairs and the bathroom, which has been a big job, but really happy that's done now and the upstairs feels a lot more livable and like home. Still more to eventually do, but that's a big job started and good progress on the house!

This month has mainly been taken up by building works going on, which has been good to see the progress but also painful living on a building site!

Earlier in the month we had the Fair on the Green which was good entertainment for Ellen that afternoon. We had a Coronation Street Party too which was just across the road, then out for brunch for Una's birthday at The Ginger Pig which was very tasty.

Last weekend started off with Ellen's PQA show which was in the Barn Theatre up on stage - very cute to see her and the others performing their songs and routines :) After the show we headed over to Stoneywish Nature Reserve and Campsite for a night of camping with a crowd of others from the school. Was a very last minute organised camping trip, but think we enjoyed it and the kids had a great time! On the Sunday we made our way over to The Bull Pub for lunch before all heading back home.

This past week we had the tiling down and finished in the bathroom, so at least that's all sorted and just the painting left to do next.

We've also been doing plenty of work in the garden, including the bench seat and corner arbour, so that's all progressing nicely - hopefully getting it summer ready!

This past weekend was the late May bank holiday and on the Monday we had Greg, Kim and the boys down. After parking their car at our place, we caught the bus into Brighton and grabbed a bite to eat at Shelter Hall before heading over to Sealife Brighton Sealife Aquarium for the afternoon, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Hopefully summer starts to kick in next month and we get to enjoy a few more afternoons and evenings out in the garden as well as down on the beach!

The start of this month we headed out to Walton after Ellen's PQA session to meet up with Greg, Kim and the boys for lunch and the afternoon. After getting back late afternoon we stopped off at the beach by The Basin, followed by McDs for dinner. The following day was Jasper's birthday at Portslade Sports Centre in the morning, followed by the afternoon at home.

Ellen was then off school the following week for her Easter holidays and on the Thursday I had taken the day off work while we had the staircase reversed at home - the plan was to remove the old stairs and install the new staircase (in the opposite direction) all the same day which was rather impressive!

Over the Easter weekend we enjoyed the few sunny days outside, down to the beach to see the waves and then a day at Butcher's Wood in Hassocks for a walk around and a picnic. After the Easter weekend it was back to the chaos of tradesmen and house building works again!

The middle weekend was Leana's birthday at Portslade Sports Centre which was Frozen/Elsa themed and then the following day we all headed out to Sheffield Park Gardens for a walk around there. The next weekend was busy with three different birthday parties, in Portslade, Lewes and then Hangleton.

In between the birthday parties, the building work is progressing and trying to pop down to the beach as much as possible - mainly to get out of the mess at home :)

Last week Monday on the 20th, we kick started our Phase 1 building works at home. We decided to split the work we want done into two phases - first one being the internal changes and improvements and the second phase being the kitchen and the back of house extension. So after quite a bit of planning and decision making, we had Dali and the team arrive on Monday morning and start the work. The plan for this phase is to reverse the staircase, knock through the bedroom wall at the top of the stairs, redo the entire bathroom, overboard the ceiling, plaster the walls and ceiling and install a new downstairs toilet under the stairs. It's only been a week and a bit, but it's noisy, dusty and disruptive, so hopefully it'll all be worth it in the end :)

This past weekend was rather windy, so on Saturday we headed down to the beach to have lunch in the car and watch the waves, our new favourite pastime. That evening we drove over to the Marina for dinner at Five Guys. Sunday was very rainy, so we all had an indoor home day to mentally prepare for the week ahead with the builders taking over our house!

It's been a fairly busy few weeks of March already. Started off the month with a couple of day trips into London for work, with the Friday evening staying on to meet up with Gav afterwards for a beer at The Sun Pub, followed by dinner and drinks at Hawksmoor which was excellent. However I certainly struggled a bit on the Saturday!

The Sunday was better though, with us all heading over to Widewater Lagoon, followed by lunch at Longshore Pub and then home for the afternoon.

The week that followed was busy with various trades people through the door to come quote and check whatever they needed to on the house in preparation for the building works.

On the Friday then we had Lola stay over for a sleepover and then I headed out with Ellen on the Saturday for Luna's birthday party at Washbrooks Family Farm. The rest of the afternoon and Sunday were just at home, enjoying the Six Nation games on the TV.

On Monday it was Ellen's birthday and I had booked the day off work. While she was at school, I attempted to remove the fireplace in our room, which wasn't as easy as I had hoped, then in the afternoon we all headed into Hove to Marrocco's for dinner.

The following Saturday was a trip up to Sainsbury's to get some things for Ellen's party, with rugby in the afternoon - watching Ireland win the Six Nations grand slam! Then yesterday, which also happened to be Mother's Day, was Ellen's party at Portslade Sports Centre which she thoroughly enjoyed!

Last night we headed over to McDonald's for dinner, trying to avoid spending too much time in the house since we have the builders arriving tomorrow to start Phase 1 of the building works which means chaos around the house!