The start of this month was rather stormy and rainy, so mostly indoor days, but it did mean we managed to finish doing up Ellen's room which is good to have the first finished room in the house.

The following weekend we popped by the Bathroom Showroom in Lancing in the morning, then dinner at Marrocco's in the evening before Una headed off into Brighton to see Kevin Bridges at The Brighton Dome. On the Sunday we went pumpkin picking at Poynings Pumpkin Patch, followed by lunch at The Romans Pub and then that evening I headed off into Brighton to see Kevin Bridges, also at The Brighton Dome.

Last week Thursday I was out in Hove for dinner at Hove Tandoori with a few of the Southwick guys, followed by a couple of drinks then at The Cricketers. On the Friday we then had the kitchen window installed which was one of the last single glazed windows now gone:)

This past Saturday we were just home for the day then into Brighton Marina that evening to Five Guys for dinner. On the Sunday we spent the day in Walton with Greg, Kim and the boys catching up. That evening we finished decorating the pumpkins we picked at Poynings :)

These past couple of days have just been at home prepping the house and packing for our trip out to South Africa tomorrow.

The first couple of days this month we had the windows fitted and installed which we're very happy with! It took a while to get them sorted and manufactured, but we're very pleased with the result and certainly won't be missing the old wooden single glazing frames :)

The weekend was mainly spent at home, with dinner at Ropetackle Fish & Chips on Saturday night and then Marrocco's on Sunday night.

On Wednesday the 7th, it was Ellen's first day of school in reception year, so obviously all four of us headed up to the school together to see her off on her first day.

On the Thursday evening Ellen started at Rainbows which is the youngest section of Girlguiding. It's from ages of 4 and up, and mainly focused around arts and crafts and a bit of social activity. Later that evening I headed out for a few drinks with Adrian and Lee, first at The Romans and then to The Cricketers.

On the weekend we had our tickets for Peppa Pig World in Hampshire, so headed off the Saturday morning for the weekend at Paultons Park. I originally thought it was mostly just Peppa Pig themed, but turned out to be only part of a much bigger theme park which was actually really good fun - both Una and myself even managed a few turns on the roller coasters on the Sunday which was fun!

The rest of the next week was busy with Bobby finishing up the hanging tiles on the Bay Window to complete the tiling which looks very good now that it's all done.

The following weekend we all got the train up into London to go have a look at the floral tributes to the Queen ahead of her funeral on that Monday. It was quite amazing just how many flowers had been put down and how many people were around to have a look and show their respect.

On the Monday it was a special bank holiday for her funeral. Una and Ian flew out to Ireland that morning, so that afternoon and the rest of the week was just myself and Ellen at home.

This past week, after Una was back from Ireland we had the lead flashing done which was the last bit of work done on the Bay Window, and then had the scaffolding taken down so it feels like we're getting somewhere with the house reno works now that the scaffolding is gone :)

The start of this month we had Claire, Michael, Jack and Dara over for a few days which was nice to see them. The weather was good which really helped, so on the day they arrived we had a bit of time down on the beach and then a steak braai at home in the evening. On the Tuesday they spent the day in Brighton and we all went to The Cricketers for dinner and to celebrate Dara's birthday. They then left to head back to Ireland on the Wednesday around midday.

The next couple of weeks and weekends were really nice and sunny, so a mix of beach days, beach braais, garden time and home braais, as well as meeting up with Greg, Kim and the boys who came down for the day to the beach.

On the 17th and 18th, Una and Ellen headed into London for the Coldplay Concert at Wembley which they thoroughly enjoyed, especially with all the lights and visual effects. On the following day, myself and Ian made our way through to the O2 to meet the girls for lunch there and all headed back home together.

The past week then has been decent weather for some beach time and continued over the Bank Holiday weekend with plenty of outdoor time.

Today's a full-on busy day at home with all the windows getting replaced with the new double glazing ones getting fitted, we've been waiting a while for them so looking forward to having them in now!

The start of this month continued with more progress on the new roof and got the drone out to get a few decent aerial shots of it too:)

The first weekend I had tickets to Guns 'n Roses at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, so headed up to London on the Saturday to Duncs' place for an evening braai before getting the train up to White Hart Lane for the concert. As always, the band put on a really good and entertaining show before heading back to Clapham for a nightcap at Duncs before calling it a night.

The following morning I headed back down to Southwick, meeting Una and the kids at Port Kitchen for a coffee. That afternoon we headed over to Lancing Beach and then to La Tavola for dinner that evening.

Over the next week, I headed out one evening down to the New Port Arms and The Ship Inn for a few beers with Pete, Adrian and Doug. Then on the Wednesday we got a call to say we'd been offered a place at Eastbrook Primary Academy for Ellen, so we were over the moon about that - had really been hoping we'd get in there!

On the Friday I headed up to London again to meet up with Gav, first for a bite to eat at Five Guys then over to Hyde Park to watch Pearl Jam supported by the Pixies which was really cool to see them both!

On the Saturday, poor little Ian had croup so spent the morning at Worthing A&E just to check him over. Then that afternoon I took Ellen to Poppy's birthday party at Portslade Sports Centre which she enjoyed. The next couple of weeks were all nice outdoor days - being in the garden and the paddling pool, a good bit of time down on the beach, plenty of Cargo Bike trips, a couple of beach braais, Widewater Lagoon Beach and al fresco dining at home.

This past week was more social, with me heading out on the Monday evening to meet Lee, Doug and Adrian in Shoreham for a few beers at Piston Broke, Crown and Anchor and the Duke of Wellington. On the Tuesday we had Tom, Anna and Scarlett visit us for lunch in the afternoon which was really good to see them and catch up again! Then this Wednesday was a busy house day with the floors upstairs getting sanded throughout which was rather disruptive, but very happy with the result - I think they came up looking really nice :)

After a busy day today tidying the house, we've got Claire, Michael, Jack and Dara arriving tomorrow for a few days holiday staying with us, so that'll be nice to see them again and for the kids too!

After getting back from Ireland last week Monday, we kick started the house renovation work with the scaffolding going up ready for the new roof and pebbledash removal.

Unfortunately Ellen also managed to catch chickenpox from somewhere, so no preschool for her for a few days until that cleared, which fortunately was only a few days. After that we had some really nice warm days and got the paddling pool out as well as a few beach visits.

Last weekend we had Paul, Carol, Lozzie and Jo down for the day. While the girls headed out into Portslade for their manicure, we chilled out at home enjoying a couple of beers in the sun, in between keeping an eye on the kids :) Then on Sunday we headed over to Lancing Beach for lunchtime pizza at Perch.

Been quite an active June, and nice to see the initial progress on the house and things moving along!

Last week Saturday we all headed up to Gatwick and flew out to Cork, getting in early that evening. On arrival, Claire picked us all up and we headed back to theirs that night. The following morning, after breakfast, we drove down west and spent the afternoon around the house.

That week was fairly easy going, with a visit to Rineen Woods, Castletownshend beach, down to Baltimore to La Jolie Brise and a few more visits down to Castletownshend pier and beach.

This past Saturday we had Ian's Christening at Castletownshend Church, which we kept fairly low-key with just a few of us there on the day. Afterwards we took a drive along the coast and stopped at Castletownshend Beach and down by the pier.

Yesterday we visited Lough Hyne in the morning and Teresa came by in the afternoon and drove us up to Cork where we stayed the night with Claire and Michael and got the flight back home this morning.

The first weekend of this month was the Queen's Jubilee long weekend. Since the weather was really good, we spent the first few days at home in the garden and down on the beach, with low tide being nicely timed in the middle of the day for maximum sand time.

On the Friday afternoon Teresa arrived in time for the weekend, so after welcoming her and catching up, I took Ellen down the road to the Croft Avenue Jubilee Party which was being hosted between two houses down the road. On the Saturday we spent the afternoon down on the high street for the Southwick Street Jubilee Party. While we were out and about, we had K-Dog Kevin from down the road at our place painting both Ellen and Ian's rooms to get them sorted.

On Wednesday it was Ian's birthday, so we certainly made sure to celebrate his first birthday with an appropriately chosen balloon :)

Tomorrow the plan is to spend the day around the house and maybe pop to the park before we head off to Gatwick for our evening flight over to Ireland for a week and a bit over there.

This month has been fairly quiet and mostly around Southwick when not at home. The first weekend was the first May bank holiday weekend, so on the Sunday we drove over to Brighton Marina for dinner at Five Guys and then on the Monday we were at the Southwick Green Funfair for the afternoon, which provided a lot of entertainment for Ellen, and a lot of bright lights for Ian :)

For the rest of the month, it was a mix of being outside in the garden, down on the beach when we could, enjoying the park and playgrounds and a few braais at home as well as on the beach.

Then last week Thursday I headed into London in the evening to meet up with Si, Lozzie and Jo while Si was over in the UK. We had dinner at Bombay Spice, followed by a couple of beers at The Globe pub before calling it a night and heading home.

This past weekend was a bit busier with a beach braai on Friday night, the Southwick Beer Festival on the Saturday and then on Sunday myself and Ellen headed over to Walton to meet up with Greg, Kim and the boys for lunch and the afternoon, so was good to catch up with them again.

In between all of the above happening, we've started to plan the first few improvements and changes to the house, so looking at the rendering and what to do, as well as the roof and getting that replaced too, but that's for next month's to-do list :)

This month started off rather bitterly cold, with the first weekend popping into R&D Goatley's to start looking at new windows for the house. After that we took a drive out towards Worthing and stopped at Widewater Lagoon near to Lancing. On the Sunday we took a drive over to Devil's Dyke for a nice scenic walk around there.

On the next weekend, we visited Saddlescombe Farm which was open over the Spring lambing season. We had bought tickets for the Saturday which was rather enjoyable seeing the lambs, walking around the farm and finishing with a tractor/trailer ride around the fields. On the Sunday, it was the Brighton Marathon and it extended as far as the Shoreham Power Station nearby us, so in the morning we took a walk down there and watched some of the runners heading past which had a great atmosphere with all the other spectators too.

The next weekend was Easter Weekend, so that Friday afternoon we took the cargo bike over towards Hove and met up with Laura, Dennis and the boys near Hove Lagoon. On the Saturday, we spent the morning in the garden, then walked down to The New Port Arms in the afternoon followed by dinner at The Cricketers. On the Sunday, I took Ellen on the scooter down to the rec for a bit and then we had a little Easter Egg hunt in the garden in the afternoon. That evening, after hearing the tragic news back home, Una managed to fly out to Ireland to spend some time with her family and everyone there :(

During the week, while it was just me, Ellen and Ian, we alternated between home, the park and the beach. Plus having the cargo bike made trips to the beach and back so much easier indeed.

After last month settling in at home and unpacking, this month was somewhat similar with a good amount of home days, some park visits and a few drives along the coast in both Hove and Shoreham directions. At the start of the month I headed into London for our monthly meetup, followed by a few beers at The Swan pub afterwards.

On the 13th, it was Ellen's birthday which we celebrated at home in the morning with her, and then headed into Brighton for the rest of the day. We started with lunch at Ed's Diner in Churchill Square Shopping Centre, followed by a visit to the beach and then onto Brighton Pier for some rides on the carousel and the helter skelter. While on the pier, we were also treated to a lovely sunset with some amazing murmuration of Starlings.

After Ellen's birthday, we eventually received our delivery of our new cargo bike, which we had bought a few weeks ago and arrived from Denmark, albeit all boxed up in pieces. So after spending a few days outside in the garage and driveway putting it together, I eventually had it almost in running working order, just had a problem with the brake pads touching. But after booking into Bike Boom down the road, he managed to get it sorted and ready to go.

That evening, after a full-on day of bike assembling, I headed into Brighton to meet up with Hugo for a few drinks at William Fourth pub, which was good to see him again. On the weekend we decided to take the bike out for a little test run down to the beach which was really cool, and no doubt going to become more and more used back and forth there :)

During the last week, we had dinner down at The Cricketers and then for Mother's Day we had the day at home with an evening meal at Rockwater Hove which was nice, with lovely views from inside looking out towards the sea :)