OH WHAT A LOVELY WEEKEND!

Yesterday Jill and I left Tom and Billy at home, and drove down to Brighton for the evening.   She has a flat there so we had all the mod cons required.   Again it was a cloudless, clear blue sky - cool temperatures, but inside the car it wasn't noticeable.

                            Billy assisting me with the Blog.  The pink on the right is my computer

I really love the countryside here.  I remember being 'shocked' on my return from my last visit to UK, by the space and scale of our NZ landscape as I drove down to visit a friend in Waimate.  Over here you turn a corner and suddenly you're confronted by typical, beautiful views only to turn the next corner and there's a completely different one (not quite like the splendour and grandeur of our drive south from Christchurch which somehow felt almost too large on that occasion).  It constantly reminds me that the UK is most certainly not well portrayed by the Coronation Street scenery.

 Taken on the move - undulating countryside looking towards the Chattri Memorial - an Indian sikh memorial - but not exactly shown to its full glory. It was unveiled by the Prince of Wales in 1921 and is built on the spot where 53 Sikh and Hindu bodies were taken to be cremated during WWI.   King George V offered the Brighton Pavilion as a hospital, so that they would 'feel at home' there, evidently, but obviously some didn't make it.

 Ditchling (or the beginning of) - the village where Vera Lynne lives - not that exact house, but the village, at least.   Imagine popping down to the shops and bumping into such fame!  We didn't!

 As can be seen, the car has a lovely dashboard - but again, just a place we happened upon on our journey.

Aha!!!   Now we THINK those circular nests at the top of the tree MAY be the rookery.  The old rookery has completely disappeared, but the 20 or so crows, sitting on wires nearby indicated that no matter what had happened to their homes, they were still around (a bit like the residents of Christchurch, perhaps)

It was still quite cool when we arrived in Brighton, but at least 3 degrees warmer than West Peckham, in Kent, from which we left.

From the beach front, looking across Brunswick Square, Hove, towards Jill's flat, further up the road, on the RHS.

She had booked us an Italian meal in Brighton before the concert so we left around 5pm and walked for 20 minutes into central Brighton after which we strolled around the Pavilion to watch ice skating on an outside rink and made our way to the Dome where the Britten Sinfonia performed "L'enfance du Christ" which I can now reliably advise told the story of the Holy Family's journey from Bethlehem (Herod etc etc).  It comprised a 40 odd chamber orchestra plus a 48 person choir, plus 4 lead singers.

At the time, however, I was unsure of what we were actually watching (because it was totally in French) until we bought a programme at the end of the performance, and it all became clear.  But it really was an excellent 'show' and I can understand why the people who sat next to me had travelled all the way down from Glasgow to attend.

It reminded me of similar evenings in the Christchurch Town Hall with Jan, and made me (once again) wonder what or when, such things will return to Christchurch.

A sombre note to finish on - but worthy of consideration I guess, as I move towards returning to a more 'normal' (has anyone EVER said that about me??) life back home.

I've been so spoilt over here - I guess that it really IS time to return to reality once more.