Highlights from yesterday’s outing to Brighton:
- lunch in the Eagle with Sarah and Kate
- inspecting carpet and rugs – best of the bunch was definitely GAFF – really nice thick stylish rugs that would definitely be heavenly to pad about on barefoot in the morning. I’ll sort out some measurements and head down there with my credit card, I think.
- CD shopping – a Peace Orchestra remix album, the utterly brilliant album by James Yorkston and The Athletes and the incredibly good and funky album by Will Holland’s Quantic Soul Orchestra, which has had me bopping around the living room all morning.
- purchases of nightlights at The Pier and smelly bath bubbly stuff at Lush, inevitably.
- a moderately expensive short sleeve shirt ready for summer, and a very expensive but splendid long sleeve linen shirt that I’m dead pleased with…
- but no boots. I looked in more than a dozen shops, tried on several pairs, and actually found a couple of pairs that I really liked. But in each case, they either didn’t have a style I liked, the size I need or the boots were too narrow across the instep for me to get on and off. Oh well, the search continues.
- Lemonade at the excellent Hotel Du Vin, which I think could become a regular genteel watering hole.
- Dinner with Kate, Charlie, Pete and Blini at chez Charlie – a splendid way to round off the day, with fabulous roast duck and lots of marvellous conversation – a favour that I will gladly return.
A pretty darned good day, I’d say, spoilt only by crappy South Central trains diverting the last train home to Bognor Regis, and not offering or providing any transport on to Chichester, even though the train was scheduled to come back here. Thankfully, I was able to share a cab with another stranded passenger, so it cost us only £7 each instead of £14. Grr.