An uninterrupted view of the West Pier is once more on view, now that the i360 works have moved land wards. This week has produced some wonderful seascape moments for those of us lucky enough to enjoy daily dog walks along the promenades of Brighton&Hove. Intermittently, the sun has shone gloriously; the wind has howled sporadically, and now it's lashing down with rain ! Nonetheless it is unseasonably mild. I applaud the world's climate change conference agreement at Paris last weekend.
On Thursday we saw blue skies . Merry , a happy dog at any time , enjoyed the low tide sand and the sunshine.
Against this backcloth of unseasonal weather , Christmas preparations have been well underway with presents of flowers , the delight of opening Christmas cards and catching up on news, and the arrival of a handsome Christmas tree. It's funny how my embrace of social media does not dent the joy of the analogue Christmas card ritual !
The week has seen quite a bit of early festive eating too, not least of all on Monday night with the surprise arrival of friends for dinner whom I was expecting on Wednesday! Don't ask how that happened . Suffice it to say that I took full responsibility for the mix up and atoned with the preparation of a meal from scratch using what we had in the larder and fridge! Two tapenades accompanied by avocado ,tomato & mozzarella salad , were followed by pasta with a choice of puttanesca and smoked salmon / cream cheese sauces , and meringue and compote, with cheese to finish. It went down well and I was exhausted !
To cap it all , when i was telling some London friends this tale over supper in Victoria the following night, it turned out that our Brighton friends were not only known to one of the company ,but were now related by marriage. It's a small world!
Thursday night provided an enjoyable night of Jazz at Smalls once more. As ever, the house band were superb ( Piers Clark, Steve Thompson , Mark Edwards) this time supporting Alex Garnett (Sax) and Freddy Gabat (trumpet). Every tune was brilliant but I'll mention Sonny Rollins' Doxy and Steve's singing of Pennies from Heaven, as standouts!
The festive season provides a lovely reason for merry making, but in our family it's also the season of birthdays. So Friday night was a 30th birthday celebratory meal for the middle one of my offspring (Joe) on the eve of the much anticipated top of the Championship Brighton&Hove Albion v Middlesbrough clash , here in Brighton. A wonderful night was succeeded by triumph for Boro and much happiness in the Thompson clan. ( Against anyone else, I'd be supporting the seagulls!)
Like so many , our family is scattered and so our Christmas celebrations have begun early, with a northern visitation over the weekend from two excited young grandchildren and their mum, fitting us into their busy schedule. More food, and also old fashioned games delighted us all. I can really recommend "Bird Bingo" as great fun for all ages, and a card memory game proved a great favourite - unsurprisingly age was no aid to success!
I'm conscious that travelling , present buying and spending time with people you see too seldom can be stressful as well as delightful ,so I'm already appreciative of the visitors we have had so far, and the fun and joy they've brought. Let's hope the next week continues to be full of more of the same! And spare a thought for those for whom this will be a sad or trying time, my own father so recently moved and bereaved, amongst them.
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