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Published: August 8th 2007
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So, Monday evening, I arrived at the Robinson’s, ready for a good catch-up. Nicky & I have been friends since History A-Level, when we did the typical British thing of all starting to sit down one-seat between everyone, and decided to be more friendly than that! I’ve since been bridesmaid at
Nicky & Toby’s wedding, and however long our gaps in communication may be, it’s forgotten as soon as we meet up - and now the children add an enjoyable dimension to the visit - it’s lovely when they’re so obviously pleased to see you - even if the youngest wakes up screaming about 5am! Bit wary about putting children’s photos on site, so…
Tuesday there was a ballet lesson at
Drusilla Duffill’s in Burgess Hill - would you believe I used to go there til I was about 5/6, and yes, the building, if I remember it, did look smaller! I was given responsibility for taking Izzy around Burgess Hill, which was a good chance to see how much it had changed since I was last there - which must be a good 8-10 years ago… and would you believe it, it had hardly changed at all, maybe more charity shops. Bought my
Burgess Hill
Not changed much! Mosquito Net ready for travel, and noted
http://www.mooch76.co.uk/, which appeared on a Channel 4 TV show last year - I knew Paul Ground years ago, so was interesting to see. After the TV show hadn’t expected it still to be in business, but seemed to be doing a reasonable daytime trade! Headed into
Waitrose (where I got my first job at 16, and returned to on many university breaks), and bumped into Paul who used to be my Manager on the Deli, and now appears to be managing the branch (temporarily, I think he said), and spotted another couple of old regulars still working there too! Raced back for the end of ballet school…, and as you can see had great fun with the elegant table manners in the evening.
Daytimes were nice to hang out in the sunshine - Nicky had plenty to do in the house, but wasn’t feeling 100%!s(MISSING)o we just caught up as Izzy napped. On the Wednesday after-school activities were organised, so I decided to amuse myself by going to
Nyman’s Gardens, as I’d never been there all the years I lived in Sussex. Weather was still beautiful, so wandering around the gardens with
Burgess Hill
Now has this bit... a
Magnum was in order - I also took the chance to go into the house, and hadn’t realised until I saw a small exhibition on the way to the house that it was largely a ruin, burnt by a fire in 1947 (including a massive collection of horticultural books, with many first editions), when severe frosts had FROZEN THE SEA, and therefore, although fire equipment was available, they couldn’t get any water onto the property, and the post-war years meant that materials were not available to repair the building, so the owners bought another property rather than trying to restore this house. The part of the house that had survived (the servants’ quarters), was made habitable, and from the late 1970s the Countess of Rosse, botanical enthusiast, lived there until she died - when all was turned over the National Trust. The family involved at Nyman’s is the Armstrong-Jones', including Lord Snowdon (as married to Princess Margaret), and he helped to recreate the remaining space as he remembered it - some comment that it feels homely, others that it’s a jumble not to expected of a stately home! Was a good chance to wander round the gardens, sit still
for a bit, look at amazing flowers, then a walk through the country woods, and back through the Pinetum. Felt really chuffed when I checked out my emails as I had one from the
Churches Media Council noting that I had been awarded a place at their academy, so very excited about that!
Wednesday evening, the Champions League was on TV, and not being into football, I borrowed the broadband connection for a few hours in order to upload my Travelblog photos (and of course spend a little time on
Facebook!), and it was a great relief to get a number of them up! Thursday morning, I got the chance to upload the rest of the photos, and decided that ordering an
external hard drive was in order as the Robinson’s had lost 15 months worth of photos on theirs - gutting! Also would give me the chance to upload what I already have on CD and sort through it into neater order (although this may remain a grand plan as other things seem more exciting!)… along with this ordered some extra SD cards for the camera as photos will be my most precious thing on the trip, and as 2GB SD cards
My first view in Nyman's Gardens
Enjoyed meandering around here with Magnum in hand! now cost less than £10, seems crazy not to - consider that used to spend £5 per film + processing, and this will give me MANY more photos! I had planned to leave after lunch, but decided to stay on and surprise Holly-Mae at school - worth it for the look on her face, and for the 15 minutes hanging out in the park afterwards, when decided really must face the M25 - and face it I did - 4 miles took an hour - not fun. Back to the house to find the phone still not working, so still not internet access, but a nice little pile of post, including
Andy Mayo’s latest CD courtesy of
Oak Hall! Parents arrived back a few minutes before me and had had a very nice holiday in Bournemouth and Devon!
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