West Pier

OK, so there's not a lot left of it, but I was actually rather taken with the wreck of what must once have been a buzzing place of activity. I do have a tendency towards admiration of the derelict and destroyed!

After the previous day's busyness we had a quieter one! We woke late, had a "breakfast bag" delivered to our room, which was fab, got up slowly, then ambled down to the sea front to walk on the beach and take pictures of what remains of the pier.

We also saw comings and goings at the Grand Hotel, and were very glad we were staying at a friendly establishment without uniformed porters and all the ceremony that goes with that sort of place. And, more bizarrely, we remembered shots of Norman Tebbit in his pyjamas on the news, however many years ago THAT was!

Then we ambled back into town and found an amazing, and VERY CHEAP fabric shop, where we allowed ourselves a metre or so of one or two fabrics, before setting off for home!

An equally trouble-free journey back meant that I deposited the Wonderspouse back at work almost exactly 24 hours after I'd picked him up. What a difference 24 hours can make though - we set off feeling stressed and slightly fraught, we returned home feeling relaxed and like we'd actually been on a fabulous holiday!

As usual, when we're away by the sea, we talked through loads of stuff, made decisions about where to go from here, and generally got life back on track again. Wonder what it is about the sea and waves and so on that does that?

I think I'll start campaigning for them to get a sea installed in Oxfordshire - we could do with one!