Swings And Roundabouts

The Brighton Pavilion , lovingly knitted in very fine beige wool and on display in a cafe window

Sonata:

Holidays are much better if you don't have any concrete plans . Revisiting favourite places ( Cigala in Conduit Street and eating the definitive prawn , for instance ) or discovering something new ( just how addictive making Pick'n'Mix mini Lego figures could be ) made this half-term visit to England great fun . The weather was glorious , so the mushroom hunt was cancelled .... too dry and sunny for a good "crop" apparently , but sitting in the sun overlooking the 2012 Olympic stadium and eating a perfect selection of smoked salmon was a delight , instead . And the bright blue skies prompted me to go to Brighton for the day on Tuesday . Now that an aged relative is dead and uneasy afternoon teas by the white grand piano ( she was a pianist of the more flamboyant kind ) are no longer necessary , I can zip about the town enjoying the enormous colour and quirkiness that fills every street . I was weak with hunger by the time I got to the little streets in the middle of town and dashed into the whole food cafe .... where I had the ugliest lunch I've ever seen *

and very tasty it was , too ! One day I must go to the Aquaria fish bar , though , simply because of the wall paintings in the patio .... aren't they gorgeous !

In fact , every street had lovely murals and grafitti .... I want this cat on my sitting room wall

Spending time with my two eldest daughters and their families , being stuffed with delicious food and being bounced on by Grandson has quite set me up for the return to work and the whirlpools , quicksands and bear traps involved in working in a system financed by a rapidly shrinking public purse . I've been to two gloomy meetings this week , we've had our annual inspection and an extremely generous preschooler has given me her horrendous cold . But I'm just wrapping my new scarf three times round my neck , stuffing my fingers in my ears and singing "La La , La-La-La ! " very loudly .....

*A baked potato filled with chick pea dhal