Sussex and Kent - no such thing as bad weather

Onward to my second house sit.  This time for 10 days in West Sussex.  A lovely house with 2

beagles and a cat to look after.  Only one neighbour and views for miles to the south downs.  There were fields aplenty right opposite the house, perfect for walking the dogs.  They wore recall collars and I had a hand held device that sent an audible signal to the collar to call each dog back if it went too far.  And they worked perfectly.  I could stop the dogs in their tracks, even if they were chasing a rabbit. Pretty impressive.   Remote control dogs - that's the way to go.

The fields were knee high in grass, which was very wet in the morning dew, and even wetter on the afternoon walk if there was some rain in the day.  My hiking boots were completely sodden and squelchy after a few days.  Luckily Brenda lives nearby and came to the rescue with gum boots and wet weather trousers, proving there is no such thing as bad weather, you just need the right clothes.

One fine day Felix the cat decided to come for a walk with us  He trotted along after us, over 2 small fields, through the bluebell woods and across 2 large fields, before getting bored.  The owners had said it was OK to leave him there, and sure enough he was home before dark.  He is a well travelled cat.  When the owners lived in the French Alps he used to follow them everywhere there.  Quite a character. 

Brenda stayed with me for a few days and took me to both of her regular dance groups, and I got to lead them in a few of my dances.

I headed off on the train to Eastry in Kent to stay with Lesley Laslett.  The weather suddenly became rather hot.  Only 22 on the thermometer, but it felt like a Perth 30+ because it was so humid.  There were hot weather warnings over the speakers at the railway stations, telling people to carry a bottle of water and not to press the emergency button on the train if they felt unwell, but to seek assistance.  I had to chuckle.

I had a lovely few days with Lesley and her husband Michael.  They took me out and about.  We had a walk around Broadstairs and went past Martin Cheek's house and studio where I had attended a mosaic workshop 11 years ago.  He heard us at the gate and came and invited us in to see his latest mosaics which he was preparing for an exhibition in Wales. Beautiful work.

Out and about with Lesley in Sandwich.  It was hot enough for ice cream and summer clothes!!

Lesley's neighbours raised the Aussie flag for my visit.  I felt very honoured.

On Saturday Lesley had organised a hall and 14 other dancers to come along to a dance day.  I found some gum trees and bottlebrush locally so I was able to make a lovely Aussie centre, trimmed with some tiny koalas I had with me. I led all the dancing and taught them some Australian dances, and got paid for it too.  Dance Days in UK are much more expensive than in Oz, so I got a nice surprise.

Onward by train to Hoddesdon, north of London.  I was booked in to an airbnb.  There was no-one home when I arrived and it all looked a bit Rocky Horror or Addams Family.  But I managed to track down the owner after a few hours and all was well.  It is a huge old rambling house,

Onward to Judy King's circle dance workshop next....