... a quick change in a phone box will soon turn you back into Superman. It’s also handy for when Lois Lane breaks your heart.
Anyhoo, just look at the crumbling old ruin on the right...
I blame the kids for that too. She’s a shell of her former self.
But as the photo above demonstrates, we successfully rendezvoused with Stefan & Andrew yesterday in the picturesque surroundings of Bramber Castle, near Steyning. It boasts panoramic views of a one-thousand-year-old church, and is conveniently situated near an ice cream van, a car park and a pub. So the Normans chose the right place to build it.
Lisa and I rarely get further than the McDonald’s drive-through, so a country pub was Andrew’s suggestion, and very nice it was too. We had a very civilised lunch in the beer garden of the Castle Inn Hotel, while the children selflesssly entertained the other diners by blowing bubbles, running around the table, and shouting with wild excitement about next to nothing.
To be honest, I didn’t pay them much attention (although I did notice who supplied the bubbles and sugar), as I was deep in conversation most of the time, trying to glean as much career advice as possible from a man who advertises his services with a picture of a tight-rope-walking cat. Andrew told me it would be unethical for him to advise me professionally, which I think was just his way of offering to do it for free.
Having been thoroughly counselled by a couple of good friends and wise owls, I looked at the squashed peas stuck to my shoes, and the chocolate ice cream all over my jeans, and resolved never to sit next to Toby again. At which point we made for the exit before anyone charged us for the clean-up.
Our post-meal stroll up to the castle was well worth it. The views through the trees extend for miles, and Toby could see so far that he was even able to spot some Slovakian features in the distance...
He also does a good Humpty Dumpty...
Fortunately I grabbed him before the second line of the rhyme.
Personally, I managed to climb to the top of the castle motte, only to find that I was too scared to come back down, so it’s a miracle I’m not still there. Amelie, however, has no such fear of heights, and thought it was entirely possible she might be able to scale the castle wall...
In the end, I told her that she’d have to rely on Lisa to climb up after her if she got stuck, so she saw sense and came down. To be honest, she’d only got about six inches off the ground, but another foot and I’d have been too scared to go after her.
Anyhoo, it was another lovely afternoon with our favourite male couple (after Ben & Jerry), so having indulged in a bit of swinging...
... Stefan and Andrew skipped off into the sunset like Morecambe and Wise...
They’re bringing me sunshine by looking after one of my children. They really are the perfect friends.
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