Cissie in Brighton

Good morning you all! Today is Friday, and that means it's time again for Paint Party Friday, week 11 of year 2, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin, and Darcy's Postcard Challenge, week 21, where our participants are travelling to England.

But first the continuation of the events after Thelma saw Jason's letter from Ghana;

Shannon is not at home when Jason’s card flatters through the letter-box. But Thelma is. She is hopping mad because Jason had known that she would want to open it! So she rings Cissie and shouts into the phone: ‘Get over here straightaway, there‘s something you must see!’ Cissie grumbles back, ‘If you shout that loud you could have just opened the window, you don’t need a telephone!’ But of course, she flies up the street without delay, curiosity is a wonderful accelerator.
She shows Cissie the offending letter. They look at it. They look at the letter and Jason’s cheeky warning. ‘Well?’ asks Thelma. ‘Don’t ask me,’ says Cissie – ‘open it!’ ‘Well, if you think so’….says Thelma and pops the kettle on. When it’s steaming, before pouring water into the teapot, they steam the letter open. ‘Good job the little b-gger didn’t use sellotape,’ says Thelma. ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ answers Cissie, ‘They don’t have things like that in Africa!’ At last the letter is open. They take out the card. They read what Jason has written to Shannon, with burning cheeks and very red ears….They look at each other, their lips pouted up like chicken’s bums. They both say, with one voice, ‘They’ll have to marry!’
Decision made, they re-seal the letter and make themselves tea and crumpets to get over the shock.

Later on that day, Jason and Shannon turn up for tea and cakes. Thelma and Cissie serve tea as though nothing has happened. They chat about this and that, and then Thelma says,‘Guess who’s getting married?’ Jason and Shannon both shake their heads. ‘You two are!’ squeak Thelma and Cissie together. ‘What ‘im?’ ‘What ‘er?’ the ‘children’ ask, pointing at each other. ‘I ain’t marrying that scrawny git!’ says Shannon. ‘I ain’t marrying that skinny bird’ says Jason. Thelma and Cissie speak once again together, ‘YES, YOU ARE!!’ A long silence ensues. ‘Well, I suppose I could get worse’, says Shannon, ‘But not much!’ ‘’OO’s paying for the wedding?’ asks Jason. ‘We are!’ say Cissie and Thelma in chorus. Jason points at Thelma, Shannon at Cissie, and both say in unison, ‘Do I have to call her Mum?’ But as the two miscreants are grinning from ear to ear, they can all laugh it off, and they can almost hear the wedding bells ringing. But Jason and Shannon say they need time to make their plans, so it will have to wait for a few weeks or so....

Cissie is planning on going away for a few days, as London is so hot and full of tourists there to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee. This time Thelma does not want to go with her, as she thinks it’s more important to keep an eye on *The Two*. ‘Where are you going then?’ they ask. ‘Brighton’ says Cissie. ‘Haven’t been there for ages, and I fancy going somewhere where they have good fish and chips and I can go for a paddle....’

Jason brings Thelma to the station, with a large hamper of food to eat on the journey. She manages to eat a considerable amount in the hour she is on the train. On arrival at Brighton she takes a taxi to her B & B, which she has chosen because they serve giant breakfasts. On the first evening she takes a walk round the Lanes, one of the oldest parts of Brighton, enjoys the shops and shopping, and then goes to a fish restaurant for her supper. She is rather cross when she sees that it costs more than it does in London, but says, 'Oh well, I don't treat myself every day'. The waiters are astonished at how much she can eat at one sitting, and keep bringing her more bread and butter, pickled cucumbers and pots of tea,and Cissie rewards them with winks and smiles and a generous tip.

After a good sleep, she goes down to breakfast early - before the others can get there! and manages to clear the buffet in less that half an hour. The proprietress watches her, smiling and nodding, whilst muttering under her breath, 'Greedy old cow! She eats like a horse!' Refreshed and strengthened, Cissie decides to have a look at the Royal Pavillion before going down to the beach for a paddle and to sunbathe.

She is delighted to discover that she doesn't have to move more than 50 yards to get to the next cafes, fish-and-chip shops and ice-cream stalls. If you look carefully at the photo of the beach, you will see Cissie sunbathing in the foreground, wearing her second best blue bikini. She wanted a deck-chair, but the man renting them refused to give her one as he was not sure it would carry her weight.... She has covered her hair so that the sun doesn't bleach out her tint.

She spends a pleasant few hours on the famous pier, sampling all the wares on offer there.

On the third day, she strolls along the sea-front, getting a bit of fresh air before it's time to get the train back to London.

And she buys some nostalgic pictures of Brighton in the 'good old days'

Here is the postcard she sends to Jason and Shannon, who are staying at Jason's flat 'to sort things out', whatever that means....:

I hope you like Cissie's patriotic best bikini, which she bought from the bargain counter of a local XXL store. The card has been watercoloured, the beach-huts have been collaged, and the red,white and blue bunting put up to honour the Queen, although Cissie is very gratified that it matches her bikini.

To be continued....

Last but not least, another of my purple canvases for PPF. I started it weeks ago, and have at last finished it.

So, that was a long post. Have a good day you all, take care, and thanks for dropping in!