January was… well, January was shit.  My Pappa was taken into ICU very early on in the month, and my Mum and I quickly got into a routine of days punctuated by trips to the hospital, weekends getting to know his nurses (who have all been wonderful), and the constant smell of hand gel about my general person.  One day an x-ray, the next an MRI, then some kind of procedure featuring a two inch needle going into his lungs (I didn’t listen too closely to that story).

It’s been tough.  ICU is one of the scariest places I’ve ever been, and watching my Dad going through everything he went through was utter heartbreak.  They’re still not too sure what happened – at first they thought it was some kind of infection, then flu, then pneumonia.  He’s still in hospital six weeks with currently no light at the end of this very long dark tunnel.  We keep getting reassured that hope isn’t too far away, that he’ll be able to come home and start his 2016.  As we all keep saying, he can’t stay in hospital forever.

So whilst February has continued in the same vein, it started with a couple of days “off” as my parents very kindly told me to have a break, so Husband and I took a trip down to Brighton for our rebooked stay at The Grand.  This time was just perfection – a beautiful sea front room (right in the centre above the entrance!), huge comfy bed, peace and tranquility.  There was a lovely postcard and box of chocolates waiting for us when we arrived, and the service we received was amazing – it sometimes pays to complain!

We even had Afternoon Tea in our room, pretending we were Victorian.  Not in costumes or anything odd like that – just “Oh hello, I’m Victorian.  Look at my scone”.  That kind of thing.

We had beautiful weather as we walked up to one of the Small Batch Coffee shops (of course) in Hove, then down to the marina and back.  I added to my plastic jewellery collection in Porta and Unlimited Shop; Husband added to his plastic Lego collection in, uh, the Lego Store.  And we ate an unreasonable amount of meat in The Coal Shed.

Sadly, we do not have another free trip booked, so that might be it for Brighton for a while but I’m so pleased The Grand offered to redeem themselves.  Such a lovely stay, and well needed.