A roller coaster, an octopus and some brutalism

On Christmas Eve, my brother and I rode a roller coaster: the scenic railway at Dreamland.

We watched as a festive octopus danced past.

In the arcades, I played air hockey with my mum, then danced to songs I didn't really know.

We walked by the beach after that, and back in Westgate-on-Sea, we played Carcassonne.

That night we looked for the space station.

On Christmas Day, I received some wonderful presents, including a Playstation 2, which used to be my brother's, and games such as Grand Theft Auto and Dance Dance Revolution, hama beads, a lolo ball, Battersea Power Station (a steel version that you construct yourself) and a range of London brutalist buildings (that you fold out of card).

Books and plants

I walked along the coast, from Westgate-on-Sea to Minnis Bay, staring out to sea, on Boxing Day.

Sunday, I walked past Reculver Towers and along the coast for a while, and swans flew past and an egret stood there, still for a moment. I remembered visiting Reculver as a child, and finding treasure on the beach, and the best find was a book that had washed up, which was in a language I could not understand.

A sign I saw on the walk: