Day out at last

Finally managed to get a day out! Snettisham nature reserve (RSPB/local anglers club) is a series of lagoons formed when they took stuff out in the 1940s to build airfields and then filled, and almost destroyed by the 1953 flooding of the east coast. 

It was a lovely walk along the footpaths sheltered by high bushes of blackberries, willow and lots of berried bushes round the rare brine lakes.

The somewhat shanty town holiday homes along Beach road between the lagoons and seaside (The Wash) are fascinating. Such a mix of caravans, modern square shapes and 1950s bungalows. By the time we had done the mile or so and got up over the sea bank the tide was well out leaving a lovely pattern on the shore!

A quick cup of tea and picnic before coming home against all the traffic rushing for a weekend at the north Norfolk coast. Nearly uneventfully. Managed to stall the car trying to pull off the carriage way to make room for a blue lit ambulance and thereby upset the car engine that started flashing a warning light. Stopped at B & Q to pick up something and after that the warning went off and the car seemed OK. Lets hope so.

Son now recovered and finding a new sense of smell and taste. Small light meals until system settles down and hopes to regain the weight lost soon.

Meanwhile we are trying to find remote bits of Norfolk to walk and relax away from any busy hot spots. Staying away from beaches as they are rammed with visitors. Using back roads we found our way to Litcham village and Common Nature Reserve for a quiet walk along part of the Nar Valley Way.

Such lovely weather too!

Village litter pick

Just got back from volunteering for 2 hours of litter picking round the main area of our east Anglian village. Started cold but wind eased and sun came out.

So the population is 4500 approximately. We had 11 volunteers and 3 of us were parish councillors. Only 3 children, so we concluded the Climate Emergency wave had not yet reached here. There were more people stopping us to say we were doing a good job as they walked their dogs or drove their mobility scooters to the shops. All the women with me of a certain age, all refrained from saying if you did a bit on your way it would be a help, mate.

Conclusion? 



From all the pop cans and sweetie wrappers and the empty vodka bottles and cider cans we picked up at the next "What does this village need?" survey I expect it to say - we need a dentist and alcohol rehab! 

I wonder how many villages know that this village was once famous for having "a Methodist home for inebriated women" where the magistrates of London used to send the habitual drunk women off the streets?  Tradition at its best?

Weird cows

As gardening is slowing down this season we have taken some days to go out for walks. We have set ourselves the aim of exploring the NAR VALLEY Walk through Norfolk. Probably doing it over a year or two in short stages - it is about 30 miles long! We did a short loop on Sunday through fields mostly arable (bit wet and muddy) but then we came round a hedge - 

What's that eye staring at me from behind that bush?

That's a weird cow, said my husband.

Its a water buffalo that's why!

Are't they suppose to give really good meat and are good at rough pasture?

They are in the wrong field, that one is a lot drier than the two we just crossed.

A mile or less further on squinting into the sun at the animal shapes on the next hill we thought they were sheep. Or is that a horse at the top, outlined against the skyline, asked my husband (he does only have one working eye).  

No, its a field full of very very big pigs.  All grumbling and gurgling away.

How good are those, quite short looking, electric fences I wonder?

Where's the next gate?

Parish Council Elections

Our village in Norfolk has bucked all the trends for parish council elections surely? A large proportion across the UK could get no one to stand and most went uncontested on May 2nd. Our village had all 16 seats up for election and 20 of us stood as candidates.  I got in! Surprised as I am (after 5 years) an "outsider" . Biggest surprise was 1024 ballot papers were issued (14 were spoilt).  I looked at other villages around that held elections and most only had around 200 ballot papers issued. So amazingly this village had over a 1000 people leave their homes and vote.
Why? Apparently for last 2 years there has been a lot of controversy over decisions and lack of action. People were truly fed up. There was also a viscous Facebook campaign against some candidates which was perhaps unfair. I found some of those people very nice and helpful.

What I liked to share with blogger land is some thoughts about leafleting 1000 + houses, just in case you ever try it or are thinking of doing something to the front of your houses!
1. Please don't cover your drive with 10 inches of loose rounded gravel. Its like walking up a beach over and over again! I tried to spot the tire treads and walk where it was compressed where possible. Also impossible to be quiet and my approach would usually set off the dogs!!  If it was gravel and longer than 30 yards - no leaflet delivered.
2. Have a front door that is obvious. Lots of houses had changed frontages, and doors went round the side or even the back. Several times I gave up and walked away!
3. If you seal up your door's letter box, please have a post box in an obvious place. Head scratching I left some tucked under mats, bin lids, etc. Don't want any post then???
4. Check the strength of the draught brushes on the back on the door's letter box - I have a lovely yellow bruise across my right hand and my husband's hand was bleeding after a short stint helping me. Later another candidate told me she had a spatula she used to push leaflets through with.
5. Dogs that are trying to eat the front door from the inside are scary. When one door literally bounced back and forward with the force inside - I ran away.
6. All those CCTV notices are off putting. Lots of people have notices about not wanting cold callers and catalogues: so I hope I did not annoy them. Two or three people had such long "NO" lists on their doors I did not bother to leave anything. Left wondering if they missed out on life?

I actually stopped to talk to about 10 people who were out in their gardens. They were all very nice and we had interesting chats. Though I did not need to know about the chap round the corner who was the alleged drug dealer. Saw him later, very, very unlikely character to be a dealer (I've worked some tough inner city places and I can usually spot it). Beware the gossips!!!!

Overall the village had fantastic front gardens and I went home to ask for a re-design of our plain one!!

Found a new bit of coast to explore and a new idea

We found another nice spot along the north Norfolk coast last week. We had to take the outboard to be serviced by the lovely and very capable young lady at the boat sales place on Brancaster Straite. It was a lovely day with 18C temperatures and full sun, so we set out as some as the school traffic tailed off. 

As she only needed an hour to service it, and we knew she would be interrupted by constant customers, we agreed to come back by lunch time. She recommended a coffee shop a mile up the road at  Burnham Deepdale. 

We have often driven past the shopping complex but it usually in the summer has a crowd out front, but as half term was over we were delighted to find plenty of space to park and discovered later there is a big car park round the back anyway.  Coffee was good and we went back later for a sandwich lunch. 

From the shopping complex you can cross the road, enter a small lane, which was lined with hawthorn in flower and smelling lovely.

And you come out on the marshes. It was high tide so the creeks were full. This is part of the coastal path and we could have walked for miles in the sunshine.

We were surprised to see this original old house boat on one of the creeks. It was a great contrast to the new millionaire homes just along the lane! There was an artist perched out on the strand painting the scene too.

There were plenty of birds wading and pecking in the shoreline. Not sure why this one gave me such a cross look!

We wandered round the shops for a bit as well and spent a fortune on very nice birthday cards for 4 up and coming events. We also had a look at the newly opened glass artists. Absolutely lovely stuff and they do workshops. We have promised one set of family a workshop on glass when they visit, they do a short one here for 5 years old upwards so it should suit us later in the year. 

Engine collected we made a dash home round Kings Lynn before schools and rush hour traffic added half an hour on to the 45 minute journey. It is a shame to cut the day short but we have learnt to our cost to time it well; when the clocks go back we wait it out on the coast and come home after 7pm.

The Broads

Went for a couple of days to stay at Horning; this is the view from our super B&B window.

Our Grandson played at being Captain on our hire picnic boat.

The boat was fab. Roomy, with a fully equipped kitchen and a loo. Safe for small ones who can't sit still for 5 seconds.

We found the local park in Horning which was well equipped with play equipment and an obstacle course.  There was an outdoor table tennis table with bats and a bent ball. 

A few minutes later a lady came up from a garden down the hill and gave them a good ball she had just found in her garden. She heard us laughing and came up specially. So kind.

I gave my grandson his elephant I made from his old rugby shirts. 

It was love at first sight.

The most useless litter bin?

To avoid the road works that have been taking 7 weeks in the centre of our village I have taken to using the circular route of a public footpath through the fields. Today I spotted this litter bin at the edge of the fields.

Its brand new and looks unused. It really is in the middle of nowhere. A dog poo bin would be more useful as it popular route with those people. I have "ranted" on one of the 3 village Facebook pages. (Yes, there is a lot of ranting in our village).

Especially as our lane, three giant fields away, has a really bad litter problem.  At the end near the village is an informal gravel laybay that is regularly fly tipped and over this last week some one using the lane to go out on to the marshes bordering The Wash (where there are only a few houses, mostly big rich looking ones) has dumped FOUR  Big Mac bags with left over meals in at regular intervals. No wonder we have spotted rats in the field ditch!

If they moved the litter bin to our lane I suspect the Big Mac person would be to F*A*T to get out of a car to use it!!!    Rant on blog over, I will vent more ire on Facebook later!!!

A good read

We recently enjoyed this book from a fairly new writer.

It had an interesting twist and for a change the characters and their situation was believable and realistic.  What amused us was the writer seems to "have followed us round the UK" as my husband put it.  We have lived a somewhat nomadic life and moved around a lot. This story started in a service station on the Welsh borders and we have visited many of those when our eldest was at Uni in Liverpool. The victim came from Norfolk, and "Denham Market" was recognizable was Downham Market by the description of the one way traffic system!  The ending in Ireland was on a very familiar beach!

We visited the library together this week which was  a good thing. I like to take a short cut through the adjoining park which has really good perennial planting. Unfortunately it is also the hang out of groups of men drinking.  There was rather a lot this week, and they were a bit verbal,  and if husband had not been there I would have been seriously worried. This is within sight of the Police station and has notices on the gates declaring it "alcohol banned area".   I think I will write to the local papers!

When you can see a business going wrong

Just had to nip out on an errand and decided to stop for a coffee. We have popped into this local independent place a few times in the last 6 months to give some support. Its got everything going for it - attractive surroundings, in an up market village location, a wind mill (nearly) beautifully restored, interesting antiques/vintage area, awarding wining cider bar, and a cute coffee shop.  They had made some recent changes and develop some outside seating areas that looked attractive.  It should have been buzzing.

But, the coffee was awful. The "eats" virtually zero and what there was not over attractive.

Previously we have given feedback to one of the owners on the signage in the village being a bit "indistinct/small" and difficult to read.  Today, I could have happily handed the coffee back. Perhaps I should have but it felt a bit "rude" as the woman looked so unhappy with life in general.

Oh dear, we would like to be supportive but we are on the edge of not bothering again.

Sugar factory

We often see sugar beet being grown, harvested, heaped in big piles at the sides of roads for collection and transported (in slightly  smelly large lorries) all around us since moving to north Norfolk and have seen the sugar factory in the distance.  Earlier in the week we decided to take our boat along the rivers to the factory which is built on either bank right out in the middle of nowhere.

And no wonder it is. The smell was awful. Fetid. Rotting. Smoky.

And noisy. Clanking, banging, these cranes were swinging things about.

We could not see any people from our low position on the river, as we went under various bridges carrying pipes across to "settlement ponds".

It all felt like some apoplectic movie and zombies could have popped out at any moment.

Our peek at the back door of this industry over, we returned down the river where we watched herons, grebes nesting, ducks and swans. We stopped to make a cup of tea on the river bank about 2 miles down stream and watched the fish on the river bed through about 5 feet of very clear water. 

Deep appreciation of all the work that goes into growing and manufacturing our British sugar. 

Afternoon off

Left all the gardening undone yesterday and headed out  for the afternoon in our small boat.  Went up the River Wissey for about 4 miles.

Blue skies, 24C, heron, crested grebes, ducks with new broods, swans, heritage breed cows grazing the banks, only 4 other people/boats, and only half a dozen RAF Tornados flying low!

Wish I was quicker with camera as I missed all the birds and the newly emerging yellow flag iris in the banks. Husband did not put on his lifejacket, I did as I can't swim.