The joys of July

I'm always chasing my tail with this blog these days, hard to believe it started off daily, but so many blogs I once read haven't been updated for years.
The last week in June was spent catching up, sorting the garden, uploading holiday pictures, getting out and about walking. There was not to much washing to catch up on, as I'd kept up with it at the holiday cottage where there was a tumble dryer in the garage. It was a condensing tumble dryer,and one day the stuff just wasn't drying; so we looked at the instructions, and found there was a big tank which pulled out, which was full of water. that had to be emptied for the dryer to be efficient. It's amazing what you learn staying in rented properties.
Nathaniel's sports day was cancelled this year as the field was too wet. On 1st of July husband collected Nathaniel from school, and  later  I collected Lydia from nursery. Their parents had dropped off some of their stuff at our house in the morning before heading off to Stratford upon Avon, to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, 10 years! Where did that time go? They were going to see A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was supposed to be a surprise for Daughter, but the envelope which had arrived bearing the words RSC, was a bit of a give away.
The children were a little bit excited, sleeping over at Nanna and Grandad's. Nathaniel had done it before, but was too little to remember. I had made fish pie,and they seemed to enjoy what they ate of it. Of course the toyboxes were out again, cluttering our small room, and I read books to them. After they got ready for bed, I read them a story, and prayed with them, then we left them to play quietly, but being in the hottest bedroom in high summer, with light evenings, meant I wasn't too hard on them. After all the next day was a no school day.
Eventually I looked in and both were asleep, in strange positions, and not covered by the duvets.
Next morning I peeped in, and eventually Lydia opened her eyes, and said 'It's Nanna!'
Some time after breakfast, I decided to pop to the supermarket, as our Son and his wife and the children were catching an early Euro train from France. When I arrived back with lunch, they were all here.  The 3 older children having a whale of a time, and baby Elise looking as if she wanted to join in. I got some baby cuddles in, and we managed to squeeze round the table for lunch.
They weren't planning to stay too long, and just as they were about to start getting ready to leave, Daughter and husband arrived. I had a full house!
So there was much catching up, and laughter, just a bit later Lydia came in from the garden, and from the state of her, she had been picking my newly ripened raspberries. She had an accomplice, Ethan.
We went into the garden, only to find raspberries floating in the bird bath. Their parents were struggling to keep straight faces, I summoned up a stern voice and said 'Who has been picking my raspberries?' at which Ethan grabbed his Mum's hand and said 'Let's go now!'
I adore my grandchildren, but had waited so long for those raspberries to ripen. Raspberry soup was not on my menu.
The family made their various departures, and we were left with a little bit too much peace and quiet.
The weather improved and people started having barbecues, with that horrible sickly smell of lighter fuel. Our back door stayed open most of the time, we continued to pick loads of fruit, I got bitten again. I found Aloe Vera gel the most soothing thing.

Bite on ankle

Our Council had the new town centre dancing fountain open in time for the school holidays

Fountain

We also took a trip to Hitchin Lavender, as the lavender hadn't really been out in Heacham. However this is very different, you pay to go in and they give you a pair of scissors and a large paper bag, and you can fill your bag with lavender. There were lots of people there, we had lunch in the cafe, and afterwards, walking up and down the fields the smell was amazing. If we stood still and quiet, all we could hear was the buzzing and humming of the bees, it was a totally relaxing experience.

Boat being lifted by crane On return from Berkhamsted

We ventured out on our bikes and cycled all the way to Berkhamsted again, but I think I overdid things. We carried on doing lots of walking. Our friends held their annual coffee morning in their garden, so we spent a pleasant time there.

Our last day in Norfolk

The Friday dawned quite a nice day. The election as to whether Britain should stay in the EU had taken place the day before. We were fed up with the TV coverage, we had had a postal vote as our holiday had been booked for so long. All over Norfolk we had seen 'vote leave' posters, except in Norwich where there was one small 'vote remain.'
The night before the BBC news was reporting that it was mostly likely that the vote would go to the 'remain' side, although they had stressed no results were in. I couldn't be bothered to stay up and watch. That morning, I was determined not to turn the TV on. I opened my computer, and decided to go on facebook. After a few minutes my eyes strayed to the 'trending' bar, and I saw that Britain had voted to leave, the EU. After all the hype of the previous evening I was really surprised by this.
What surprised me even more though, was the vitriol, the hatred, the vile comments directed towards those who had voted out. The people behaving like toddlers stamping their feet and saying 'No!', demanding second referendums even. Whatever happened to democracy?
We had decided in view of the weather we had been having that we would use the last Friday as a day of packing up, taking our time, and we would leave on the Friday afternoon as we do when we leave Cornwall. We were near enough to home to not have to worry about a long journey. Our one consolation was that most of the country had suffered the same weather as us.
Husband said he wanted to walk to the church again, and this time go inside if possible. So we planned to walk into the village, and call in at the baker's for a sandwich for lunch. That was until we walked past the fish and chip shop. The smell was quite good. So we went to the church had a good look round, husband reminisced, and he hunted everywhere for the memorial plaque to Pocahontas. or Mrs John Rolfe of Heacham to give her her proper title.
He was unable to find the plaque, but as I wandered into a side chapel, I discovered it. Satisfied, we made our way back out of the church. As we walked along I reasoned that if we bought sandwiches, I would have to cook a meal that evening, not knowing when we would arrive home; but if we had a take away from the chip shop, then we would only need a light meal, so we joined the small queue, and came out with cod and chips for him and fish cake for me.
Back at the cottage, once we had eaten our meal, we began the packing and tidying in earnest. We had already packed most of the clothes the evening before. We loaded up the car, loaded up the bikes, I returned all the keys to their hooks, and got the spare key out of the key safe and locked up.
Soon we were on our way, calling in at the big Sainsbury's at King's Lynn, but all there were no tutus or practice ballet skirts left in Lydia's size.
I rang the owner to say that the cottage would be empty overnight, we drove along past rivers and fens, such a flat landscape, ideal for cycling, but in much better weather than we had had! The GPS refused to work, and husband took a wrong turning, which almost led us back to Kings Lynn. I dug out the map, and guided him to the correct route. Sometimes the old methods are the best.
We stopped on the way for a drink and snack, and made it home in a reasonable time. Back to an overgrown garden, but the lack of ripe fruit testament to the lack of sunshine at home too. Still husband had his wish, and now knows his memories of Norfolk are not always accurate. Distance lends enchantment.

Husband's old boarding house

Chimneys 

row of cottages

St Mary's church

Pocahontas memorial

We didn't meet the man in the moon.

On the Wednesday, face with uncertain weather again, we decide to explore Norwich. As usual it took us a good while to get there, and our first attempt at parking was foiled as the car park we chose was no longer in use. I was glad as it was a dodgy looking area, with loads of graffiti. Eventually we found a better car park, and made our way into the town centre.
We walked up a hill, and found ourselves beside a department store Jarrolds, which had a cafe in the basement.  We had lunch, then had a wander through the store. We found the toy department, and found an insect viewer, ideal for Nathaniel, too go with the ISpy book which husband had found.
the we had a good wander around the nearby market, and up and down the streets we found the castle, but didn't go in, and were trying to find the cathedral. Every time we found signs to it, the signs petered out. Eventually we gave up as husband reckoned it was down a hill. I said 'It will be uphill on the way back', and as we were feeling tired, we had been in one shopping centre,and were unable to find an exit, so had to hike all the way back to the entrance.
I found Debenham's and John Lewis, but we didn't go in, I just went in M&S and bought more trousers. We found the car park, and set of for Heacham again. When I came to check my camera, I found there was no card in it, as I'd had it out to look at pictures, so I have no pictures of Norwich to show.
The Thursday was dull again, so late in the morning we set off to visit Houghton hall, which is quite close to Sandringham. It was a muggy day, we were glad to sit outside the cafe eating lunch, the chairs were comfy and the view so pleasant that we could have sat there all afternoon.
Eventually we made our way to the house, which is now owned by the Cholmondleys from Cheshire.
there were lots of flowers on tables in the entrance, and we were told that the Duchess of Cambridge had hosted a dinner there in aid of her hospice charity, the previous evening. They were giving away the flowers used for decorations, to visitors.
We toured the open rooms of the house, then I took some flowers, donations to the charity were optional. Then we toured the grounds, looking at the modern sculptures, which didn't impress us really. The walled garden was a delight, but it was such a cloudy muggy day that we got pretty tired out. So we went back to the car,and drove back to Heacham, via a village that husband used to cycle round as a teenager.

Houghton hall

 Staircase

Fireplace in main hall where Duchess hosted her dinner

old dining room

setting off to view the sculptures

My flowers from the Duchess's dinner

In the Walled garden

Sweet peas

fire and water 'sculpture'

Hooray! It's a sunny day!

On the second Tuesday of our holiday, we woke up to a bright day. We decided that as the forecast was good, we would go for a bike ride along the coast to Hunstanton. So off we set. The part of the road that was full of potholes was a real pain, in more ways than one. Of course there had been so much rain that the potholes were all full, but we managed not to fall off.
Eventually the road got smoother, and we arrived in Hunstanton. Then we had to find somewhere to leave the bikes whilst we explored.
There were plenty of car parks and motor cycle spaces, but no cycle racks. We were on our way up to the tourist information centre, when we spotted a rack outside. Husband went in and checked, and they said yes it was ok, no restrictions, so we fastened the bikes securely, and hoped they would be ok. Some of the bars were actually bent where motorists had reversed into them!
We had a good look around the shops, and then looked for somewhere to have lunch. I fancied a crab sandwich, so that narrowed it down a bit. Eventually we found somewhere that looked nice, so went in. we ordered our sandwiches, got our coffee and waited. We were disappointed when a couple who came in after us got their food before us, but they appeared to be friends of the young waitress.
I have to say that when the food did arrive it was disappointing, especially as we had waited so long for it.
We paid up, left, and went our separate ways as husband wanted to walk up to the Sainsbo's. I asked him to get me a Telegraph, and I wandered around, enjoying the sunshine, I felt like buying an ice cream, and got a pistachio one, but after a couple of licks, I started with griping tummy pains again.
I struggled the to eat the ice cream,as I no longer felt hungry, then I rang husband and asked if he could see a pharmacy, he said he could so I asked him to get me some Imodium, my consultant had recommended it. I followed the signs for public toilets, but the signs petered out, so I hiked back to the promenade where I had seen some the previous week. Then I returned to the 'square',and sat on a bench waiting for husband to reappear from his exploring. It was pleasant sitting in the sun, I was amazed at how shallow the Wash is, the tide was out, and sandbanks had appeared.
I idly wondered exactly where King John had dropped the crown jewels, and whether they could be found with a metal detector. Husband reappeared and I dosed myself up with Imodium. We sat for a while people watching, then looked at the sky,and decided that the clouds were gathering, so unlocked the bikes, and headed for the 'road' back to Heacham. The potholed stretch seemed shorter, but was still pretty unpleasant. back at the cottage, we put the bikes in the garage, and I headed straight up the stairs to cool off in the shower. Husband thought it was a good idea, and he cooled off after I'd finished.

Sure enough, it poured down later again, so we were pleased we had made the most of our sunniest day.

promenade

Looking over the Wash 

Broken cross

The moon on Solstice day

 Strawberry moon stage

Later as it rose higher

More railway pics and sunset pics

Platform at Weybourne

Husband chats to authentic looking railway man

Coupling up for the last journey of the day

The windmill in close up in bright sunshine

approaching the beach 

 Going down, with sunset macro

without macro

The beginning of the second week of our travels

Something went wrong with my last post, I kept losing bits, photos were appearing in the wrong place, etc. One thing that did disappear was that we went out for a meal on the first Friday evening, to the local hotel/restaurant at Heacham Manor. We booked a fairly early meal, the service was very good although most of the staff looked like 6th formers, that's a problem with getting older!
The food was good, promptly served, and we were back at the cottage by 9 pm. Some text also disappeared which described how I got backache from walking slowly and standing, in the museum at Sandringham, so much so that I left the building, found the comfort facilities and sat with an ice cream from the stables cafe waiting for Husband to re emerge, we then  took the scenic route past the lake, back to find the car.
On the second Monday, husband prepared the meat he bought to cook in the slow cooker. I walked into the village, collected the newspaper and some more cash from the machine. Usually, if we are anywhere other than Cornwall, we look for a steam railway to ride on. There was more than one in Norfolk, and we decided on the Holt to Sheringham one. For some reason it seems easy to take a wrong turning from the coast road, and we managed to do that again. We were aiming for Sheringham, but we had got lost and were heading for the road, when we found the signs for the Railway in Holt. Once we had parked the car, and bought tickets, there was just enough time for a roll and a drink, before the next diesel haul departed. We could spend an hour in Sheringham,and get a steam haul back. So that is what we did. when we had the showers, we were on the train. We spent a pleasant hour walking round Sheringham, then got the steam haul back, missing the showers again.
then we spent time in the museum, and watched the engine take on water, whilst the rain pelted down.

Sheringham beach

View from train

Engine comes in in a shower

Front of engine

Weybourne Junction

Another loco

Afterwards we returned to Sheringham by road to pick up the coast road again, This time there was brilliant sunshine!
Back at the cottage we enjoyed the casserole that husband had made. It was the summer solstice that evening, and we had been promised a 'strawberry moon'. It actually stayed sunny in the evening,so we set off more the mile walk to the beach. Norfolk is in the East, so I had wondered if we would get a sunset, but Heacham actually faces on to The Wash, which means it faces West. Apparently sunsets over The Wash last a long while. We took lots of pictures, and some of the moon too. eventually we decided to walk back to the cottage and we met a German lady who was, so full of joy and enthusiasm for the beauty of the sunset that she was going back for another look. God's artwork is indeed beautiful.
Will post some more pics separately, as I am having difficulty uploading.