Following last Friday’s trials and tribulations, things got better on Saturday and were good on Sunday too. Time spent in the garden was just what I needed with a tidy of the borders, planting out the last of the flowers from the greenhouse, edging after Peter mowed and later we both watered. Watering may have been a bit of a waste of time because we then had some rain. This was most welcome as it has almost filled all the water butts; we are ready for the next dry spell. M

Do you ever have days when things just don’t go right? For me, today is one of those days so much so, I just had to check on the calendar that it’s Friday the 20th and not the 13th. Firstly, the car refused to start after we finished our usual Friday morning shop in Mundesley; the battery was flat. We do such little mileage these days, it is not always sufficient to keep the battery fully charged. We have had this happen before but that was in winter when we were using th

There can be no denying that certain areas of the village have been looking decidedly dowdy and generally unkempt. Most of these are under the remit of the Parish Council but despite trying to recruit a caretaker for the village, who would take on cleaning the Parish Hall, the repairs and renovations etc. and thereafter maintain everything to a good standard, it would appear there were no applicants suitable for the position. However, a village builder, who can and does tur

For me, the highlight of the past few days has to be the return of the swifts. I was in the kitchen when I heard the screaming calls of the first swifts which will entertain us in the skies from now until August; after which they will return to Africa. When I mentioned this to village bird watcher, Dave, who by the way will be one of my guests on my radio programme Then & Now, he confirmed they were coming in westwards in small parties. It’s been a busy few days, especially

Barney has continued to improve and is now pretty well back to his normal geriatric state of health. He was clipped on Thursday and his groomer said it was probably his heart murmur that was behind the episode. If this is the case, we can probably expect to see more occurrences of these scares. I have had meetings, well more like chats, this week with two villagers who will be guests on my Poppyland Radio programme, Then & Now. Time in the studio has been booked and I am

I am gradually coming back down to earth. It was my birthday on Monday, this year a significant number, so definitely something special to celebrate. I won’t say too much, in case readers interpret this as bragging but I have been totally spoilt over the past week. What I will convey, is a thanks to the Sea Marge for my celebration party on Monday evening, to Jo who made the cake and all the guests for joining us. The evening was a total success, the food and service was

In my last blog, I said I hoped the wind would have dropped by the time I wrote this, my last blog for April. The answer is, yes it has and although there is still a definite chill in the air, this morning’s sun is most welcome and I am looking forward to spending some time later, in the garden. Shortly after posting my last blog, I heard my first recording in Poppyland Studios has been approved. I now feel I can provide more details about my programme. It is called, Then