living on the North Norfolk Coast

They’re back! I am referring to the pink foot geese. We haven’t seen them yet but I definitely heard them chatting away on Thursday (17th). Their arrival is earlier than last year (1st October) and a little later than in 2023 and 2024 (14th September). After leaving their breeding grounds in Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard (archipelago of Norway) and Novaya Zemlya (archipelago of Russia) they fly to over winter in destinations within northern Europe. Thursday was the last

I thought I would devote today’s blog to a selection of the photos I’ve taken, as we head into the months of autumn. During the season of autumn, there are usually plenty of fruits, growing in the hedgerows. Some can be picked and preserved, all provide food for wildlife. Pictured above are rose hips. Not so popular these days but going back to World War II, when citrus fruits were not always available, rose hip syrup was considered as a particularly valuable source of V

A fairly quiet week for us. Peter has been tending his vegetable plot, which is providing a good variety for us to eat. He has taken down the main row of runner beans and dug out the roots. These were larger than usual; this must reflect the summer drought with the beans searching for moisture, over and above the water Peter provided each day. It’s early for the runners to stop producing, we’ve had years when we’ve still been picking them ino early October – another effec

I forgot to mention, in my last blog, about the Gardening Club meeting last Tuesday afternoon. The subject was Rockery Gardens and the talk was presented by Gail Harland. Gail’s talk wasn’t quite what I expected. I thought it would be, how to create a rockery and the types of plants are best suited, in a fairly arid area. Instead, Gail covered the history of rockeries. Initially these were just a collection of rocks and stones with no plants. Favoured by the rich, as a

The media are continually stressing; we should expect summers like this year’s to be the norm but I’m not so sure. We don’t have to go back many years, three to be exact, when in 2023 we had an awful summer. I quote the following snippets from my blogs:- Thursday 20th July 2023 - The weather has been cooler and we have also had rain and thunder. Not the best of summer weather. Friday 28th July 2023 - The Yarn Art Group, who meet in The Belfry every Tuesday, have create

Members of the Overstrand Gardening Club, met at Felbrigg Hall on Tuesday afternoon for a guided tour of the walled garden. This was a treat for members; we didn’t have to pay to enter. Driving into the extensive parking area, I didn't expect it to be so full. Rather than trying to park towards the Hall, I opted for the first area with available spaces, not far from the entrance. As far as I could see, there is only one pay station for parking. This was not a problem for

A warm weekend was forecasted last week. However, as we got closer this was revised and what actually transpired was a cool one with a chilly wind. Some improvement in the weather by yesterday afternoon when we decided to walk along the beach towards Cromer. Here we noticed various bits of rubbish trapped in the grasses, that grow below the cliffs. What we didn’t see was, lumps of palm oil, which have been washed up on beaches further down the coast. We decided to go bac

Going back to the Bank Holiday weekend, the village was noticeably quiet, with vacant holiday lets and nowhere near as many cars in the car park, compared to other years, plus very few people were on the beach. Could this reduction in visitors be down to the scare regarding potential fuel shortages and/or due to the lack of confidence in the country’s economy, with people preferring to keep their money in their pockets? We are certainly living in a time of uncertainty. Th

It’s been quiet, so I don’t have a lot to say today. The weather continues grey and dismal with just the occasional glimpse of the sun. Some days are windy, others quite calm and the temperatures have thankfully kept above freezing but we’ve definitely had too much rain. I did manage a morning in the front garden last week, tidying the borders and pots but that’s been it as far as gardening is concerned. Today, it’s as though we are in the clouds. The mist, damp and over

On Tuesday afternoon, I went to the Overstrand Gardening Club’s first meeting of 2026. Annual subscriptions of £15 were being collected plus there was the usual raffle. On the subject of the raffle, last November I won the raffle, a £10 gardening voucher. I used this to purchase an Amaryllis growing kit from Thistle and Tide in Cromer. The bulb was truly spectacular, producing two spikes of buds, each with five blooms; I was well impressed. The meeting’s speaker was Dr D

I am a bit further on, with my recipe plog for Youtube, than I anticipated. This is mainly down to a damp day, keeping me indoors, when I made a fair bit of progress and then later, I added some background music. The next step will be to export the file and run it through with Peter, to check and see if any corrections/changes need to be made. After a fair bit of consideration, I think I will cut the stepping stones into the grass. At the moment, the garden is all about c

With low tides, first thing, this week we’ve been able to walk along the promenade (dipping down onto the beach where the slumps are and...

It’s a year since the village’s garden centre closed - residents continue to say, how much they miss it. Since its closure, as well as...

I have a fair bit to write about, so I’m going to crack on. For starters; we’ve had rain showers today. We could do with a lot more,...

What a summer we’ve been enjoying, with its long, warm and sunny days when the weather forecasters, questionably, declared we were in a...

A quiet week for us but that does not mean we’ve been idle or twiddling our thumbs, while looking for something to occupy us. It’s all...

What a great summer we are having here in Overstrand. After the two previous summers left something to be desired, weather wise, we have...

Far from exciting news but after I posed the question, in the heading of my last blog, as to whether Sainsburys was open, the answer is;...

There have been three highlights to this week. Two were related to some impressive achievements by our two sons – we’re super proud of...

I'm totally impressed with the result Fix My Street was able to achieve, regarding the broken tarmac pavement in Cliff Road. Reported to...