living on the North Norfolk Coast

On Sunday morning we had, what initially seemed to be, a power cut.  However, after checking with neighbours, we discovered it was just us without power!  I phoned UK Power Networks, who went through with us how to check if power was coming into the property, yes it was, and then how to determine where the problem was.  All of this was done in simple easy to understand terms.  With the information provided we located the problem; it was a fault with our tumble dryer which had

A short update; the new Freesat box arrived.  Peter has set it up and all is working well.  Also, he now has my old earbuds (so much easier than earphones, if you want to get up and move around).  Once the cooker was cleaned, I washed down the kitchen walls (tiled from floor to ceiling) and afterwards applied grout cleaner.  Everything is looking fresh and bright.   I follow the Facebook page for JD Planting (the relatively new garden centre at Groveland’s in Roughton).   I s

There is a saying that ‘things’ happen in threes.  For us this has happened.  Firstly, our Freesat box packed up.  I don’t know anything relating to the TV and recordings – this is Peter’s ‘department’.  He investigated, as to why it had stopped working in case it was an easy fix, but came to the conclusion it’s kaput.  A replacement has been ordered and is due to be delivered tomorrow.   Secondly, as mentioned in my previous blog, I set aside Saturday morning for cleaning th

I’m most definitely not liking this weather but it’s winter – should I expect anything different?  The short answer to that is, no. Cold winds, snow and ice are to be expected and I just need to get on with it.  Fortunately, we don’t have to be anywhere for appointments and the like, so we can please ourselves as to when or if we go out.  The road outside our home, on Wednesday morning, was like a sheet of ice but I wanted to go and feed feral cat Lunar.  We both tried puttin

There wasn’t an organised Boxing Day Dip in Overstrand this year.  As it turned out, if there had been it would not have gone ahead. With winds and high seas, all the dips along this stretch of the coast, including Sheringham’s New Year Day Dip, were cancelled.    Since Christmas, for the most part, it has been bitterly cold. The last couple of days, I’ve been taking a kettle of hot water out to pour into the bird bath to melt the ice, after which, I’ve broken the ice on the

Welcome to 2026, with best wishes for a Healthy New Year.   It’s twelve days since I wrote my last blog, before Christmas, so time for a catch up. I had, what I consider to be, an early Christmas present.  A couple of days before Christmas, we were out for our morning walk and I was thinking how nice it would be to see Lunar again.  Lunar is the part feral cat who lived with us for a time before becoming totally feral.  She is our cat’s sister and after she left us, I continu

Cats are a bit like marmite – you love them or hate them!  I fall into the love category; they all have a place in my heart from the smallest (Rusty Spotted) to the largest (Tiger).  Over the years, we have come to know, each of our domestic cats have/had very different temperaments and characters; we respect them for this.  We always want to do the best for our pets and when Peter spotted a video on YouTube, which he forwarded to me, I was totally shocked as to how we are, i

We had a very enjoyable weekend with our family.  We ate at home on Friday evening; my homemade coq au vin with vegetables and to follow something lighter, fresh fruit salad and cream.  The weather was kind, enabling a walk on the beach on Saturday morning with lunch at home.  This was followed by a visit to the church to see the Christmas Tree Festival, and then in the evening, dinner at The White Horse.  Back to the church on Sunday morning so that our son could collect his

A very short blog from me today as I'm busy gathering items together for the Overstrand Life tree at the Christmas Tree Festival in St Martins church, as well as preparing for family visiting over the weekend.  Full details, covering the festival, can be found on the Calendar Page as well as Facebook.   Today’s photo, is the sunrise, which greeted us on today’s morning walk.

I took advantage of a Black Friday deal on some deodorants and body wash.  I have been using this particular company for a few years and apart from the range they offer, I also like the fact the products are refillable and everything is plastic free and compostable.  With a good discount, this was a deal not to be missed.  The package was scheduled for delivery on Thursday between 14.30 and 16.30.  We were in but instead of ringing our door bell, the delivery driver dropped t

The posters, promoting the forthcoming Christmas events are dotted around the village.  Rather than covering these, here in my blog, I have taken photos of the posters and included them below (click on the individual posters to enlarge).  As you can see there will be plenty to see and join in, as well as refreshments to be enjoyed, in the lead up to Christmas.  I am looking forward to seeing the Christmas trees in the church.  There was a brilliant selection last year, all wi

We’ve been using the local bus service again.  On Wednesday we took the last of our vinyl records, including Elton John, The Kinks, Jean Paul Jarre, T Rex, Rolling Stones etc. to the Another Planet shop in West Street, in Cromer.  Our first visit was a few weeks ago, taking my collection of Beatles records, including two rarities sent to members of the Fan Club at Christmas.  Marc, the shop owner, was impressed with the condition of my records (I was always very careful with

I nearly forgot; today is a blog day!  What I did forget was, to add a thank you to the end of my last blog, for all the help I received with the Poppy Appeal.  So, thank you to Derek, Martin & Peter for assisting with counting the donations, to the Methodist Church for once again letting us use the church for the count, to Overstrand Post Office for facilitating the banking of the donations, to St Martins Church for donating the collection from the Remembrance Day service, t

When Peter and I purchase goods online, we look at the ratings for the individual items and if buying from Ebay, at the sellers too.  However, after a recent experience, I’m not sure I can trust all companies to be honest with their ratings.  To briefly explain; I ordered some fresh fish from a different company to the one we have been using.  It arrived last Friday, well packaged in a lined cardboard box with ice packs to keep the fish cool and in good condition.  However, t

I can safely say, November is my least favourite month of the year.  I associate this month with dampness and the start of cold weather.  However, up until Friday it really has not lived up to what I expected.  This year, November has generally been mild and despite a few glitches, not bad at all.  All change on Friday; it was awful, a day of rain and totally miserable.  It’s been pretty grim since then – what I expect in November – and it will probably carry on like this.   

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

I’ve started working on a new vlog for my YouTube channel.  This covers my recipe for pork with celery and given it’s not that easy to film while cooking and narrating at the same time, I have chosen to use photos instead, with a voice over.  I suppose I shouldn’t call it a vlog (video log).  Maybe plog (photo log) would be more appropriate.  I could call it a phlog but this would probably get confused with flog, meaning to sell something.  Unless, I can think of another term

So far, the temperatures have been above average for November, at times wearing a jacket or coat have been quite unnecessary.   On Sunday, I was determined to get out in the garden, to clear the leaves and have a general tidy of the main border at the back.  It was a bit damp first thing but just as soon as the light rain, reduced to mizzle, I was outside, after which it soon stopped completely.  As I made my way along the border, I was joined by a frog who seemed quite conte

It’s been fairly quiet here in Overstrand, during the half-term school holidays.  It was however, different in Cromer on Wednesday, when I went to the hairdressers, as well as a short visit to Sheringham on Thursday, to collect my glasses from the opticians.  Both towns were busy and driving back through Cromer on Thursday, quite a number of people seemed to be oblivious of passing vehicles, stepping off pavements and walking across the road, rather than heading to the crossi

What do you do, when it rains and the winds blows all day, as it did yesterday?  Well, I decided to tackle some tasks, the sort you save (or put off) for days like these.  In the morning, I cleaned the insides of the kitchen cupboards, polished the brass and descaled the kettle.  All pretty boring but with my earbuds in, with music filtering through them from my Mp3 player, the tasks didn’t feel too arduous.    Over the past few days, I've tackled some of what I term as, annu