living on the North Norfolk Coast

I appreciate not everyone wants to be on Facebook or any other type of social media. I am therefore publishing the contents of a recent post on Facebook to help ‘spread the word’. . The Belfry Foundation Trust As you may know, Simon Gurney is currently the sole Trustee of The Belfry Foundation Trust. He’s planning to redistribute the assets and hand over control to those who are better placed to manage the Trust and benefit directly. Simon would therefore like to meet intere

According to a report on the TV, we’ve had just five hours of sunshine this year. Today, this number should be more than doubled – it’s been glorious from sunrise to sunset. It’s pretty cold in the shade but this has to be a small price to pay after day upon day of grey and as an extra bonus, no rain today. With the bottom of the garden in full sun, I pruned our apple tree. I used the loppers to reduce the height and other branches were trimmed back, using secateurs, to

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 couldn’t resist the blue skies and sun, on Saturday morning. It wasn’t long before I was out in the garden. Initially, I thought it would be, despite the sun, too cold to stay more than about a half an hour but I ended up spending the entire morning in the back garden, tidying and manuring borders along with the soft fruit bushes and trimming shrubs. Yes, the soil was wet but considering the amount of rain we’ve had over the past month, not stodgy. When I’d finished, my t

The compound on the rough area, beneath the cliffs, at the east end of the promenade has been greatly reduced in size. For quite a time, this was home to large containers, wood and contractor’s machinery etc. The other morning, we noticed there are just a few pieces of equipment and a beacon stacked in a small fenced off area, with the remaining machinery to one side. If everything is going to be removed then what happens now? Will the slumped material in the sectioned of

Earlier in the month, I mentioned about ‘things’ coming in threes. We’ve now had two threes. Adding to the two electrical failures (Freesat box and tumble dryer) and two excellent services (UK Power Networks and Currys) is, our cooker hood. Some time ago the cooker hood went ‘pop’ leaving no light above the hob but the extractor still functioning. On dull days, I’ve really missed not having any light when cooking. The time had come for a replacement. The hood is almos

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