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

Very pleased our car got through its MOT this week. This will be followed early next month for some minor recommended repairs and new tyres. Providing we can keep it ‘on the road’ we feel this will be our last car. No real point in changing as it does very few miles a year. We mainly use it for our weekly shop in Mundesley and other local trips. We haven’t ventured out of the county for six years! Now what does that say? I’ll tell you, quite simply; we are contented wi

I was surprised, when I was contacted by the company who provide me with a virus checker to be told next year’s subscription was increasing by four times more than last year. At this price, I decided, no they are not going to renew my subscription. I removed the auto renew from my account, after which they came back and halved the cost. They’ve got to be having a laugh and no I’m still not going to renew. Since then, I’ve spoken with our eldest son who has given me a reco

Sunday’s weather was perfect for the village Yard Sale. People passed by carrying their purchases and the whole day looked to be, relaxed and successful for everyone. In the morning I visited an open garden with plants for sale. I purchased two for a new project; what can best be described as a mini gravel garden. In the afternoon we stopped off at another open garden. Here, there were a number of lavenders which had attracted humming bird hawkmoths. I was quite envious

What has happened to the weather? It’s been raining pretty well every day this month and it’s not been particularly warm either. As a result, there were only about ten sellers for both todays and last week’s car boot sales, on the sports field. In my move towards growing more perennials, I am always on the look-out for suitable plants at the car boot sales. I was pleased to purchase three last week to fill in some gaps. Today, I was tempted by the pots of alliums but wit

You could hardly say our local roads are busy, with constant streams of traffic. Despite this, recently we’ve seen road kills when out on our morning walk. A few weeks ago, it was a badger that never made it back home to its set and a cock pheasant that had recently been hit by a vehicle. Last week there were five bodies, a blackbird, red legged partridge, hedgehog, pigeon and muntjac deer along the stretch of Mundesley Road between the turn offs for the High Street and Car

I’ve been dipping into BBC’s iplayer and watching segments, from this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. A couple of comments made at the show are worth a mention. The first was related to gardening ‘every day is a learning day’ – so very true. The second was from a son with his mother who said they came away with good ideas, none of which they put into practice – I wonder how true this is for many of those attending. The star of the show, for me, had to be the wood carving of G

My new cooker was delivered and installed on Friday. Not radically different from the old one, just a few different things to learn. The biggest challenge was getting to grips with setting up the clock, combined with a timer. In the end I ignored the instructions and found my own way around the set up. I’ve put it through its paces, using all four burners, the grill and both ovens – but not all at the same time! Sad as it was to see the old one go for recycling, I am ver

According to both the weather apps, I have on my phone, today is going to be the best of the four over the Easter period. It has definitely off to a good start with blackbirds singing as dawn approached, followed by a beautiful sunrise. We opted to take our morning walk inland, along the field edges and the back of the allotments. Dipping down, off Madams Lane, we were greeted with masses of blackthorn blossom (see photo below). Peter remarked, with so much blossom, ther

What a difference a few extra degrees of warmth brings. With temperatures rising, over the past couple of days, we’ve only needed the central heating on, first thing and again late afternoon into the evening. The door into the conservatory has been open and this is where we’ve been back breakfasting and lunching, while looking out over the garden. Yesterday, I enjoyed my mug of midmorning coffee, (for the first time this year) sat on a garden bench, sun on my face, listeni

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

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 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

I have used most of the quinces, Jim Paine gave me at the Gardening Club meeting, and made the membrillo (quince paste) he recommended. I can’t at this point say whether we like this or not, simply because we haven’t tried it yet! Jim suggested eating it with cheddar cheese, which we always have in the fridge, but online Manchego is recommended or a similar very hard cheese. This is not a cheese we have that often (sometimes used as an alternative to parmesan), therefore t

I completely forgot to mention, in my last blog, our first sighting this year of the pink foot geese. This was on the morning of 1 st ...

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...

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,...

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