living on the North Norfolk Coast

I believe a garden is an evolving space, one which we develop to our individual requirements. If you have watched Gardeners World on BBC TV, you will know Monty Don is changing parts of his garden in Longmeadow, introducing more drought resistant plants. This is on the assumption we will continue to have warm dry summers. Monty Don’s two acre garden is huge, compared to most peoples and I therefore understand, keeping everything watered takes a considerable amount of time

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

Following on from the open day at PGL Overstrand Hall, I received this message from centre manager, Sarah – ‘A thankyou to everyone who attended the open day today - it was a lot busier than expected and we took just over £1000 for Nelsons Journey! I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and kindness; we really are a fantastic community. Also, a reminder about our HAF activity days over the summer advertised a couple of weeks ago.’ It was good to hear the open day was

One of our afternoon walks this week, was a stroll along the coast path before cutting across the golf course, down the side of Overstrand Hall and into the village. Not many people on the path and similar on the golf course. Passing by blackberry brambles, I spotted a butterfly which initially looked like a Small Copper. Given butterflies don’t always rest for too long, I was lucky to see the underwings on this one; it wasn’t a Small Copper. Back home, I consulted my com

When Overstrand Parish Council first started organising fireworks in the village, it was on the basis; whatever was raised in the bucket collection would be spent on the following years fireworks, with the addition of any donations from village businesses etc. On this basis the amount spent on fireworks for 2026 would be the amount collected in 2025 (£984.09 net of VAT), plus donations. However, it would appear, this is no longer the case. According to the draft minutes fo

What a joy it is to once again be sitting in the shade at the end of our garden, while I compose today’s blog on my laptop. I had expected to be monitoring the Auction House’s property auction this morning to see whether the camping field (off Beach Close) sold and if so what was the final bid. However, I noticed on Monday, Right Move have marked it, sold prior to auction. No doubt, the Beeston Regis Group will be relieved to no longer own the site which, over the years, c

It’s very pleasant to be sitting on one of our garden benches, under the shade of our Portugal laurel tree, while I compose this blog. Following on from my last blog, after the rain, I checked the soil in our garden and the water butts. The ground was still very dry and there is no noticeable increase in the water levels. There is a distinct lack of colour in our flower borders. Plants which are usually producing new blooms, as fast as I deadhead them, are failing to gener

While most parts of England, have been basking in the sun and enjoying warmth, for several days now, we’ve only seen glimpses of the sun and the temperatures have been struggling to get near to twenty centigrade. It’s been a different case further south, where our family live in Bucks. We had a video link up with them on Saturday when they were having a get together and a BBQ to celebrate our youngest son’s birthday. Photos followed of them sat outside under an awning, whe