living on the North Norfolk Coast

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