Tuesday 10th February 2026 - Dull, Wintry Mistiness, Sorting, Drawing and Washed Up

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 overcast skies remind me of Thomas Hardy who, in his books, has portrayed similar scenes of dull wintry mistiness.  The main difference is; in this area, there aren’t thatched cottages in hamlets, with the smoke from the chimneys wafting its way up into the atmosphere and windows back lit by oil lamps – well, not that I’m aware of.

I think I have been through pretty well every drawer and cupboard, tidying, sorting, moving ‘things’ from one place to another, as well as putting a few items to one side for the Inshore Lifeboat Charity shop in Mundesley.  Having moved ‘things’, it’s a case of remembering where I’ve moved them to!  Using photographs, I’ve drawn a peacock butterfly from both upper and under sides.  I had no idea how difficult drawing the under side would be.  When I see peacocks, wings closed, resting in the garden their under sides look plain and brown, very different to the photograph I used, from the internet, showing blues and ripples in the markings. 

I took today’s photo, this morning, as we walked along the open sections of the promenade.  I don’t remember ever seeing quite so many stones and flints, all washed up by recent high tides onto the promenade.