The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk - Jacqueline Schiff

The church in Abington Park 

Robbie and I don't manage long walks these days, but if you pace yourself it is surprising what you can do. We are so lucky to have a very beautiful park on our doorstep, whatever the season there is always beauty around. We always enjoy a visit to the park on crisp winter afternoons we retreat to the Park Cafe for a warming cup of coffee, but when the weather is kinder we prefer to sit on a bench watching the squirrels chase around under the trees or to sit by one of the lakes watching the ducks. If you are weighed down by the troubles of the world, watching ducks is the best medicine, you can't watch their antics without smiling.   

St Peter and St Paul Abington

The Church of St Peter and St Paul is at the heart of the park, it looked magnificent in the sunshine and we had to stop for a moment to take a photo. The trees look beautiful at this time of year, suddenly there is blossom and signs of new growth all around us. The park was busy with people having fun and enjoying a lovely spring afternoon, and as we walked I felt grateful to those people who cared enough to provide this wonderful park for the town all those years ago. I wonder what the people of my own time will pass on to future generations? We have a lot to live up to.

Enjoying the early spring sunshine

I hardly ever appear in photos on the blog, but this is a rare glimpse of me sitting on a bench with Robbie, enjoying an ice cream in the sunshine before heading home

Back to Norfolk

My mum and step father (David) had asked us to go back to Norfolk for an overnight stay on Friday to help them with the packing and to bring their larger items of luggage home. David is feeling very frail at the moment because he has kidney cancer and he is a awaiting an operation to remove his kidney, so things that he used to do easily now leave him feeling totally exhausted. We were pleased to be able to help, so late on Friday afternoon we drove back to Walcott. As well as packing and loading the car we found time to take an evening walk by the sea, it was lovely, there is something so special about that place.

We were up early the next morning, to get the final cleaning and packing done, before long the car was packed, and Robbie and I took one last walk by the sea. The beach has changed so much in the last couple of weeks and some of the bungalows already have their shutters up ready for the winter. I wish I could turn back time to keep the summer and have our fortnight in Walcott ahead of us again. Reluctantly we said farewell to the bungalow and drove away from Walcott - but we only went as far as Mundesley. We parked the car and walked down to the beach to sit in the sunshine looking out at the sea and just enjoying being together. Then we went for breakfast at the cafe before heading home.

Kept At Arms Length

We expected Friday to be dull and showery as predicted by the local weather forecast, but clearly nobody had told the weather what it should be doing and it surprised us with another beautiful sunny day. We went to the car boot sale again just to have a look around, it was fun, but we didn't buy much. Sam bought and ancient camera, he is becoming obsessed with photography and he liked this old camera because it is the box type where you look at a viewfinder on top in order to line up your photo. In typical Sam style, when he develops an interest in a subject, it takes over his whole life and he has to know absolutely everything about it!

We went to Mundesley for lunch, there were loads of people on the beach and it was nice to sit in the café looking out at the beach while enjoying our meal. Robbie's meal came with a pile of onion rings so I will be keeping him at arms length for a few days!!

Padstow

We made a relatively early start this morning, by holiday standards. I was the first up, but when I went to have a shower I had to clean first because I found that we had our own private beach in the shower basin - Sam! He had showered after going to the beach yesterday and (being a boy) he didn't notice that he had deposited half the beach in the bathroom. It is a brilliant shower, I could stay in there all day.

By 10am we were in Padstow ready to take a leisurely look at the shops. Laura found a lovely fair trade jewellery shop called Uneeka on Saturday and she wanted to go back to buy a couple more items. We looked at lots of other shops and I took advantage of the early start to take some photos while Padstow was relatively quiet, nothing opens until 10am. It was a dismal morning, but not raining and not cold, it brightened up later in the day so we can't complain.

We stopped at a nice little cafe for a bacon roll and a cup of tea. Poor old Robbie was really struggling to walk today and it was obvious that he was in a lot of pain, but he enjoyed his bacon roll. I hope you like the photos of Padstow.

Later in the afternoon we went for a walk along the coast path. We walked towards the lifeboat house because there is a bench where we can sit and watch the sea birds and surprisingly we can get an excellent phone signal there, there is no signal in the caravan. The lifeboat had gone out earlier and as we looked out at the sea we spotted it coming back, so we watched as it made the approach and was winched back up the ramp to the boat house.

Padstow Lifeboat

I was sad to hear that one of my favourite artists Beryl Cook has died. I loved her larger than life characters, they always seemed to have great confidence and to be enjoying life immensely, with just a touch of wickedness. She had a unique style and she will be much missed.
Beryl Cook Paintings

Double Trouble

Double Trouble Tuesday 21st August 2007

It was cold last night but by morning it was warmer and calmer, not pleasant but tolerable. It was one of those damp grey days that refuse to brighten up, but it was good enough to go to Cromer. As usual we sat in the car for ages waiting for Robbie, his lateness really frustrates me, I can't imagine why it takes him so much longer than anyone else to get ready.

It was nice to have a look at Cromer again. Robbie wanted to look in Jarrolds, they sell books, very nice jigsaws, stationary and art and craft materials, in fact it is just the sort of shop that could tempt me to spend a fortune. I restrained myself and just bought a couple of Christmas presents after that we wandered through the side streets towards the restaurant that we like and we treated ourselves to a welcome lunch. Usually we would have wandered down to the sea front to have a look at the pier and enjoy the view, but we gave it a miss yesterday, fearing that we would probably blow away if we ventured down to the front. Anyway Robbie had another goal in mind - his favourite bookshop. As usual it didn't disappoint, Robbie was thrilled to find a book about Walsall's engine sheds, another about British Railway's Workshops and yet another called London Midland Then and Now. I was equally thrilled - because that lot would almost certainly guarantee me an evening of peace and quiet!! Cromer is quite a pleasant little town, but it is let down by three issues that impact significantly on visitors. The public toilets are grim, the car parks are not well designed or well signposted and road layout is dangerously chaotic and it appears to have been designed by a toddler or a lunatic!

We had a nice quiet evening, Robbie was happily reading his books and doing his second jigsaw, Sam watched something gruesome on DVD leaving me to get on with my writing and to enjoy the peace and quiet. Unfortunately the peace was short lived, as the evening went on Robbie and Sam managed to lower the town of the conversation until they were rolling around convulsed in laughter like little boys at primary school! I don't understand those two, one minute they are competing for my attention and arguing about the most ridiculous things, then all of a sudden they are allies, giggling at rather dubious jokes and encouraging each other in further wickedness. I guess it is true, little boys never really grow up!