“The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys”

Wednesday 14th August

A lovely sunny day, we sat outside during the morning and early afternoon. It was lovely to have a relaxed and unhurried day and it was warm and sunny outside. I read a few magazines - Robbie has plenty to choose from, but mostly I just sat quietly and enjoyed the beauty of the moment. The beach looked beautiful and the rhythmic sound of the waves on the shore line felt like the heartbeat of the earth. I would have liked to put time on 'hold' to stop the day from ending, but all I could do was to treasure the moment. 

Robbie enjoyed the sunshine too, but he doesn't like too much sun so he went back into the bungalow a couple of times to play with his toys - he brought Lego,  jigsaws, 'N' gauge railway, binoculars, a ship spotting app, railway DVDs, loads of magazines and a pile of railway books. Today was a 'Lego day' Robbie built a Lego Technic tractor, it took quite a long time and it involved a lot of huffing and puffing but it looks rather impressive

After a brief trip to the shop and a flying visit to Tesco we went out for a meal at the Lighthouse Inn. 

“Voyage upon life's sea, To yourself be true, And, whatever your lot may be, Paddle your own canoe”

Saturday 3rd August

The alarm woke me, I could so easily have turned over and gone back to sleep but I wanted to make an early start. I have looked forward to this holiday for so long and I want to make the most of every single minute. Surprisingly 'Sleeping Beauty' got up willingly and trotted off to make a cup of tea.

Usually Robbie finds every possible reason to delay us, but to my surprise we were packed and ready to go by 9am - perhaps the promise of a brief stop at Mc Donald's to get some breakfast helped to focus his mind. I am not a great fan of Mc Donald's but their hot chocolate is very nice as an occasional treat. Dave the cat was in a very bad mood he turned his back on me, refused his breakfast and wouldn't even acknowledge me when I said goodbye to him! Poor Dave, he hates it when we go on holiday but I'm sure My daughter will take good care of him.

I'd already had firm words with Robbie about the Sat-Nav. Last time we went to Norfolk he upset it and the poor thing lost the plot, it was a case of train planner v Sat-Nav and we almost ended up in a field! This time I'd had a good look at the map and I was determined that neither of them should lead me astray. Robbie did very well really, I was somewhat alarmed when I glanced across and noticed that he was using a Quail map but apparently he was just trying to identify a disused level crossing!

We made good time and arrived in Mundesley in time to enjoy lunch at the Beach Cafe, the food there is fantastic, I love going there. Robbie had his favourite lifesaver breakfast and I had fish and chips, it was lovely, beautifully cooked, and such a large portion that I wouldn't want anything else to eat that day! After a couple of hours in Mundesley we took a gentle drive towards Walcott, picked up the key and then at long last we were at the bungalow - I have been looking forward to this for so long, I love this place.

The car was unpacked, everything was put away, and before long it was just like home, our sanctuary for the next two weeks. At last we could relax, enjoy the sunshine and leave the worries of the world behind for a couple of weeks. The view from the back garden is awesome, just sand, sea and sky as far as the eye can see - it certainly helps to put things into perspective! 

Bernard the Bathroom Cat

Yesterday after a rather frustrating day I sat down in the lounge to relax for a couple of hours before bed. Before long Bernard came into the lounge and settled down on my lap and began to purr. It may sound like a very ordinary thing, hardly worthy of comment, but for Bernard it represents a huge improvement since she became part of our family a year ago.

For those who don't usually read the blog we first became aware of the cat a couple of days before Christmas 2011 when the turkey that was left in the utility room to defrost was partially eaten by an animal. It turned out that a stray cat had broken in through a sealed cat flap. This is what I wrote about it early last year.

"The saga of the cat continues, every time we put her out she sits outside meowing all day and all night, then just when you notice that it has all gone quiet you realise that she has broken in again! We can't go on like this so I decided that today I was going to take her to the vet to see if she has been chipped. There were just two small problems, catching her and getting her into the cat carrier. 

Yesterday evening my son and daughter caught her - eventually! She had hidden herself behind the fittings in the utility room again and it took forever to coax her out. Finally she was confined to the kitchen (where we hoped she wouldn't be able too hide, but she had other plans. She made her escape and this morning she had to be coaxed out from under a bed! 

Once again she was confined to kitchen and when the rest of the family had been despatched to work and school, I was left to get her into the cat carrier. There was just one problem the cat had decided that there was no way that it was getting into the cat carrier. She grew several extra legs (or at least it seemed like that), she did some amazing gymnastics, the only thing she didn't do was get into the cat carrier. Then after about ten failed attempts I managed to get her in and lock the door of the carrier behind her. I took a few minutes to calm her and let her get used to the carrier before heading off to the vet.

According to the vet she is a female and aged about three. She is not significantly under weight, but she is timid. She is not on any missing lists, I have checked with every group in the area, so the vet thinks that the best thing to do is to look for another home for her."

We didn't plan to keep her, but she was so skittish that it was not easy to find anyone to take her. She has always been a very clean cat, never any accidents but she spent months hiding away from us, she just coming out to to eat before darting back into her hiding place. For some reason the bathroom was her favourite hiding place, she liked to scramble right behind the bath where no one could reach her. We were reluctant to give her a name or to get too attached in case we were able to rehome her and until we had taken her to the vet we didn't even know if she was male or female so we jokingly referred to her as Bernard (named after Nursie in Blackadder, a girl with a boy's name) and by the time we were ready to give her a name she had 'become' Bernard.

I think she will always be shy especially with strangers, but she has a family now and she seems happy. When she came to us her coat was dull and harsh to touch and she was always hungry, but now she is in lovely condition and her coat is soft and silky. We didn't intend to become a three cat family but it is nice to see what a bit of love and attention can do to change the life of a stray.

'There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them' - Sylvia Plath

Photo by Linneabe

A am a bath person, there is nothing I like more Than a long soak in a hot bath while listening to Radio 4. Robbie on the other hand is a shower person, and being a train planner his ablutions are timed to the second and they have to be performed in the correct order! So a leisurely bath is an unfamiliar experience for Robbie, but he was in so much today that he look my advice and plodded off to have a hot bath to ease his pain. I was busy so it was a while before i looked up from my work and realised that he had been gone for a very long time. I listened and it was suspiciously quiet, I could hear the radio but there was no splashing and no sound of movement - and Robbie is never quiet. I rushed to the bathroom to find out what was wrong and I found that he was sound asleep. He had slid down in the bath and his face was only just above water! I shouted at him to wake him up but he didn't even flinch and I was cross with him for scaring me, so I poured water over him, that woke him up! In future he can stick to showers, there is less chance of him drowning in the shower!

My connection to the earth is reinforced through the rhythm of the waves - Mike Dolan

It was another lovely sunny day. I was up before before Robbie and I wandered out into the garden and stood looking over the gate at the waves lapping up the beach. It was a very special because it is rare that I have the time to just stand and enjoy the moment without having to dash off to do something more important. The most precious thing about coming to Norfolk is being able to take time to do nothing and to recharge my batteries.

By the time Robbie emerged to face the day I had already done some washing and hung it out, and been for a walk along the beach. The tide was in so there wasn't much beach but I like to look at the beautiful colours and shapes of the sea washed pebbles and with the sun shining on them they almost sparkle. A percularity of this beach are pebbles with holes worn all the way through, I am not sure why it happens, but when the children were young a friend told us that they were special because the ones with holes all the way through are wishing stones.I still look out for them, I need all the wishes I can find and it brings back happy memories of collecting shells and pebbles with the children.

We were happy to stay at the bungalow to enjoy the sunshine and the luxuary of time, it was a lovely relaxing day. We popped out to Stalham briefly in the afternoon to get milk and a few other bits and bobs and then back to the bungalow to enjoy a nice quiet evening, just us and the bats - they really are amazing. The sunset was amazing too, it looked as if the sky was on fire, there is nothing quite like a Norfolk sunset.