“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. 

Take time to Reflect

Saturday 10th August

A very early start! The alarm woke us at 5am and Robbie seemed unusually keen to get out of bed. I snuggled back under the duvet for a minute or two, listening to him trotting around getting ready for the day. The ritual of packing the rucksack is a time consuming and from my point of view irritating procedure. Everything has to be taken out of the bag, checked and then packed back into the rucksack in the correct place, then additional items will be added according to the occasion. Throughout this process Robbie provides a running commentary on each item, presumably this is for his own benefit as it is of no interest at all to me. The result is that his newly packed rucksack weighs a ton and contains equipment to deal with every conceivable railway emergency as well as personal essentials. 

I could hear Robbie reciting the contents of his rucksack to himself in the other room so I took the opportunity to beat him to the bathroom. Before long Robbie was showered and ready for the day's adventure and we headed in the direction of North Walsham. He was going to play trains for the day, he likes to do something that he refers to as the drags when we are in Norfolk. By 8am I had delivered him to the station and I was safely back at the bungalow enjoying a nice cup of tea.

I decided to take a drive to Stalham to do a bit of shopping. I bought some lovely treats from the Truly Local shop, strawberries for Robbie, raspberries for me, bread, bread rolls, and tomato focaccia. I popped into a table top sale in the church hall and I bought myself a necklace from a handmade jewellery stall, I really like it, it's made of colourful glass beads with tiny little flowers within the glass. I went back to the bungalow to put the food away and then I took a drive to  Mundesley, it was lovely to enjoy the beach and the sunshine. I had a little look at the shops and sat in the sunshine for a while, then I went to the beach cafe for some lunch. I never tire of the beach cafe, the food is beautifully cooked, the portions are generous and the views across the beach are wonderful. I had fish and chips, it was lovely but it was such a large portion that I couldn't manage to eat it all.

I spent a quiet afternoon back at the bungalow, enjoying the sunshine and catching up with some writing. Robbie sent regular updates throughout the day, his second text of the morning was just one word "Farce!!!" apparently things hadn't gone exactly to plan. Robbie is never deterred for long and he scraped his timetable for the day in favour of Plan B which among other things involved a trip to London. I suppose it is all route knowledge and if it floats his boat why should I stand in his way. I picked him up at 9.45pm. The road from North Walsham to Walcott has lots of twists and turns and at that time of night it was pitch dark, so we took a gentle drive back. On the way I became aware of two sets of eyes at the side of the road and there were two deer looking out at us from the undergrowth. They stood still at the side of the road as we passed, it was a very special moment.

'It inspires me, the sea, the limitless skies, the mud and the burning sunsets and the freedom of a place where more than 50% of the neighbours are fish.' - Raffaella Barker

Thursday 8th August

We'd planned to go to Cromer today, but it was such a beautiful morning that we decided that Cromer could wait and we would enjoy the sun and the beach. This is what I dream of all year, the luxury of time, freedom from routine and the peace and tranquility of the Norfolk coast. The huge Norfolk sky reaches down to touch the sea and rhythmic sound of the waves rolling on to the beach and the cries of sea birds are the mood music of the day.

We walked on the beach. I splashed in the surf and looked at the beauty of the sea washed pebbles glistening in the sunshine while Robbie took photos. The beach is a lot lower this year, it is a long time since I can remember the sand being this low. The beach is different every time we come, the level of the sand changes, sometimes as now the tide leaves pools behind at the back of the beach. My children loved the pools when they were little, and seeing the beach like this again brings back so many memories. 

We sat in the garden all day, enjoying the sunshine, reading and relaxing. I wrote all my postcards and caught up with one or two other bits and pieces of writing too. Despite the factor 50, I still managed to catch the sun a little bit, I have stripes on my legs because I was wearing shorts so I will have to try and even it out in the next few days

Men do cry, but only when assembling furniture - Rita Rudner

Who would have thought that the simple act of erecting a gazebo could cause me to have homicidal thoughts! Now that the monsoon season appears to be over my mum wanted us to put her gazebo up so that she and my step father can have a bit of shade in the garden. I had my first encounter with that gazebo last year, it is allegedly a pop up gazebo. It weighs a ton and the one thing it doesn't do is 'pop up' it needs a lot of attention and encouragement and if you are very lucky after half an hour of hard labour the thing will be up. It is absolutely huge, my mum has a big garden, but that thing takes up a lot of room.


This was Robbie's first experience with the gazebo and when I asked him to help he had a 'how hard can it be' look on his face. It didn't take him very long to find out exactly how hard it could be! Simply getting the enormous box out of the shed was a challenge. Then when we got it out of the box there were no instructions, so my mum went off to sort through her vast collection of instruction manuals (for everything that she has ever owned in her adult life!). A little thing like no instructions didn't bother Robbie he began the task with enthusiasm until I pointed out that he was assembling the frame upside down. Why do men think that possessing a 'third leg' gives them superior ability in such matters? It is rare for Robbie to come over all macho and I didn't like what I saw. Undeterred by his error he took charge, barking instructions at me, do this, hold this, fetch that. I kept my temper with great difficulty, he had conveniently overlooked the fact that I had erected this thing before - he was the novice!


To compound my irritation, every so often he would walk across to me and kiss me on the forehead. I could hardly contain my annoyance and when my mum returned with the instructions and a mallet (to peg it into the ground) the temptation was overwhelming. I stood there obediently passing him the parts according to his instruction, but in my head I was considering other uses for that mallet!


Despite his irritating ways I was very grateful to him for helping to sort out the gazebo. Hopefully my mum and step father will be able to enjoy lots of sunny days in the garden. 

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

Last of the Summer Sun

When I went to the supermarket earlier this week, it felt as if I had taken a step back to early August. It was very hot with bright sunshine and and everyone was wearing short sleeved tops. To my surprise it has remained and sunny ever since. Of course looks can be deceiving, it may be hot in the middle of the day, but the early morning is dark and distinctly nippy and the long summer evenings have been chased away by the encroaching autumn darkness. I am always pleased to see the sun, but in a way the sunny days this week are a sad reminder of all that has gone. Was it really six weeks ago that we were on holiday in Norfolk? 

I love the summer, I don't need the weather to be too hot, just warm and comfortable, but mostly I love the long days and warm pleasant evenings. I think my favourite month is May when there are so many wild flowers and it warm with long lazy evenings and the summer stretches ahead of us. September is my least favourite month, it feels as if the darkness closes in around us with dark mornings and encroaching darkness in the evening with the promise of worse to come. We all have little triggers that remind us of past sadness and for me it is the sound of conkers falling to the ground from Horse Chestnut Trees. I remember the excitement of getting up early to go and collect conkers when I was little and I did the same when my children were little, so there are some good memories. However they are overshadowed by the memory of sitting in a hospital room, looking out at the beautiful grounds and hearing the conkers fall from the trees with a thud on to the grass below. In the quiet of the night the thud of the conkers falling seemed very loud. How odd that something so insignificant can sound so loud when a human life can slip away noiselessly.

The sea hath no king but God alone - Dante Gabriel Rossetti

According to the forecasts Friday was to be wet and miserable but Norfolk weather has a mind of its own and the ominous dark cloud was chased away by the sun leaving a lovely bright sky. We decided to make the most of the nice day and had a wander around the car boot sale, Robbie bought a cd but apart from that we enjoyed looking at all the goods on sale without giving in to temptation. By the time we had finished at the car boot sale Robbie’s tummy was rumbling so we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at the beach café in Mundesley. There were lots of people on the beach and we enjoyed looking out at the sea as we ate our lunch. To my considerable relief Robbie passed on the onion rings this time, I can’t stand the smell of onion.



After lunch Robbie suggested that we should take a drive to Horsey Mill. It is a nice drive and it takes us past the lighthouse at Happisburgh as well as several beautiful churches and other buildings of interest. Horsey Mill is rather spectacular and Robbie darted about taking photos before his attention was taken by the shop – they had several interesting railway books! We took a gentle drive back towards Stalham so that Robbie could buy supplies for a packed lunch. He was determined to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to go and play trains – again. I was equally determined that I wasn’t going, but I didn’t mind dropping him off at the station.

The only way to see a rainbow is to look through the rain.

I had a busy day yesterday and as usual it involved dashing around acting as a taxi service for various family members. Then after all the rushing and urgency I was on my own and I had an hour to myself. I was enjoying the unhurried drive home with only myself to please. I like having time on my own, but it seems to be in those quiet moments that all my niggling thoughts fight for attention in my head, things such as wondering how I will ever afford to fix the roof, concern for the health of a relative, and sadness that our dog is reaching the end of her life. It started to rain, nothing much, but I kept having to turn my wipers on and off. Then when I turned a corner and in front of me was a beautiful rainbow, it was very clear and a compete arc and it remained visible for the remainder of my journey. I can't explain why, but there is something meaningful and uplifting about seeing a rainbow and I felt as if I really needed a rainbow in my life just then.


Earlier in the week one of my friends had said that sometimes she felt as if everyone else is busy with their while she is just fading into the background. In a way I could identify with that, I had to put my career on hold and prioritise care responsibilities for the last few years, and it seems as if my life has been 'on hold' for some time. If only I could put the ageing process on hold as well!! For such a long time my life has been focussed on doing everything I can to support my family that I have almost forgotten how to take a little time for myself. Now things have changed, I have a little more freedom and at last I am able to return to full time work so I need to apply myself to the daunting process of finding a suitable job. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. 


I love the quote that I used as the heading for this blog post, because it sums my life up very well. I believe that the original quote was by Dolly Parton


“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta 


put up with the rain."

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.