'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

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow - Swedish Proverb

Today was very frustrating, one of those days when everything seems more difficult than it should be. I had a hospital appointment this afternoon, I'd been looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. I badly needed some answers but I wasn't sure that I was going to like what I heard, so I felt very anxious.

Robbie came with me and since parking at the hospital is challenging at the best of times, I decided to park in a nearby car park and walk the short distance to the hospital. We still have snow but as the hospital is very close to the town centre I was fairly sure that the pavements would be gritted - they weren't! We slipped and slid towards the hospital very slowly indeed, but we made it without any serious problems. The road and pavement leading to the hospital main entrance were treacherous, it beggars belief that the local authority take no responsibility for making sure that roads and paths leading to hospitals, schools and the like are cleared and made safe. Having negotiated the icy pavements I had to pass a huddle of smokers who blocked the pavement just outside the hospital grounds. I was on my way to the chest clinic and the last thing that I needed was their second hand smoke!

I didn't really get the answers I wanted, just lots more questions, more medication. To be fair he did take my problem seriously and he understood how debilitating this cough is, it makes every aspect of my life so much more difficult. He requested lots of tests including an MRI scan, blood tests (I think they took a whole arm full of blood!) and various breathing tests. I have to see the consultant again in 2 months, I really hope the increased medication will help because the thought of putting up with this for another two months makes me feel like giving up. 

We had to go to a different part of the hospital to get my blood tests don so we walked back towards town a different way, but the paths were just as bad and our progress was slow. We walked through St Giles churchyard, it is beautiful at any time of year but the snow against the white snow-laden skies made it look magical, for some reason it made me think of Narnia. I have happy memories of walking through the churchyard with my aunt when I was a child and it looked so beautiful today that I asked Robbie to take some photos for me with his new phone.

Robbie took me to the Cordwainer for something to eat because I had been too anxious to eat much at lunchtime. He likes Wetherspoons food but it didn't really 'float my boat' and it was so dark in there, I like to see what I am eating. It is scary, but I have to admit that I sound more like my grandma every day!
   

Uncle Stuart's Summer Ale

Friday didn't start very well, Robbie seemed to take an age to get ready to go out. We went to Wroxham Barns, Robbie likes it there because they have a local Brewery called Uncle Stuart's. He had a pint of Uncle Stuart's Summer Ale, he said it was very nice and it certainly made him a bit more mellow. My pot of tea was nice too, it is just as well that I'm teetotal as I have to do all the driving. I have had some very good tea while in Norfolk - they could certainly teach Cross Country a thing or two when it comes to tea making!
There is lots to see and do at Wroxham Barns, shops and craft studios (including a model shop so Robbie was in his element), a junior farm, a cider and apple juice producer, restaurants and cafes, crazy golf and various rides. We enjoyed looking around and Robbie left with a selection of ales as wel as a stash of beer mats.

We had a walk on the beach when we got back, the tide was going out and the tide washed beach looked beautiful with the sun dancing on the waves and the little ripples of retreating tide running over the sea placed pebbles in the smoothe wet sand. We sat there just looking out at the sea and remembering the many special times we have spent here. I love this place.

Catching up in Cornwall

Despite my concerns my son and daughter are having a lovely time in Cornwall. On Saturday morning they enjoyed a long walk along the coast path around Trevose Head towards Harlyn. She took this photo of Mother Ivey's Bay looking towards Merope Rocks, that view holds so many happy memories for me, I wish I was there with them. 

Later in the day they went to Padstow and despite the choppy sea they braved a boat trip around the offshore islands to see the puffins and other sea birds. A boat trip on the Jubilee Queen while on holiday has become a bit of a family tradition, but personally I prefer to keep my feet firmly planted on dry land even on the calmest day! I braved the trip once and I was lucky enough to see puffins, but the braver members of the family have seen dolphins, seals, puffins and many other sea birds.

They spent Sunday visiting their grandparents and then their aunt, uncle and cousins. They even visited Windy Ridge, one of my favourite restaurants. Apparently it has been given a facelift since I last visited, they enjoyed their meal very much; another reason for me to visit Cornwall again very soon! 

I don't say we all ought to misbehave, but we ought to look as if we could - Orson Wells

Photo by Venteco

I came across the quote above (in the title) recently and I liked it very much because it makes me think of Robbie. It seems to sum him up perfectly, there is a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and you can never be sure that he will not misbehave. Unfortunately it is also true of his legs, even when he seems to be walking well you can never be completely sure that they will not misbehave. Sometimes they stop him in his tracks refusing to move at all, sometime one leg just gives way leaving him in a heap on the floor, but more often than not they just hurt really badly and walking or even just sitting still becomes an endurance test. 
Most people will know that Robbie hates what he refers to as 'green trains' with a passion. They are used by London Midland on his route to work and they simply don't offer him enough leg room to sit for an hour (to or from Birmingham) without unbearable pain. He goes to a lot of trouble to plan his journeys so that he avoids them. He gets up stupidly early every morning just to catch a 'blue train' to work and have a less painful journey. When he can't avoid the 'green trains' he has to break his journey at Coventry and wait for a train with more leg room. It takes such a lot of effort just to make a simple journey and it makes him very tired because he has a very long day, so it is not surprising that I worry about him. I have to be very careful what I say because he hates to make a fuss about his pain or to admit that he struggles sometimes. He will be cross with me for mentioning it, but my greatest fear is of him falling down the side of a train. He says it is just an irrational fear and I am being silly, but it has happened to him before and if it happened again I know he could get badly hurt. 


Yesterday when I got home from work I was very concerned because it was clear that he was in considerable pain. He wasn't exactly walking like John Wayne, more like John Wayne's grandad and every movement seemed to be agony for him. I did my best to help, but the frustrating thing is that there is so little I can do except to nag him to take his tablets. I try my best to tell him to be careful, but he still does as he likes. I admire him for that, he hates to give in, but I am so relieved that he had the sense to work from home today. 

Puzzled

Robbie came to bed very late last night or more accurately I should say this morning, so when I got up he was still in the land of nod - and he remained there for half the morning! He was late coming to bed because he had got carried away with doing his jigsaw of the Flying Scotsman. I am not a jigsaw person but there is something about an unfinished jigsaw that demands your attention and spent a peaceful couple of hours with Radio 4 and the jigsaw. When Mr Sleepy finally woke up he wasn't best pleased, but he hid it well. We went out for lunch at Mundesley which was a nice treat. After that we had a bit of a potter around before heading back to the bungalow. I went for a walk along the beach, but Robbie stayed behind with his jigsaw, he made it very clear that my help was no longer needed. I was very happy out on the beach, I found a wishing stone and I wandered along noticing all the little details that you only notice when you are on your own.

Robbie completed his jigsaw, it looked amazing, now he has the next one out and he is planning to start that later this evening. It has pictures of old Hornby models on it, it looks really difficult but apparently he doesn't need any help! I have really enjoyed today, it has been fun, it is so nice to have to relax without the day to day world crowding in on us.  

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

We had a beach day today, it was lovely. The sun was out, there was a gentle breeze and the only cloud on the horizon was the man next door. The sight of him in Speedos (again!) was more like a total eclipse than a cloud but we did our very best to ignore him. The beach stretches on as far as the eye can see, so when we went down to the beach and spotted him in the sea we took a brisk walk in the opposite direction and we found a nice section of beach all to ourselves.

Robbie sat and watched while I wandered around taking photographs. He was enjoying the sun and for the very first time this holiday he allowed me to take a photo of him. He is very unhappy with his hair at the moment because he was so busy before we came away that he didn’t have time to have his hair cut. Hopefully we will put that right in the next few days .


This evening we popped into Tesco for some milk, but Robbie really struggled to walk around the shop, the pain was almost beyond endurance and it has continued to be really bad all evening. He tries so hard not to make a fuss, but you can see that he hardly knows how to move. I wish I could do or say something to make him feel better, but it is usually better to say very little and not to make a fuss, the last thing he wants is sympathy. He will have to go back to the doctor when he gets home, he can’t go on like this.

'You either get Norfolk, with its wild roughness and uncultivated oddities, or you don't. It's not all soft and lovely. It doesn't ask to be loved.' Stephen Fry

We woke up to a lovely quiet and sunny morning, I felt much better after a long sleep and after a refreshing shower and one of Robbie’s legendary bacon sandwiches I was ready to face the day. I finished off the unpacking while listening to the Archers and Robbie had a shave and shower, then we were ready to go to the local car boot sale. I love car boot sales, but we only go when we are on holiday because we already have far too much junk in our house.



Robbie had very bad cramp in the night and it had left him with a very painful leg, but he managed to walk around the reasonably well. He didn’t want to buy much, just a couple of music cassettes and a book of railway postcards, but he enjoyed searching through boxes looking at old die cast vehicles and various model trains. I bought several cds including Summoned by Bells, the verse biography of John Betjeman, we enjoyed listening to the first part of it when we got back to the bungalow.


It was mid afternoon when we got back from the car boot sale. It was nice to have time to just sit and look out across the sea and enjoy the calm that time away from reality brings. There was plenty to see first of all we saw a life boat travelling at speed along the coast, Robbie went out to take a photo, but his blackberry was not powerful enough so he dashed back for his camera. Then there were two lifeboats and a little dinghy type lifeboat and then he said that there was a fourth boat. I wonder what was going on.

Robbie had only just settled down again when another boat came past, it was fairly close and Robbie rushed out again for a better look. He said he thought it was a customs boat and he came back in to look on the site he uses to identify the shipping in the area. It was a nice relaxing evening, we watched DVDs, and enjoyed the unusual feeling of having nothing pressing to do – I could get used to this!

Take Time To Enjoy The Simple Things In Life

A few weeks ago I went to Coombe Abbey with my friend, it was a very special treat because we had afternoon tea there and it was lovely to get a glimpse of the inside of the building. It was a very cold and blustery day and my asthma was playing up so we only went for a short walk before having tea, but we came across some beautiful clumps of snowdrops hidden away at the side of the building. They are so small and fragile but so beautiful, to me seeing them push through the ground when the weather is still so cold and miserable is a sign of hope that spring is not too far away.

Until this year I hadn't visited Coombe Abbey since 1986. Eric (my first husband) and I used to go there sometimes just after we were married; we lived in Rugby at that time. It has changed so much since then, but my life has changed beyond recognition too. Back then we had everything to look forward to, so much has happened since then, some of it good especially the children, and sadly some of it such as Eric's illness and death not good at all. My life is so different now, I have learnt to take pleasure in the simple things in life and to take time to enjoy what I have now rather than always looking for something better in the future

A Winter Walk

Our family have many odd traditions, but one of my favourites is that we all gather at my mum's house for stake and chips on Christmas Eve. It is one of the few times in the year when all the family are together, it is a lovely relaxed atmosphere and as the photo of Robbie shows the food is rather good too (he is not usually allowed to eat that much!). Christmas Day and Boxing Day are rather more hectic, but they are still very special family times and despite our good intentions we always eat too much. So when all the festivities were over Robbie and I decided to kill two birds with one stone, we took a long walk to get some much needed exercise and to indulge Robbie's passion for all things railway by walking to our favourite preserved railway(The Northampton and Lamport Railway). It was a lovely walk in the snow and Robbie enjoyed taking photos, but by the time we got back to the car I was so cold that it was painful. Here are some of Robbies photos

Like A Bear With A Sore ..........

Robbie has still got the John Wayne thing going on, he claims to be feeling a bit better, but he is still walking as if he has lost his horse. He was cross with me for describing his dilemma as groin strain, but I was only trying to be tactful. Anyway whatever the cause and whatever the correct term to describe his predicament I will be marching him off to see the emergency doctor if he is still in pain tomorrow. He is like a bear with a sore head, well not head exactly, but you get the idea.

The John Wayne Walk

Poor Robbie, I feel so useless because I can't help him. He has a groin strain and he is in so much pain and I can't do anything to help him. He is walking around with a John Wayne gait looking as if he has lost his horse and groaning. He doesn't know how it happened, it just got worse in the course of a day. I even suggested a cold compress, but his eyes almost popped out of his head at the thought of it so I didn't mention it again. It must be serious because it is even affecting his appetite, hope he will be better soon.

A Dog Called Neville

I am trying to keep my distance from Robbie tonight, he has eaten garlic bread and his breath is terrifying!

A strange thing happened when we went for an evening walk a couple of days ago. We were sitting on a bench looking out across the sea when a woman came past with a very ordinary looking brown dog on a lead. She was talking to the dog and we could tell from the conversation that the dog's name was Neville – I commented to Robbie that it was a strange name for a dog. It makes me wonder if the whole episode was set up by Robbie because the word Neville seemed to set him off, and he began talking about a person called Neville Hill. It took me several minutes to work out that Neville Hill was a place not a person. According to Robbie it is a traction and rolling stock maintenance depot and they just happen to be having an open day very soon. Needless to say Robbie wanted to go and he came up with all sorts of reasons why it would be important for him to be there. I agreed on condition that the word train doesn't pass his lips until we get home. I know he will not be able to keep his promise, but it is fun watching him try!

Through Sam's Eyes.

Sam is amazing, I don't always understand how his mind works or what makes him tick, but just occasionally he allows me to have a little glimpse at the world through his eyes. He has an amazing general knowledge, better than anyone else I know, he is like a sponge soaking up ideas and information and processing it all in his own unique way. When we were driving in the car the other day he said that he liked to imagine people with their own signature tune to match their walk. I told him that I thought it was a really good idea but I didn't have enough music in my head to do that. He then asked me if I knew Henry Mancini, I told him that I didn't know anything about him except that he had something to do with music. Sam explained that Mancini composed a tune called Baby Elephant Walk and it was the perfect theme tune for Robbie. He played it for me on his PSP and he's right, it fits Robbie perfectly. I wasn't brave enough to ask what my theme tune was!

The T Word

Wow, we had the most amazing last day on holiday. It was a beautiful day, hot and sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky. Robbie had breakfast outside while I went for an early walk to get some photos while it was quiet and the sun was in the right position. We had a nice day on the beach, the sea was a bit cold but once I was used to it I enjoyed paddling in the shallow water as I wandered along the beach. Robbie doesn't paddle, he just sat in his chair enjoying the sun and reading railway magazines. We had a nice walk this evening and I thought I had his undivided attention, but something set him off and he was back on his favourite subjects, trains, rail tours and railways in general. It would have been nice to have one day without the T word, but I guess you can't have everything!

A Distracting Wiggle

Robbie's legs are still hurting him, but he is managing to walk more normally – if you can call his gay walk normal! I waited in the car while he went into a shop the other day, I watched him walking and he really does have an noticeable wiggle. What was also noticeable was his new wallet sticking out of his back pocket. Does that man never learn? Having already had is pocket picked while at a gig, he knows how upsetting it is to lose a wallet and to have all the fuss of stopping your cards and waiting for new ones. He loves his new wallet, it was a birthday present and it probably cost more than the value of the contents, so if he loses this one he will be in big trouble. I think I will have to attach it to his pocket with elastic, just like the little children who have their gloves attached to their coats on a string of elastic!

Northamptonshire Countryside 06.10.07

Robbie and I had an 'us' day on Friday. We had planned to go for a day out on a train, but after a very busy week I wasn't keen on an early start and a long exhausting day. In the end we had a lazy morning, we went out for a nice lunch and then we went for a long walk to enjoy the Northamptonshire countryside. Not far from our home is the Brampton Valley Way a lovely rural walk along the route of the old railway line between Northampton and Market Harborough. It has the added attraction of running alongside our local preserved railway so Robbie has plenty to keep him interested. I like it too, but Robbie and I are interested in different aspects of railway history, I like freight and I like railway architecture. I enjoy taking photos from unusual angles and I like the fact that I can walk at track level and I am able to see bits of the 'under carriage' that would normally be hidden from sight by the platform, I am not sure that photos of bogies and toilet controls are of interest to many people, but I have already admitted to being boring! There was a very nice newly painted coal truck, but my favourites were all in need of some serious TLC, a horsebox, a cattle wagon and a very sad looking newspaper van.

Along The Coast Path 28.05.07

It was a much better day today, still windy, but dry and pleasant so we were able to go down to the beach and then later on we went for a walk along the coast path to Harlyn. We know this part of Cornwall very well so we notice every little change; there is a field on the way to Harlyn that is the best place I know for hearing (and seeing) skylarks but this year it has been fenced off. It doesn’t spoil the walk as you can still walk along the coast path and you can still see and hear the skylarks, but it does spoil the look of the coastline.