Southwold

As we were not too far from Southwold, and I had never been, I thought we ought to spend a day there. It certainly did not disappoint. It is a really old fashioned British Seaside town, complete with lovely pier and beach huts.

My only critisism was that it was a bit too picture postcard perfect and didnt have much "soul" - as if Walt Disney had invented the town. We noticed that Beach Huts were for sale - offers starting at £50,000!!! and whilst they were nice, they were not the best beach huts I have ever seen (Wells next the Sea has the best in my opinion).

The beach and sand dunes to the south of the town were less crowded and a perfect place to pitch to enjoy the beatiful blue sky.

I bought some Samphire from the organic shop - I had never tried it before, and we all found it exceptionally salty, but it went well in the "camp stew" the next day.

I loved the balcony on this hotel. I would love to be serenaded on this balcony!! Can you see all the heart shapes in the wrought iton work?

And the winner is............

.....Wend over at Ticking Stripes. Many thanks to all who left a comment - sorry you couldn't all win (perhaps I should have split the content of the box between you all!!). Wend, if you drop me an email with your address, I'll post the box on to you this week. xxxxx

If your fond of sand dunes and salty air.....

We have had a brilliant 2 weeks in Norfolk. We stayed at a wonderful campsite call Clippesby Hall which is in the Broads National Park.

This has been my Home sweet Home for the last fortnight. The weather has been very very kind to us. It has been really warm for the whole 2 weeks, with genorous amounts of sunshine - I am sporting a very fetching tan!!. It only rained twice, and both these times were during the night, so we have been exceptionally lucky. We have swum, cycled, canoed (fabulous!!!) motor boated, walked - I would have lost half a stone had it not been for the Fish & Chips (its the law when you are the seaside!!) - and No Lydia, I am not a naturist!! I couldn't inflict my body on the unsuspecting, or even suspecting public!!!

Clippesby Hall is a gem of a campsite. You get the impression that they run the place for the holiday makers and not for profit. They have SC accomodation, as well as wooden chalets, and all the campers get massive big pitches with lots of space. It has quite a foresty, woodland feel to it too, which inspired all boys under the age of 10 to play cowboys and indians - some took the games very seriously.

I'll show you more of my photographs over the next week.

We didnt have a very big patch of sky to watch the Perseids, but we did manage to see around a dozen shooting stars in all - 2 of which were so spectacular, I felt I was in Disneyland!!

I'll be making the draw for the winer of the giveaway later - so I'll post the winner tomorrow.

Off to catch up on all your blogs now - oh, and do the washing!!!

Ive found you some...........

sunshine!!!!!! We have had the most threatening skies, and lashings of rain all day, but as soon as I stepped out of the office and headed home - the sun came out!!! It was waiting for me!! So off we went for a walk, do come with me.
Look at the sunny reflection on the lake - can you see the bull rushes?

The overspill was pouring - no wonder!! The weatherman said last night, that the reason they predicted a better summer was because there has only ever been 2 instances in the past (since records begun obviously) that we have had 3 rainy summers on the trot. He said the good news was that we have never had 4!! So they will undoubtedly be moving the "Barbecue Summer" to 2010.

Anyway, the baby ducklings were enjoying a splash. They moved so quickly I couldn't get them all on!

Is it just me who wants to go where I shouldn't?

The corn fields have turned to gold - I'm always reminded of Stings "Fields of Gold" I love Mr Sting. He has definately got better with age.

And I found you all a heart shaped leaf - feel the love!

Must dash - tea's on. Morrocan Chicken and Rice. (Really just fried chicken thighs - as these were very economical - with onion, garlic, tinned tomatoes, cumin, corriander and chopped dried apricots.). I'm going to sit in the garden, with a nice glass of red and encourage the sun to stay out until the end of September!

Kindness

I find it unbelievable to think that a total stranger see's something, during the course of her working day, that she thinks I might like, and buys it for me. That's exactly what Lydia did whilst on a course in her new job. She was at the Cavendish Cancer Care centre in Sheffield, and remembered that I like the artist Pete McKee's work. Pete had donated a piece of artwork to be used on their bags to be sold for fundraising. Lydia contacted me and asked if I would be offended if she sent it to me!! Its really lovely and I used it when I went to the swimming baths earlier today - and I shall be taking it to the beach with me next week.

However, it doesn't end there. She also sent me

and

just in case I was disappointed with the bag!! Many many thanks Lydia, not only do you restore my faith in woman kind (which has taken a bit of a battering over previous years!) but I totally love my wonderful gifts. Blogging is the best!!

Just to prove that all the bees are in South Yorkshire, and that they do prefer blue flowers, I couldn't resist posting these photo's that I took on my walk on Sunday. The plant was practically humming!!!

The young man is back from his adventures - finally! They were delayed when the coach driver got stopped for speeding and then didn't have up to date documentation!! and he couldnt pay his on the spot fine!! so the headmaster had to step in. I had a text from the young man to say that he was listening to Michael Buble's version of "Home" on his ear phones!! Any way, he has returned a good 6 inches taller, more muscular and totalling brimming with confidence. He has had a great time - and he slept over 13 hours last night!!

How does this happen?

Not bad for a garden that supposed to have a colour scheme of blue, white and green!!! A last I have sussed the mosaics!!

Hendo's

You may remember that I introduced you to Hendersons Relish - a local delicacy know affectionatley in these parts as "Hendo's". It's great on pie & chips, sausage and mash, and spiced up my summertime bubble and squeek (leftover new potatoes and peas crushed and fried with spring onions) and fried chicken last night. Henderson's webpage makes me laugh. I love the Tales & Poems section and also the list of famous fans. I may include a bottle in my giveaway!

Hurray!! All she needed was a sunny day! Her twin sister stays firmly shut for the time being though. She didn't even produce a bud last year - that's how bad the summer of 2008 was! I think she is a perfect beauty.

Whilst the young man is still away (he sets off for home later today and arrives around lunchtime tomorrow), I am focusing my motherly insticts on my new little baby. Every year, we get a baby blackbird in the garden. Some of them give me heart failure when they jump out of their nest before they can fly. However this young chap is a confident flyer I'm pleased to say. However, I caught two neighborhood cats prowling last night, so I am keeping guard.