Boats, beach huts and bark

Monday morning and we had to vacate our holiday cottage by 10 o'clock, we loaded up the car (I always bring everything including the kitchen sink!) and headed out for breakfast.  It was the sunniest day of the weekend so we decided to head back down to the beach at Wells next the sea.  

I somehow managed to change a setting on my little camera and it resulted in some cropped photos with some interesting effects, I hope you enjoy them.

These snaps of the boats in the harbour have a lovely vintage feel to them

The beach huts got a variety of treatments, I particularly like the "sketch"

And we had a ramble round the woods at the back of the beach, I was fascinated by the pieces of tree that laying around in various states of decay

We headed home, batteries recharged, cobwebs blown away, ready to face the week ahead. We were incredibly lucky with the weather and certainly tried to make the most of it.

We love a little weekend away but do always seem to come back here to North Norfolk or head South to St Ives, we are located in the middle of the country so I am open to suggestions for new locations.

Steam trains, street art and the perfect Sunday roast

Day 2 of our mini break and we were once again blessed with glorious weather, yes the wooly hat was still needed but there was definite feeling that Spring is just round the corner. Hubby and I went off for for an adventure by ourselves.

We took a short drive to Holt and picked up a steam train on the North Norfolk Railway to take us into Sheringham. It is a lovely little journey cutting through beautiful open countryside.

On our arrival at Sheringham we were surprised to see that a footbridge had been put in over the rails, for years there has been a footpath.

It provided a great vantage point to click a few snaps and gave a birds eye view into the cab. I did hot foot it out of there pretty quick as the smoke was quite overwhelming.  It is great to see the progress that this little enterprise is making, they have also extended the cafe. The municipal toilet block from the 1930s has been demolished and there is now a shiny new souvenir shop, tourist information centre and new loos.

We took a stroll down the high street to the beach, the tide was in and the waves were lapping the shore.

There are some fabulous street murals and I loved this one, it reminded me of my Mum taking photos with her old box brownie when we were small. The irony of a middle aged woman taking a photo of a picture of a middle aged woman taking a photo was not lost on me.

This is part of a mural that was new for 2016, it is really draws you in and my photo does not do it justice.

Further along the beach front is this poignant reminder of the debt we owe to the generations that went  before us and that we should remember them through out the year and not just on a Sunday in November, so many made the ultimate sacrifice.

We grabbed a quick cuppa and then it was back to Holt on the steam train, I love the perspective that the glimpse down the virtually empty coaches ( we were among the first ones on for the return journey).

There was a brief stop at Weybourne as the track from here to Holt is single track and you have to wait for permission to enter.

 At Holt we watched as the engine was detached from the coaches chuffed it's way up the track, the points switched and it chuffed its way back again so it could be put at the front of the coaches ready for the return journey.

There was plenty of day left so we shot up the coast to Cromer, after all it wouldn't be a trip to the Norfolk coast for us without a walk on the prom at Cromer

They serve a cracking hot chocolate in the cafe attached to the theatre which was very welcome as the temperature was starting to drop.

There were people fishing of the side of the pier with mixed results

And it was nice to see some Cromer crabs, these were too small for eating but provided some fun the people who caught them.

I love the lines of barrier around the pier, it is reminiscent of a ship and fits with my love of things that are both practical and stylish.

The seagulls went crazy when someone threw the end of their chips over the side, I was snapping away like mad to try and capture the volume of birds and the frenzied activity that followed.

One last Cromer crab photo, I spotted this on little cottage door just off the front and thought it was very fitting.

A nice drive back to Wells Next the Sea along the coast road rounded our Sunday off and we got back in time to help with baby Esme's feed before they set off for home.  Hubby and I enjoyed the last night by treated ourselves to a meal in The Bowling Green pub, they were offering a roast beef dinner and they served possibly the best roast potatoes I have ever tasted.  It was the perfect end to our very busy day.

Finding treasure in the spare room

On a high from sorting out the pantry I tackled the other dumping ground in our home - the little box room and what a good idea I found treasure that I had squirrelled away in the form of some old shop pricing tickets.  I knew they were somewhere in the house but the location had slipped from my conscience and they were just the touch I needed to help redress the Welsh dresser post Christmas.

I found them in a little junk shop in Cromer on the North Norfolk coast, it is an area that we love to visit and we have booked a family weekend away in February.  It will be baby Esme's first holiday, at 3 months old I doubt she will be too aware of her changed surroundings, however, I am sure that her Mum and Dad will appreciate the beautiful beaches, the big skies and the open countryside that the area has to offer so long as they can get some sleep in between the night feeds.

We are struggling to book or main summer holiday, I had picked a week in July that worked well with my Hubbys shift pattern but my colleague got in first and booked that very week for her holiday! next year I need to be a bit quicker off the mark. So we are now looking at going away in August, I almost made the mistake of booking something that left the day before my friends wedding! (sorry J) Looking out of the window on a rainy grey day the promise of a week of sunshine is definitely needed to lift the spirits.

Have you started booking in events for the new year or do you prefer to leave it all to the last minute?

Unplugging for the weekend

I have had a largely unplugged weekend as we had a family weekend away on the North Norfolk coast. This was not entirely planned and our accommodation did have a good wifi connection I just didn't feel the need to constantly be on my phone and my laptop never left the bag,  However, I did carry my pocket camera around and took a few snaps of the places we visited.

There were beaches

Wells Next the sea beach huts 

Winter beach scene

no sand castles today

Wells next the sea

Cromer beach

Wells next the sea harbour

Birds.....  Norfolk is famed for it's bird life with many twitchers spending hours observing them.

Seagulls on Cromer Pier

Seagulls lined up for the next snack

Chaffinch waiting for a feed

Keeping a beady eye on things

Mallard and Drake with a perfect DA

Trains, The North Norfolk Railway  runs from Sheringham to Holt and has both steam and diesel trains running though out the summer and on selected weekends throughout the year.

letting off steam

Full steam ahead

A pier................. Cromer still has an active theatre at the end of the pier and a cafe that does a luxury hot chocolate complete with flake and marshmallow, just the thing on a February day to warm you through.

Cromer Theatre

Victorian seating to sit and take in the view

seating all along the edge of Cromer pier

Quirky finds

Wells next the sea stamp dispenser, sadly no longer in use

Traditional pebble and flint stone wall which is typical in this area of Norfolk

Lots of rope, all part of the harbourside

tying up in the harbour at Wells next the sea

Wall art at Sheringham beach

I didn't unplug completely and used my phone to take and share some family photos and a couple made it on to Instagram, I think I would find it more difficult to do at home.

Have you tried unplugging at home or on holiday? how did you get on?