YnysMon

That was a gem. Thanks for sharing. I loved the accent of the old chap who was looking after pumps on the lower end of the river. A notable difference between his accent and younger men in the area.

Our previous dog Marvin just wouldn’t relieve himself in our garden, only on walks. He was a rescue dog, so we had no idea whether that was part of his training. Maybe his first owner didn’t have a garden. Anyway, I decided it was down to his cunning plan to make sure he got lots of walks each day.

Our two cats used to do that too...wash each other very thoroughly until one (usually Susie) decided her brother was getting a bit carried away and then they’d have a brief scrap. Sadly, they’ve both gone over rainbow bridge so we just have our dog Seren now.

Holly looks like a little sweetie Polly.

The link I provided was from the early 1800s. Maybe before Estuary English/Essex?

I came across this ebook when browsing Food of England website (this mostly has links to ancient cook books, but somehow this one snuck in). I though it might be of interest to those residing in the area. https://archive.org/details/suffolkwordsand00moorgoog/page/n32/mode/2up

Yay! We finally got christmasfied! A bit close to the wire this year. Ive (we’ve) left everything until last minute. A lot of my work colleagues did their Christmas food shop really early. I noticed long queues outside supermarkets at the weekend. Yesterday I figured that going to the supermarket in a downpour might be a good strategy. I took a brolly, but it turned out that I didn’t have to queue, so that worked out quite well. Harry (works for Ikea) got a free real Christmas tree yesterday from work, so that’s outside with lights on. Youngest son Alec spent this morning getting our artificial tree dec’d out indoors. I’ve spent the day cookin’. The most cooking and prepping I’ve done for a while. Couldn’t get a turkey crown when I did the Christmas food shop yesterday, so got a whole turkey instead and followed YouTube instructions on how to dismember the turkey to end up with a crown. Boys had peri peri turkey wings for lunch. Not sure yet what to do with the legs, which I’ll probably stick in the freezer. Cut off the meat for a curry or something, or attempt (probably badly) to debone and stuff? Carcass and giblets with veg and herbs have been simmering in the slow cooker to make stock for gravy tomorrow. Also prepared bread sauce and Mary Berry’s apricot and chestnut stuffing for tomorrow and a lamb and squash tagine for this evening which turned out very well. I’m desperately looking out for pumpkin and squash recipes having grown too many of them on the allotment. Our window sills are covered with the blinking things. Am now cooked out. Despite all this food prep, Ive been wondering why this evening doesn’t feel at all like Christmas and have realised it’s the first Christmas Eve for about 10 years that we as a family haven’t been to/played in the Woburn Sands Band’s Christmas concert on the village green. l will play some carols on the organ tomorrow in church, but we aren’t allowed to sing, and only 20 or so people are allowed in to our tiny church. One per pew. I do hope that things will be more normal next Christmas.

Tim, So sorry to hear about Dylan. Our lovely dogs give so much and can’t be replaced. I still think about our previous pets even though we have Seren now. Helen

That’s a bit fishy! Do we know what happened to Ellen M?

I agree, cruising into Norwich is an experience. Just so different to the rest of the Broads. The last couple of times we went up there have been out of season and we were daft enough to chance getting under Trowse railway bridge at near high tide. (Successfully.) On the other hand, once you’ve got under that you can be confident of getting under the other bridges and then getting back under a falling tide. A visit to the Cathedral is well worth it too. When we went in September they had very good Covid protocols in place to protect visitors.

That’s a good piece of advice. Yes, Graham did stay on board whilst I went to the shops.

We’ve moored for a few hours during the day at Norwich in the winter months when the Yacht Station Is closed. The electric posts were boxed in. I climbed over the railings and went to the Morrison’s that’s just beyond the Riverside complex. I wouldn’t fancy staying there overnight there when the Yacht Station is closed though. We recommend the Commissioner’s Cut for an overnight mooring.

We had been planning to drive up to Anglesey to bring my father in law down to MK for Christmas. When we spoke to him last week though, he said he would feel safer staying in Anglesey. Though it will the the first Christmas for ages that we haven’t been together, he obviously made the right decision given we are now in tier 4. Last I looked Anglesey had the lowest number of cases in Wales.

Ooh, that was a cheeky one Jean. Most of us have never seen that bank devoid of boats!

I liked this YouTube video from a couple who continuously cruise on a narrowboat who own a couple of cats. Some good tips on how to manage that. They helpfully also featured another couple who also continuously cruise who have a dog.

Liz, Love the photo of Grandad doing a socially distanced story, they are both cuties! My day involved going back to church to play the organ in a service for the first time since March. It was lovely to be back and see friends again, but quite strange. I guess just something new to get used to. There’s a limit on 20 people per service, one per pew as we are such a small church. Playing the organ whilst wearing a mask wasn’t easy either, as my glasses were tending to stream up, more so because the church was so cold my fingers were numb. Maybe colder than usual due to lack of use recently. The church I go to was originally built for a very tiny village, now swallowed up by Milton Keynes. If anyone is familiar with MK, it’s the church at the north end of the Willen Lakes, just behind the hospice. It’s unusual, having been built in the 1660s to replace an earlier building. Inside it has pink walls and white plaster work on the ceiling with cherubs. A bit unexpected really, but lovely. It looks like one of the London churches built just after the Fire of London, and was designed by one of the architects of the London rebuild, Robert Hooke who was also a scientist. The rebuild was funded by the headmaster of Westminster School, Richard Busby, so our little church has a connectIon to Westminister Abbey to this day. We had a special visit to Westminister a couple of year back for Evensong and a chance for a tour around without any tourists.

We are used to roundabouts in Milton Keynes. Despite being very used to roundabouts (or maybe because) I don’t think the ones on this road are well designed, not just the camber, as someone else mentioned, but also the approach. It’s a good idea to have some feature on the roundabout, that people can’t spot in advance, not just signs warning on the approach.

Maybe we should have sold our old Renault to you then Dave. It was a bit sad to sell it. Nice to have a car that you can drop the roof down on in the summer. Though it did leak a bit through the driver’s window when we had a downpour.

That’s a weird one. I wonder if the other long distance run sports lobbied against. I would have thought cross country would be a lot more scenic.

I did wear stilettos occasionally in my younger years. I even dressed up now and again (ably assisted by a Nain (Gran) who was a professional seamstress and a Mam who was just as good). Vogue Pattern magazine was essential reading. Not now though! Working for the OU in a Faculty where dress down is the norm, and now lockdown has turned me into a complete dress down mess. I suppose I should just congratulate myself I don’t wear pyjamas all day, having seen a young women visit our local Sainsburys recently in pyjamas and dressing gown. What!!?

Back in late summer we sold our older car to WeBuyAnyCar.com. A week ago I got a letter from an AAA office, but under a Lancashire Constabulary letter head to say we could be liable for up to £300 recovery fee as it had been dumped somewhere. Fortunately, once Id explained the circumstances, the guy who answered the contact phone number told me not to worry, they would update their records. I wonder if that’s happened to anyone else who has sold on an older, slightly battered car.

Can be a bit hairy going under at almost high tide!

Beccles is slightly arched, though nothing like the tight arch of Potter and Wroxham. Still needs care though if there isn’t that much clearance.

Glad to hear you are back in Norfolk. Wish we were there!

I read somewhere that they aren’t yet legal apart from a few areas where they are being used under trial as casual hire items, similar to Boris bikes (Milton Keynes being one of them...I’m already getting fed up of them being abandoned at odd places near us). I might well be behind the times on this one though.