kpnut

Sorted! You’ve cracked it. Is that cos it’s an old iPhone, 7? The advice Mouldy gave about the power button plus the up volume button seems to be the norm for an iPhone but not on mine.

Loads of ‘hearings’ this year, plus my two sightings. I haven’t heard any on the last trip though so perhaps they’re all playing happy families now. Lulu will be pleased if they’ve stopped making a racket in the night!

The OU is also where I studied for 8 years through my thirties while bringing up the children and working full time. I can’t thank the institution enough for how it went about things in the 90’s. Very hard work, but so rewarding.

I have and yes, we tried that. It’s an old phone and maybe I also haven’t got my settings set up right. An evening’s entertainment for me over the next few days to work it out. While fiddling with the phone, we did find out I had Google Lens so tried it out identifying my tomato plants, my spider plant, and the dog. 100% accuracy, even when we tried it on my knitted springer spaniel that sits in the window. It found an identical example to show us from the internet. We went Bittern hunting up towards Sutton staithe on our way back to Stalham, as that’s where I’d recently seen one fly over. No luck but Lesley took a lovely photo of a heron calmly watching the world go by. I had a lovely surprise while eating lunch back at the mooring. Dave (Troyboy) and Inga had spotted Springer’s Retreat on her mooring and popped round to introduce themselves, and very importantly to introduce Finlay and Vera to each other. I wish I’d taken a photo of the two of them, so alike. After my guests left for home, and I’d spent some time chatting to GarryN while Finlay and Oscar ate dried fish skins, I got the housework done and prepared for going out again tomorrow, who knows where to. And it’s raining again, ha ha!

The photo I wanted off the Aweigh app. Why is South Walsham broad called ‘the weirs’? Does anyone know any history behind it?

That’s excellent Mouldy. The more we do it, the more info they get and the more they realise that people want to use these paths. When I missed you returning from the broad just now, we were trying to work out how to take a screenshot off the Aweigh app. Gave up for now (I’ll find a YouTube video later to try again as it wasn’t as simple as just pressing the side buttons) and Ray took a photo and sent it to me. Have a lovely day.

I hope I was being considerate! Tell him to wave profusely next time he sees me Jean, I’ll then hopefully recall that it’ll be him.

The lava tubes! Fascinating, with their own little ecosystem. I wore out the soles of a good pair of walking boots on all that clinkers ‘a’a lava on my trip in 2000. My mum treated me as a graduation present. For someone studying geology and ecology, the Hawaiian islands were heaven! I would highly recommend an evening walk to wherever the lava flows are entering the ocean, if indeed they are flowing at the moment. They come and go from Pu’u o’o, a side crater of Mauna Kea. The other trip we found superb was up to the summit of Mauna Loa I drove up rather a hairy road in a hired 4x4, I certainly needed low shift occasionally on the way back down. Enjoy your time there. Get to Waimea canyon on Kauai if you have time.

The morning began with a walk down the dyke towards the main river, but I didn’t get far before it was too overgrown to cope with wellies, shorts and t shirt without me getting soaked in the overgrown vegetation. On my return to the boat I reported the path to NCC, and received a reply later in the day saying it had already been reported and they’d started cutting. It’s on the schedule for two cuts a year, one in late May and presumably the other in early July. I would think a cut in late April, another in early June and a third in July would maybe be more cost effective as a trip down with the ride-on mower would be far quicker when not overgrown, leading to three short visits rather than what will now be two or three days of strimming for some poor council staff member. A ride on mower wouldn’t get through it now. We set off soon after greeting Pipedreams pass us and went very slowly from Thurne mouth up towards the dead trees pumping station, in the very hopeful chance of catching another glimpse of the Bittern. No luck but we did see a cormorant, grebes, heron and various warblers of different types. And also a snake swimming towards the bank. And Karizma who we shared a wave with. And hopefully I waved to the right crew, Chris and Lyn (Grounded), on Swan Romance. We headed for Fleet dyke again as we wanted to walk along to Ranworth. Before mooring, we cruised gently round both broads and took the opportunity to refill with water again at the boatyard. I mused that if they reduced the price of their diesel by 10-15p a litre it would be my go-to place for fuel as it’s so much easier to moor at than either Boulter’s or Sutton staithe. I had intended to moor at the bend moorings as it’s pretty, but decided we’d go on the spot nearest the broad on the straight moorings as we’d have a few fewer yards to walk to Ranworth! After a lovely sit in the sun with a cup of tea (taking advantage of a rather rare opportunity these days!) we walked to Ranworth, stopping in at South Walsham church first. Some of the stained glass in there is really beautiful. Lunch of salad and cake in the Granary was well worth the walk round from the boat. The staithe was busy, but never completely full while we were there. Boats came and went quite regularly. My guests walked to the NWT visitor centre. I stayed on the lane as I can’t take the dog on the boardwalk, nearly falling asleep while sitting on the bench in the sunshine. Lesley and Ray saw an osprey and a hobby and had a good chat to the volunteers manning the centre. Next stop was the church where they started going up the tower, but came back soon after as Lesley had the collywobbles. She then did her good deed for the day giving some water to a hornet that was lying looking very sad on the floor. Amazingly it started drinking it and fidgeting around a bit, so she emptied a jar holding some pencils and ushered it in to the jar and moved it outside into a shady spot. Maybe it survived. The shop was shut on our return to the staithe, so no icecream for Ray. We managed to have tea a bit earlier than the last few days as it was a cauliflower cheese I’d brought from home, so all we needed to prep were some peas that needed shelling and some new potatoes that needed washing. The last of the raspberries for pudding with cream. And that was it really, another day done. There was a lovely sunset down towards St Benets. I have seriously got to stop eating so much. The rest of my trip, once on my own, is going to be very frugal.

It felt cold this morning when I awoke and I heard a couple of heaters being switched on from neighbouring boats. Ours went on for about half an hour too. I walked with Finlay as far as the telephone box/dog bin and by the time I was back my crew was up and the kettle was on. Having eaten too much yesterday, the result of my friends emptying their camper van fridge into mine after I had also been shopping, we scaled back our breakfast this morning. After a farewell to Cody and ‘parents’ I gave Lesley a driving lesson up Fleet Dyke - no snaking along, very good - but I took back control on the Bure as we seemed to have landed in the middle of a yacht race. Biggest news of my year - I spotted a Bittern sitting on a bunch of reeds on the starboard bank approaching the moorings on the stretch towards Thurne mouth. Completely shocked, I missed a photo opportunity, so turned round and came round again, but it had gone. On arrival at Womack dyke, the dyke moorings seemed full and, as we continued on, I asked the crew of a boat coming down whether there was space on the staithe. They confirmed they had been looking and there were no moorings to be had. I had spotted half a mooring at the dyke on the upstream end, so we managed to get the stern moored with the bow in the reeds. I wouldn’t normally bother, but we had a table reserved at the pub for a carvery lunch. On the walk up there, we stopped for a good chat with both Mouldy and Deb, and Simon and Katie. Good to see you all. There was time to take a look in the church where we paid £2 to buy four secondhand books. Lunch was super; really tasty and very good value for the carvery. We couldn’t fit a pudding in, but they looked yum too. I’m definitely going again, have promised Tony on his next trip with me. We then made the most of the afternoon with a walk to St Benets and back. The sky looked rather threatening at one point but we only got a few spits of rain on us. Back at the boat, where I was able to pull the boat down to sit fully on the mooring, we had a much needed cup of tea and soon afterwards, we were treated to a mighty thunderstorm. It lasted a few minutes, maybe 10? and bright sunshine followed. I’ll match Simon’s rainbow picture from the staithe with a couple from the dyke.

It certainly was a very late night. I went to bed just after 4am when I realised it was getting light. I only managed to stay asleep till 6.30, so was soon up and I got going an hour earlier than planned. I arrived safe and sound 4hrs later to a warm, snug boat and the news that my friends were not far behind me, having arranged with them to come on Friday rather than Saturday. We were able to get going down to How Hill, where Luna’s Nook was free. A walk round the circular route past the moorings, along the bank to Buttles marsh, and back along the lane blew away cobwebs from long drives (my friends having driven from Cheltenham (starting point was St David’s the previous day). On waking this morning, I found out an internet problem had arisen during the night. It was affecting all of our providers, so I realised it was nothing to do with my phone. On making an enquiry at Tidings newsagent in Horning, it turns out the new transmitter had developed a fault of some sort but was being worked on. Simon and Katie on Pipedreams passed bright and early while we were breakfasting. We had a walk round the secret garden and also the formal gardens which happened to be open, and a look in the cottage along with an icecream purchase. It had rained very heavily through most of the night and this continued all morning, with just very brief respites. I passed Bucket on Blue Mist further down the moorings. He recognised me first and I quickly gathered my thoughts enough to wave back in acknowledgment. It was still raining heavily when we arrived at Horning church mooring. Warning - the quay heading is extremely slippery. I slipped over while mooring up and ended up with a wet and green algae imprint on my shorts! Lunch finished, and noticing what appeared to be a clearing sky we set off for Horning. That was a misjudgment! The footpath had soaking vegetation arching over it so we were pretty soaked before we even got to the church. We had a look in, missing a very hefty shower and then set off to Horning, whereupon the heaves opened again and gave us another dousing. Oh well. Horning was just shutting up shop for the day, it being after 4pm when we arrived and we contemplated going in the Swan Inn for a drink. We decided against as we thought we’d get dried off a bit and comfortable and then probably have to walk back in more rain and an increasing wind. It was sunny by the time we got back so our wet shoes went on the back deck. I took my shears up to the drooping vegetation for a trim while the others had showers and a change of clothes. It was then that I discover we’d more or less run out of water! I had thought I’d filled the tank when I left the boat last time, so my first thought was I must have leak somewhere, but no, I stupidly had set off with a pretty empty tank. Never done that before! So off we went down Fleet Dyke hoping that the water point at the boatyard down there was accessible ‘after hours’. It was and we filled just at the same time as learning the football match was coming to an end (being tactful here so as not to give away the score etc to anyone who has saved watching it for later). Brilliant that the TV signal stayed stable for Ray to watch the football as I set off back up Fleet Dyke. We found a mooring on the straight bit and have had a wonderful evening of clear weather, with the clothes hanging out to dry, greeting NeilB as he went past and having a brief chat to Steve who is moored up on Karizma. Cody and Finlay greeted each other very respectfully again. Forecast is for a drier day tomorrow (note i haven’t said ‘dry’).

Well, it didn’t take long to spot each other. To be fair, you spotted me before I realised. Hope to see you again in the week and I’ll hopefully be a bit more with it.

I did a bit of shearing at the Horning church mooring this afternoon. Just enough to stop getting totally soaked by the dripping wet vegetation that was so laden with rainwater that it was arching right across the path. I appreciate that this is a private path so didn’t want to do too much, just enough. A couple of weeks ago I commented on the path leading from Ludham Bridge up to Neaves Mill, as it was completely impassable, even though the bit up from Neaves Mill past Griffs Corner to the track had been mown really effectively. Not knowing who the path belonged to, and knowing it was neither BA nor County Council responsibility, I enquired at Horning Parish Council, also commenting that the path is the only way of walking from Horning to St Benets without walking on a main road. Although the clerk is still making enquiries on my behalf, I have a feeling the path has now been cleared. It looked like it at the Neaves mill end as I went past this morning. Later this week I’ll moor up and investigate.

Enjoy your trip. What boat do I look out for?

Many congratulations. That IS a long time! I too am hoping for something more akin to some warm sunshine from Friday at least, so will extend my wish to tomorrow too for you both. I’ll keep an eye out for you on Swan Romance.

Getting my head in gear for my next visit, on Friday. I have friends arriving on Saturday for a few days and have booked the Kings Arms, Ludham for Sunday lunch. I’ve been in so many times, but have never eaten there. So many of you say it’s so good so I’m giving it a go. Just need to get the allotments mown etc, harvesting done (cauli, spuds, courgettes, cucumber, lettuce, strawbs, rasps and a couple of onions to bring) and my vote cast tomorrow before having a VERY late night watching TV well into the night, (bit of a tradition here), then a bit of a sleep and hopefully a lie-in and a 4hr drive. Please can summer return? I missed it last week while we were up in Scotland!

Thankyou for taking the time to write these posts. I love that Ghan train. Your tale must have been on my mind while I was asleep last night as I pictured the globe showing Australia in all its vastness rather than picturing it as shown on a flat map.

Maybe pocket park is the bit by the electric and riverside the bit with the wooden circle and dyke/pond areas. I wonder if the disused ‘mound’ mentioned in the BA proposal is the thistle-ridden waste ground at the other end of the boardwalk. It would be a good area for a children’s play area as it’s well enough away from the water, and big enough for various activity areas. When you think about it, as parks go, the whole area is very small and shouldn’t really take that much money to maintain. Flooding issues and quay heading replacement aside, there’s not that much grass to mow or planting to see to. I agree Roy. I thought £10,000 for the pond renovation was well over the top. Regardless, it seems the dredgings from the upper Bure didn’t end up going there as planned. So the BA contribution to the costings was not fulfilled. It’s difficult to get more financial backing on board when the initial starter by the proposer was not completed. Maybe permission was not granted!

I’ve been reading the document outlining the plan for the park, published in 2021. https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/380314/Hoveton_Riverside_Park.pdf Jean, where is Pocket Park? I can’t find it on Google maps.

I find the St Johns moorings the most uninspiring place on the Broads, (not including GY yacht station which is just functional). I'm being polite! The whole area is a mess and such a bad advert for the ambiance of the Norfolk Broads, on a boat or land-based. I invited some friends to the boat a couple of years ago and met them there; they were really unimpressed. I won't say on here what they actually said, but it certainly wasn't complimentary. Last time I was there, a couple came wandering down looking for somewhere to go for a walk with their dogs. The walk along the railway line towards Coltishall is nice, but its not a 'Norfolk Broads' walk, which is what they were after. They had walked along the viaduct moorings to find it a dead end. The only other place I could suggest was that field of thistles just at the other end of the boardwalk. Is that the best that the town, the 'Capital of the Broads' can offer? The couple had driven from Cromer and decided to move on to Ludham Bridge for a better view and walk. Their impression of the town really wasn't great. I heard the BA is getting quotes for a refurb, but then found out some more detail which I think only included work to be done to the quay where the Ra boat moors up, with such a high spec there'll be no money left for the rest! So I went for a look myself last time I was there, thinking the rest must now be completed, to find that the Ra quay is the very least of the issues, in fact probably the only half decent bit. This is a moan with no solutions for fixing the problem, but it really is the pits!

Sad day for you Grendel. But many years of joy has gone before, so think of the good memories as you miss her.

I too would have liked to have seen Ludham Bridge as I’m sure it would be exciting, what with a tight turn, boats both ways and hireboats coming down from Stalham. But generally, an enjoyable hour.

What a lovely story. Welcome.

Full adults, but not quite fully fledged. I’d like to think I’d also do things for a good friend as well but that’s never been tested to the full.

Can I go back to my boat please? Not ‘My Day’, but My Week Since I left Springer’s Retreat early on Monday morning, I’ve been at my daughter’s planting up her garden. My poor abused back is screaming out for some light relief! (pain relief more to the point, I think co-codamol might be ingested this evening before bed). So I’m sympathising with you, Ray. Catherine moved in to a new house in 2022 and lot of her favourite plants came with her, dug up and dumped onto sheets of plastic on the floor of a Luton van. We dug a temporary bed for them in the grass of her new back garden. Along with them came about 40 shrubs etc that I had planted up in pots in her yard in 2016, knowing one day she’d move again and find a permanent home for them. Altogether it was two Luton van trips that day. Roll on two years and she decided to have the garden landscaped. We decided for once it was too big a job for us as it involved some major earth terracing and drainage. Eventually finished last month. It has taken since January in an extremely wet winter on very heavy clay. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if a pottery hadn’t been using it for their creations! And so to Monday - All those plants in their temporary bed had been dug up again in January by the landscapers and dumped into pots, usually two or three species to a pot. And all the labels lost! Grrh. So my first job was to sort them all out and heel them into their respective beds. These poor plants, constantly on the move. I didn’t want to import bits of oxalis and worse into the new ground so the next job, on Tuesday, was weeding and loosening all the shrubs in their pots. The lorry arrived on Wednesday morning with 180 plants, mainly 1L pots, along with 3 trees. I was able to offload them all into lines of the same plant, and to check them all over as I did so. Only two rejects (rotten centres) and one incorrect tree! Then I set to with the planting. What should have been quite straightforward turned out more of a headache as the planting plan had been revised a number of times and I’m sure we had ended up with some final ideas in our heads rather than on paper. Also when the original plan was drawn up, it hadn’t been appreciated just how wet this garden actually is, so a few things were certainly not following the maxim of ‘right plant, right place’ until I jiggled the plan round a bit more. My schedule was to finish by 6pm on Friday, and I was only half hour behind my timings, my excuse being I’d had to take time out for last minute babysitting and a trip to a garage to drop a car off for a service. But it was jolly hard work. And oh so many pots 😂 There are still a few gaps for plants that weren’t in stock or need sourcing from elsewhere, but that’s not my problem! Then a drive home of 2 hours, and up early today to completely tidy my two allotments and gardens at home, all of which needed work considering I’d been away at the boat previously for 11 days before the 5 days doing this job. I’ve harvested 4 big bags of peas, all at their absolute best. That doesn’t often happen and us just down to lucky timing. And tomorrow I have to go to Scotland to finish off my son’s garden job from last September, there’s a couple of concreting jobs and then a general tidy round of his garden if it needs it. He’s getting quite good at seeing to it now. ‘Learning by Doing’. So as I started with a question about my boat; the answer seems to be ‘No, not yet, work comes first’!