kpnut

Well done Sam, you beat me to it!

I’m eating my breakfast Simon!

I’ve been taken in by that trick before now. Once at those bankside moorings just upstream of Hunsett Mill, the ones you can’t moor at now due to the dredging spoil being offloaded there. I pulled in, grabbed both ropes, let Finlay jump off, (didn’t need a wee!) told him to get back onboard, got back on myself and set off again, all in one fairly seamless motion, I think much to the surprise from another boater who was moored up there!

Bridge Broad if you can get through Wroxham bridge. Also that little inlet on the right angled bend down Fleet dyke (on the right going down towards the Broad, before you get to the EA ‘bend’ moorings.

They were closed in January, I presumed a victim of the high water levels. I would think the quay heading there is really poor condition now after being submerged for weeks. It wasn’t in the best condition anyway.

Whenever I’ve been in mid morning onwards they’ve run out of bread. So I’d suggest either getting there as they open (I don’t know what time that is) or maybe you can pre-order? They fo a very nice meal size sausage roll.

Room on there for both of them.

I like hearing the rumbling of the trains across the bridge.

Presuming you mean beer and ginger beer, totally yum! If lemonade has been anywhere near it, then rather you than me.

Sun before 7, rain by 11. although I’m not sure the rain is forecast in this instance till this evening. So perhaps not so true after all, but the gist of bright starts often don’t last still holds. On a positive note, it works better the other way round! And don’t forget, ‘blue sky early morning enough to make a pair of sailors trousers, the day will be fine’. They all contradict each other. Maybe some are more true at certain times of the year?

So sorry to have not made it to the end Steve. I remember waking and saying I was back and BT commenting, in jest, that I’d won, then I remember no more 😄 Who did win, Arthur, Polly? Or did someone else creep up while I slept?

I wish I’d found the Broads in my much younger days. So beautiful and atmospheric. As a child in the 60’s, we did once go on a canal boat and I have a few nice photos my dad took. Probably a cine film somewhere too.

Forgot it was today you were onboard Helen. I nearly rang you to scrounge a cup of tea. I was in MK picking up a new (to me) car. Have a good week.

What a complete exploration Liz. Very interesting with things I’ve practical notes filed in my head, like the apartments with washing facilities and where to get tickets from. Wierd that Canberra only has 3 trains a day. Just as with Jean’s photos, yours show that generally the cities seem to be kept extremely clean. What was the Angel of the North doing there? And the bronze pig rooting in the bin?😂

A couple of posts have mentioned parking in Stalham. I have always found a space in the high street when I’ve needed one. Maybe I just go at a lucky time. And I’ve never paid, I’m certain it’s free. Tescos is also free as Floydraser says and it’s a quick nip through the alley from there to the high street. There is also a pay carpark at the chip shop end of the high street. I’ve never needed to use it. I think Stalham has better free parking than many other places. And it has a lot of community events through the year, fetes and the like. Not a dying town I don’t think, there’s always plenty of people on the high street when I go. It’s just a bit shabby like loads of places. It is full of independent shops, even if not high quality posh ones.

Excellent Sam. Enjoyed reading that. I too think that potentially the electric wc uses more but you can somehow learn to use minimal (and I follow Malcolm’s/Griffs words when on my own). The manual pump one is more difficult to get away with using less. I still reckon with the capacity of your tank you’ll be fine for a couple of weeks between you if careful.

I think bog oak might describe petrified wood, as in fossilised in anaerobic conditions in a bog for instance.

That was a very lovely thing to read on waking up this morning. Thankyou Andrew

Plenty of oaks at Fairhaven water gardens. Oak will be the climax species of alder carr, but obviously once it’s dried out. There is a species called Pin Oak that likes wet ground. I think it’s nickname is swamp oak. Not native to the UK but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have been planted.

He does make some lovely things. Reminds me of a pig farm I worked on. We collected swill and one collection, every Thursday, was from the Barrett’s sweet factory in Crawley. Bars and bars and bars of misshapen pink and white nougat, along with misshapen and stuck together chocolate fish shapes. As well as stuffing ourselves with the stuff, the swill had a very peculiar smell once cooked and the pigs went mad for it. Wonder what it did to the taste of the meat!

All these artisans are still around, usually in little units on farms and yards etc. They can’t afford the high overheads of the high street. Hence it needs a mind shift for high streets to thrive. The smith at Woodbastwick is often open to pop in for a look-see.

High streets are now ‘service areas’ - eateries, hairdressers etc, the things you can’t easily do online. The ones that’ll be the most successful are the ones that embrace it fastest, attracting independent providers. With freeholders/councillors who are willing to keep rents/rates in line with the profits of such businesses. You never know, we may go back to the days of artisan shops: blacksmith and fancy wrought ironwork, chocolate maker, sewing lady etc etc. Wouldn’t that be nice?

The first time you hear a Bittern booming it’s quite eerie. I saw that murmuration on a video. Great to see. Have a good weekend.

Excellent Arthur. And I don’t know if you’re the first person to manage a picture round in our quiz, but I loved it.

As in it wasn't cloudy. The only thing that was a sign of was the gnats that produced it didn't have a urine infection!