kpnut

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!

It was showing just over 6’ yesterday evening. and totally irrelevant I know, but I was up Candle Dyke and Heigham Sound today two years ago in Springers Retreat. And the same week last yearI could have got under but I was the other side of Wroxham bridge and noticed too late to bother getting down there. So you never know, have faith and miracles might happen, at least for a few days each year. You just have to cancel all jobs, down tools and get there quick!

Picture round sounds interesting!

One of those episodes that is a bit funnier after the event than during. An upset dog while trying to sort it out concentrates the mind somewhat.

Stag at Salhouse is ok with dogs. I asked if I could take Finlay in and I sat perched on a stool at a high table by the door rather than take him on the carpet. But was told I could have sat where I liked in the bar area.

Tolled /untolled/previous footage being cut etc misses the point in my view. Of course it must have been set up to an extent unless the person filming just happened to film the peaceful surroundings they were in. But the parish council should be informed of an incident on their property. Doesn’t matter if between boaters and anglers / dog walkers and anglers / two people having a fight or anything else.

Yes, I decided to. While remaining impartial as I don’t fully understand who was in the right on the parish staithe, the matter of intimidation occurring on their property is worth flagging up to them. I rang, left a message with the clerk/secretary and forwarded the footage in an email.

It shouldn’t matter a jot what history the 2 boaters have. This is just wrong. And just fuels the ever bubbling problem. It happened to me at Womack Staithe in October 2020. I was on the pump out staithe and not realising there was a water point there, I needed to move over onto the main staithe to fill with water. I called over to a man with his two teenage children who were fishing on the corner opposite that I’d need to come in there for about 20 minutes. It was the only available spot. My friend walked round the dyke end to see to my lines as I reversed in. But the family just didn’t make any effort to move. I carried on manoevering the boat. I threw a stern line across to my friend as the wind was pushing me across the dyke entrance again and it landed on a fishing box. My friend went to get it and I was promptly told in a very loud shout, ‘you tell your friend I’ll throw her in the river’ (add expletives in as many places as you wish and you’ll probably still miss one!) This was from the teenage girl, while younger brother kept out of it and father just gave her a thumbs up. I was accused of wrecking their day out. It was very unnerving having my friend on the staithe and me, unable to do anything to help her, on the boat. Other boaters did then come and help and the family moved pretty sharpish. When the couple on the boat next door returned to their boat, and I told them what had happened, they said much the same had happened to them and the family just shifted down to the corner, whereon the boaters explained it was getting busy and they’d probably be asked to move again soon. We decided to stay the night in the end, as much to stop the family returning and causing the same issue to another unsuspecting boater. This friend was so upset (on her 60th birthday to boot) that she won’t come again. Being a hirer at the time, somehow I didn’t realise I could have reported it. I’m recounting this, not to start a string of ‘it’s happened to me’ but more to show the upset it can cause. I now usually avoid anywhere where I need to ask fishermen to move unless there’s a really good reason why I will need to moor there. I know I shouldn’t have to, but once bitten as the saying goes. I’ve missed the opportunity to moor at Horning staithe countless times. And if I do need to go in, I tend to approach really really slowly and try to have a bit of banter through my helm window as I come in. I also try to exchange pleasantries with any fishermen I pass when walking on the quay as I’m sure it can only help relations between the two groups. Some respond, some don’t.

Hi Andrew, sorry to hear about your stay in hospital. I’ve found the vast majority of pubs etc dog friendly, at least in the bar area. A few places that don’t take dogs - Granary restaurant, Ranworth staithe Bridgestones cafe, Potter Heigham - in main cafe. They do have a dog friendly ‘garden room’ which I unfortunately find a bit uninviting and chilly. Galley cafe, Horning - although I’ve read recently that they are now dog friendly. Yet to test it myself though. Can’t think of anywhere else off the top of my head.

Thanks for putting this up. I was thinking I’d pressed something wrong on my phone. Was just about to sit down with a cup of tea and sort it out. I’ll wait awhile and see what happens.