Strumpshaw Steam Museum

On 9 July, Andy and I were lucky enough to celebrate the (second) wedding of our friends Tracey and Justin at Strumpshaw.  (They had been married the previous month in Crete, but, sadly, we had been unable to join them, so were delighted to be part of their second wedding in the UK.)

We weren't very organised to be honest - what's new? - we had been invited to camp overnight but hadn't sorted out overnight care for Finn and I think the bivvy was probably still down at Heathrow, or at least in Andy's van, and we had taken my car too.  Disaster! 

Strumpshaw steam museum is run entirely by volunteers and Tracey's brother, Freddie, is involved, which is why the venue was chosen.  It also had a fab little camp site and was in a fabulous setting - while we waited for the bride and groom (who incidentally turned up on a motorbike and sidecar!), we sat around on straw bales under a huge oak tree, soaking up the sun and drinking prosecco.  Perfect.  (Not to mention snooping around the caravans and tents to see what we were missing out on!)

After the meal and the speeches, we got to spend some time in the museum - what a place!  I didn't take my big camera sadly - I had a posh little handbag to go with my posh little dress! - so had to rely on my 'phone camera so some of the photos are a bit ropey.  And Andy kept disappearing - boys' toys, say no more - so I had to resort to taking quite a lot of selfies of me with cars! 

It was pretty much just an opportunity for Andy to piss about with a load of agricultural and industrial machinery! Although, to be fair, he wasn't the only one.

 (This photo is rather blurry and I think that was due to the inebriation of the photographer.  He also seems to have captured his thumb on film too!)

We found the hall of mirrors ...

And a gypsy caravan, which was made for Andy ...

The museum opened the rides ...

It was magical, a really wonderful day.

Ladies (and Tim!) in Lavender

On a Sunday at the beginning of July, I drove down to Surrey to spend a day with Mary - we had decided on lunch at Denbies vineyard, because, frankly, you can never have too much of Denbies!  (We had been there a few weeks previously having lunch en route to Auntie Joyce's funeral and, of course, that wasn't really the occasion to be shopping and thinking about buying wine.)  What I didn't realise is that Mary had been in league with Tim and Sara who met us there - what a lovely surprise!  (This was also the day that Gary proposed to Sophie - who accepted - while on holiday in America, so I got to share their lovely news too!)

After lunch, a look round the shop and then the photography exhibition, as it was still quite early on in the day, Mary suggested we head off to Mayfield Lavender Farm in Woodmansterne, just opposite Oaks Park, a favourite truanting spot when I was at school! 

It was beautiful!   And so full of people!  I guess it is only really full for just a few weeks of the year when the lavender is all in bloom - not much else to see any other time of the year, after all.  There are different varieties planted up, which explains why some of the field is brighter than others - but the smell was gorgeous!  (It reminded me of a walking trip in Provence a number of years ago when we snapped the flower heads off and stuck them under our hats, on the assumption it would cool us off.  It didn't.) 

I'm afraid I got a bit overwhelmed with it all and took hundreds of photos!

What a fabulous day!  Of course we did our fair share of larking about too ...

I love this last photo - it was a bit of an experimental selfie shot - my camera is huge though so it's all a bit of guesswork!

Seeds and Stuff - July 2016

July's been a strange month - I've had hardly any foxgloves this year in flower, although there are lots of plants in the garden.  And I haven't had any poppies at all.  Most odd.

This is Auntie June's hebe - and it's enormous now, taller than me!  It doesn't flower for very long, but it's beautiful when it does.  And the leaves are so interesting, that I can live with it not flowering all year!

I wish I could lay claim to these cornflowers, but I can't - I saw them up at Taverham Garden Centre recently and really must grow them next year.  Cornflower seeds are on my plant shopping list.

I do have some rather lovely solar lights adorning my pergola now, and they look beautiful with this teapot bird feeder.

And this is my solar lantern which Amanda gave me, and which is also beautiful.

The garden overall is looking gorgeous - I received some fabulous plants and planters for my birthday, so I'm busy trying to reorganise the garden to make room.  Finally, that awful camellia is going to come out!

Odds and Sods - July 2016

Well, here we are, well over halfway through the year now and it's showing no signs of slowing down. 

And July has been a belter - I've had another hospital visit, but everything's ok and no need to go back for five years now - hurrah!  I've been to a 40th birthday party and I've had a significant birthday (and party) of my own too - post to follow!  I've popped down to Surrey to spend a lovely day with Mary, Tim and Sara - again, I'll cover that in another post.  I've been to Tracey and Justin's wedding and had the most wonderful day sharing it with them. Mum, Amanda and I have been to Felbrigg for a flower festival at the church and I've spent a day with Rachel, shopping and lunching in Bury St Edmunds. 

 I've had various trips out with friends for lunch, cinema trips, coffees, etc.  I've been to Southwold for a day as I was desperate to go and look at the sea, and I've been up to Sheringham to have lunch with Rat, Pam and Amanda. 

 Oh, and I've been to see Jenny Eclair at the Holt Festival. 

 

I've bottled up this year's batch of beech leaf noyau, and am very pleased to see huge blackberries ripening in my garden so am excited about making blackberry  brandy this year.

I've got a brand new  blanket on my spare bed, courtesy of Mum - it's stunning!

Talking of beds, I've been bed buying (where there was more than a bit of pissing about) with Amanda!

And here's my boy on my bed - this is the face I wake up to each morning ...

I've made Andy some cushion covers for the caravan.

And I'm clearly having a mid life crisis as I've had my hair coloured!  This was a brand new experience for me and not at all traumatic.  I'm thinking tattoo and nose piercing next! 

 Phew!

Sheringham Post EU Referendum

On 23 June 2016, Britain voted to leave the EU - an historic day for the UK, and not one that we all want to remember.  Not all of us voted for this, but we have to live with the consequences.

On 24 June 2016, when the results were in - and I caught up with them on Breakfast TV at 6.00 am, having stayed up until 2.00 am the previous day to try and gauge what was going on - I have to admit to being in a state of shock and wanted to go somewhere far away from TV and news.  Totally spur of the moment decision to go to the seaside at Sheringham for some quiet reflection.

Really nothing else to say about the whole thing, but here are the photos ...