January 16th - 31st 2012

Wednesday 18th January - Bird Watchers Blogs, Frosty Mornings and Crab Line's new Owners

Sunday 22nd January - W.I. Pays its Respects, The Life of a Young Wife in Uganda and Times Past

On Wednesday evening, the Overstrand Evening W.I. paid its respects to Betty Wallace who recently passed away. Betty identified a need for an evening W.I. group in the village that would enable ladies who have day-time commitments, to attend the meetings. The group started in 1983 and has been going strong ever since. Betty, to her great credit, was the founder member of the group, a long standing committee member and she supported The Women’s Institute as a whole.

The business part of the meeting followed before handing over to member, Anne Brocklehurst who gave a talk on her personal experiences as a young wife living in Uganda. Anne certainly embraced the lifestyle afforded to expats and I imagine she would still be living there with her family, if not for the political regime which came into power; posing a serious threat to life and livelihoods.

We drove to Potter Heigham on Saturday morning to a shop called Times Past Antiques; this is well signed on the village junction with the A149. We were looking to replace an old wall clock, the mechanism after many years ‘ticking’, is now worn out. We have been to this shop before, following a recommendation when we were looking for a barometer. If we had wanted another barometer we would have been spoilt for choice but among the wall clocks, there was nothing that suited our requirements. The shop is crammed full of all sorts of items; we spent some time walking around but I failed to find anything that particularly caught my eye, so Peter was able to keep his wallet in his pocket!!

Thursday 26th January - One Year On, Clock Repairs, Ten Years Later and New Path

I very nearly forgot to mention; the 18th January was the first anniversary of Michael Maher taking over the Central Stores in the village. The shop’s shelves are crammed with groceries, newspapers, magazines, fresh and frozen produce, stationery, soft drinks, wines, beers, breads, cakes, souvenirs and pet foods, including the only type of dog biscuit that Barney will eat! I have probably missed a category or two and of course there is the Post Office section. The shop as a whole is such a valuable asset to our small village. A big thank you Michael, you are doing a great job.

Peter always relishes a challenge and there is very little that he cannot turn his hand to or repair. So when we were unable to find a suitable replacement for our worn out wall clock, Peter put on his ‘thinking cap’ as to how he could repair the movement of our existing one. It is not a particularly striking (excuse the pun!) clock; its value lies in it belonging to Peter’s Grandmother. You would think spare parts for an American wall clock, produced in their hundreds of thousands, would be easy to come by but they are not. Ever resourceful, Peter set to and made a new escapement, out of an old hinge which he drilled and shaped before finally quench hardening. It was then a case of fitting and a fair bit of patience to get it just right – result, the clock is now ticking away again on the wall.

I have been somewhat thoughtful these past few days; thinking back to ten years ago when I was recovering in hospital, following major surgery. I am ever thankful for the quick actions of my GP and local Hospital, also to all my family, friends and colleagues who supported me through the following months of my recovery. Ten years is a significant milestone, both our outlooks on life have changed since then; one of the reasons we are here in Overstrand today. But that’s enough of that – it’s onwards and forwards now, living life to the full.

Repair works continue on the promenade and on Wednesday a new path was laid; leading behind the sea defences, in the Cromer direction. This is good news for me; on Friday I will be leading a W.I. walk across the cliffs to Cromer and back to Overstrand along the beach. We will now have two ways off the beach either behind the sea defence and up the new path or along the front and up the steps. All we need now is for the drizzle to clear; some sunshine would indeed be welcome but so long as it is dry, I won’t have any complaints.

Saturday 28th January - Overstrand to feature on BBC1's Look East

Just a short entry. I have just spotted Overstrand on a BBC1 preview for Monday 30th January's Inside Out East. The programme is scheduled for 7.30 p.m. and the exert can be accessed via this link - Inside Out East

Sunday 29th January - Old Belfry School, W.I. Walk and Practical Clothing