Wednesday 16th May 2018 – Overstrand Together and Taking a Break
The Open Meeting for Overstrand Together was held in the Belfry Arts Centre on Saturday morning. As well as discussing forthcoming events (Car Wash, Yard Sale and Summer Fair) villagers present were given the opportunity to comment on the events suggested during the Coffee Morning at the beginning of March. Several events were considered to be viable and it was decided to contact those who made the suggestions and invite them to the next meeting. The Belfry School’s headmaster, Titus Cotton was present and presented his ideas for suitable ways of using money donated by Joan Mapperley’s family which would also act as a commemoration. Steering Group member, Bruce Stratton also added a suggestion. They will all be considered and investigated further.
Green Veined White
The weather so far this week has been a disappointment. Having said that, yesterday afternoon orange tip butterflies were out in force but none rested long enough for me to photograph. I had more success the other day with a green veined white. The swifts are back, one of my favourite birds which are such a delight to watch and hear during the summer months when we are sat late afternoon in the garden.
We have family visiting later this week, so I am going to take a break of about ten days from my Diaries. If anything particularly interesting comes up, I will post this on Overstrand Life’s Facebook page.
Saturday 26th May 2018 – A Week with our Family and Planting for Summer
Our family have gone home, leaving us with happy memories. Our eldest son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons arrived Friday afternoon and wasting no time, we headed to the beach. In the evening two more members of our family arrived for the weekend. We started the weekend with a visit to the Crab and Lobster Festival and during the week we visited the Lifeboat House (twice), ate fish and chips on the pier, our eldest grandson enjoyed the wooden play area on Cromer’s promenade (twice), we had barbeques, built sandcastles on the beach (virtually every day), dug for buried treasure in the sand, paddled in the sea, went to the playground in Overstrand (several times!), ate lunch in the Cliff Top Cafes garden, took a trip to Holt Station on the Poppyland Railway, travelled on the bus (twice), visited the Car Boot Sale and even had time to sit in the garden! Our eldest son, who first visited this area in 1985, said he did not want to go home and now they are home, our eldest grandson has asked when he will be coming back. Says it all – three generations who all love visiting North Norfolk and enjoying the simple pleasures in life.
During the week, the weather was kind to us with plenty of sunshine, although the chill in the wind kept us for the most part in long trousers. It did not rain until Thursday evening, by which time our grandsons were in bed. Thursday was not a day for a visit to Cromer. The Antiques Roadshow was being filmed both on the Pier and the promenade. It was pretty chilly on Wednesday when we paid our second visit to the Lifeboat and the wooden play area in Cromer where preparations for the show were very much in evidence. Our daughter-in-law spotted the show’s presenter, Fiona Bruce, walking up from the promenade. We later heard she was staying in the village at the Sea Marge. On Thursday evening’s news, she reported the final set-up overnight on Wednesday had been hampered by the gale which was blowing. Really - a gale? Obviously, Fiona Bruce has not been to this part of the country when a gale is blowing!
Lobster & Crab
Punch & Judy at the
Crab & Lobster Festival
Steam Engine - Holt
Since our family returned home, we have spent most of the time out in the garden. I have pulled up the winter pansies and spring bulb foliage, replacing these with summer bedding. I have also dug up a shrub which failed to revive following the strong winds (aka the beast from the east), potted on the peppers, pricked out celery plants, planted out tomatoes and washed all the pots and trays the summer bedding were in. Peter has been busy too, mowing the grass, trimming a hedge, planting more vegetable seeds, pulling radishes for us to eat, weeding the vegetable plot and putting away our grandson’s garden toys etc. Our garden is neat and trim again and I most certainly think we deserve to relax this evening with a barbeque in the garden.
Wednesday 28th May 2018 – Two Weeks Behind and Village Events
Everything and by that I mean, trees, flowers and shrubs, are a good two weeks behind this year. This is down to the prolonged cold wet winter and just when we thought we were heading into spring we were hit by the high winds and more rain. Despite this, Peter’s vegetable plot is looking good and promises to yield plenty of vegetables over the coming months. Currently we have a glut of radishes which we have been eating at lunch time with a sandwich or a mixed plate of fish, cheese, artichokes and olives. Both our apple trees have been invaded by blackfly, causing some of the leaves to curl. Today I sprayed the affected areas with a washing-up liquid solution which should kill these unwanted aphids. The bees have been busy on the raspberry canes and it is now possible to see fruits starting to swell. Our strawberry planter has plenty of bloom and when the fruits colour and sweeten, becoming attractive to the birds, I well net them. This does not always work; in the past the blackbirds have gone under the net! Today I thinned the shoots on one of our grape vines in the hope we will get some decent sized grapes this year, rather than the usual pea sized which we leave for the birds to enjoy.
Strawberry Planter
Vegetable Plot
Forming Raspberries
There are plenty of events in the village during June. The bar in the Pavilion on the Sports field will be open on the 1st June at 7 p.m. and will continue to open each Friday until late September – or until the beer runs out! On the 2nd, there is the Overstrand Together Car Wash at The White Horse. The garden centre is having a market on the 3rd with various garden and food themed stalls. Village artist Joy Cole, is taking part in the Art Trail, with her studio open on 2nd, 3rd, 9th & 10th June between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. A Casino Night fundraiser will take place in the Belfry Centre for Music and Arts on the evening of the 9th June. On the 23rd the WI in conjunction with Seal & Shore Watch are organising a Beach Clean followed by the ever popular Yard Sale on the 24th. Not bad for small North Norfolk village.
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