last trip of the year

 

Christmas is always a good excuse to grab two or three nights away and this year was no different. Van packed we headed back to the Norfolk coast and pitched up at Cromer on the Norfolk coast. The drive down was wet and dreary but it did get better.

Last year we had Christmas and boxing day here, this year its Christmas eve and Christmas day giving us an opportunity to check out some shops. In the meantime we hunkered down with a couple of episodes of Dr who.

Christmas eve was sunshine all day although rather cool nowhere as cold as the last week or so, we even sat with the van door and window open in the afternoon ( not bad for December)

Ian grabbed my camera and charged off to get a photo of the local Banksy whilst I enjoyed a coffee and the chance to knit a few rows in the latest hat.

The biggest disappointment was a small spinning wheel shaped ornament in an antique shop, sign on the door said gone to lunch ( it was 11.30 ) shop open times 10-2. We returned a 1,15 to try to buy it and the shop had already closed for the holidays :-(

However I did score in one of the charity shops with a bag of 60 DMC skeins, 18 Anchor skeins and a reasonable size piece of aida all for £3

Christmas day was cloudy but the sun tried to break through and we had another stroll round the town still discovering new things.

The story of Henry Blogg

A plaque to Priscilla Buxton whose father founded the anti-slavery society although, as a woman, she was not allowed to join. There is a monument to her father in Weymouth.

One of the famous Cromer goats that live on the cliff face above the beach huts.

When we came around to packing up the cab, we found that Puffin had obviously had a good time and that our newest addition ( the highland coo) was a little legless !!

We are now back at home, Ian's is back at work and the van is absolutely filthy on the outside with spray from the road so it seems that our new year will be spent up a ladder in the cold washing it down..

Till my next post (December crafty round up) take care and speak soon xx

didn't we have a lovely time the day we went to .........?

 Kings Lynn.

Yep, dragged the van out again, packed extra bedding as summer has passed and headed down to Norfolk. We have travelled around the country for the last 30 odd  years by car, bike and now camper but there are still many areas that we are not too familiar with. One of these is Norfolk so we settled on Kings Lynn (why not)

As we only had a weekend, we booked the campsite that looked closest to the town and at just £22 a night it was a bargain. Clean utility block and a well-stocked site shop, about a mile from the bus route which is fine.

Arrived Friday afternoon and chilled for the evening. 

 odd

In case you are wondering, that's hand spun Aberfield yarn on the pins and Dr Who on the screen.

Saturday started misty but the sun broke through, we made the trek to the bus stop and arrived at the bus station shortly after 10. Our usual course of action is to search out the charity shops so Ian can hunt for CDs to add to the collection, and I just enjoy looking, rarely buying these days. Only having one day this time, we had decided that shops and a bit of sightseeing would be a good mix and if we spotted anything suggesting another visit then we would be back some other time.

We ended up at Purfleet Quay with its statue of George Vancouver and huge ships anchors. 

We found a ship that moved buoys around., I hadn't realised quite how big they are.

In the morning, I took some lovely photos of boats on the water, harbour area etc but whilst outside one of the old buildings I realised that my camera was on the wrong setting! so I retook some of the photos but the sun had moved so no pretty boat pics 😢

Beautiful buildings and small shops dotted the streets, a number of museums and churches have been earmarked for further exploration.

We stopped to grab a sausage roll at the bakers bearing this symbol. Sandringham Estate is nearby.

You may have noticed that I like to look at cinemas (my dad used to work in cinemas and theatres and as I child I would sometimes travel with him) and this time we spotted the Majestic Cinema.

Wonderful stained glass and so nice to see that it is still a cinema.

Another interest of ours is fairgrounds and Kings Lyn was the home of Frank Savage who invented the carousel mechanism

                                      

                                          

                                          Photo taken at Dingles fairground museum earlier this year.

The flower planters and seats outside the cinema reflected this connection.

A good day out, total charity haul just 3 cds and we will be back to explore the old town at a later date.

My usual woolly, knitting posts will resume next week xx

Back north of the border

 Hi

First I must say sorry for not posting in the last four weeks, I was busy packing before our trip and seem to have been washing and knitting eversince we got back. More about the knit and spin side of things in the next post ( promise !! )

So we went back up to Scotland on a sort of mini tour. 9 campsites in 15 days but not a huge number of photo as we have visited some of these places before as well as simply enjoying being away..

We started just a walk away from the Falkirk wheel, basic campsite but with the added bonus of the chance to have a cart ride through the forest accompanied by a young pup.

We then walked across the fields and down to the canal, through the tunnel and out along the top of the wheel mechanism. 

This you-tube video explains how it works, my camera battery had died at this point..

.We had coffee in the visitor centre and then retraced our steps back through the tunnel to the site.

the next stop was Pitlochry (nice bridge)

Followed by a campsite near Aviemore where the heavens opened and we spent most of the time watching old war films. But there were red squirrels and lots of birds.

I also spotted that I wasn't the only spinner on site although we didn't get to meet.

Rose Markie on the Black Isle has long been a favourite place to stop off whether on bike, in car or in the van. There is a friendly community cafe at the end of the beach and plenty for Ian to wander off and explore. Temporary membership at the golf club ensured a couple of evenings in the pleasant company of the friendly bar manager.

We had some rain but all was forgiven after sighting the Rainbow hugging the coastline.

Next stop was a bit like going home for us, we have spent quite a bit of time on Skye so we took the opportunity to visit friends made over the years. Two campsites this time, Portree and Edinbane.

Confession, by the time we left Skye, two Hebridean fleeces were neatly packed the shower, more about that in a later post.

Bunree campsite near Fort William gave us some traditional views of Scotland.

We stayed over at another couple of campsites on the way back (Callender and Penrith) but no more photos. This may feel like a whistle stop tour but many of the site were only an hours drive from each other and we spent a lot of time walking, relaxing and generally recharging our batteries,

We hope to be back up in the area early next year, hopefully for an extended stay.

Next post will be the usual crafty nonsense :-)

Take care xx