Friday 7th April 2023 - Seal Pup, Cromer, First Barbeque and Angel Wings Update

With unpredictable weather last week, we postponed a visit to a friend who lives in Northrepps. With a lovely sunny afternoon on Tuesday, we were able to wander up, to see her. It was pleasantly warm, so we didn’t need to wear jackets and after spending a couple of hours with her, it was time to head back home and think about preparing dinner. Visible from the path between Overstrand and Northrepps is the new housing development under construction. Apart from the Foundry Arms and the school, Northrepps has little other in the way of facilities and the roads accessing the village are hardly suitable for additional volumes of traffic. This leaves me with the question – why build more homes, in this location?

Another good day on Wednesday which despite the bright morning didn’t get off to a good start. A grey seal pup had hauled itself up onto the zig zag path leading down to the beach. It was not in a good state and while I walked back up to the cliff top and made a phone call to British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), Peter stayed with the pup to make sure it was not harassed by a dog or member of the public. While we stood and waited for a marine medic to arrive, the pup was gradually deteriorating and seemed to be in great discomfort. A couple of times, we thought it had died. Fortunately, there were very few people about and after about three quarters of an hour one of BDMLR’s medics arrived, shortly followed by another. They discussed what was the best action to take. At this point, and after offering help, which was declined, to carry the seal back up once it was bagged, we came home for breakfast. I have not received any updates but I would imagine it would have been taken to the vets and euthanized. Sad as this is, to put things in context, there were over three thousand pups born at Horsey and Winterton during the last pupping season, so the loss of one is only a very small percentage of the pups and adults in the colony.

After breakfast, we took the bus into Cromer. I have lost one of the nose pads on my glasses and went to the opticians for a replacement. Unfortunately, there was only a receptionist in the shop, so I will have to go back again next week. We spent quite a bit of time wandering around the town, dipping into shops and making a variety of purchases, before the return bus was due. It was pleasantly warm in the afternoon, so we spent it in the garden. While Peter tended his vegetable plot, I cut off the lower branches on our Portugal laurel and thinned out our two olive trees (yes, olive trees survive the winds here in Norfolk and they produce a few olives too). The afternoon was rounded off sat in the sun in the garden with our afternoon cuppa. In the evening Peter barbequed, our first for 2023. I think it is safe to say, we had more variety on Wednesday than we have had for quite a time.

An update on my angel wings plant. It took some time, but I did receive some advice from a member of the Creative Gardening Facebook page. Not from someone in the US (a lot of members live in the States) but from a villager who lives just round the corner from us! I will take her advice and hopefully the two leaves sprouting from the bottom of one of the stems will grow to full size and a new plant will develop from the cutting.

Time now to move on to today’s photo. This was taken on Tuesday morning showing a stunning blue sky – I assure you this photo has not been enhanced. I have, as usual, just reduced the file size.