Saturday 21st October 2023 - A Matter of Global Concern, Storm Babet and Poppy Appeal Preparations

I spent quite a bit of time on Thursday drafting and sending an email to our MP, Duncan Baker. This was regarding the debate in the House of Commons on Friday on a subject which is of national, no actually, it’s of global concern and one which all MPs should have attended. In his response to my email, Duncan Baker told me of two local events he was attending and therefore ‘could not be in two places at once’ and would not be in the House of Commons. When we watched the debate on Friday, we could see from the poor attendance, nearly all MPs must have had other commitments. Presumably, like Duncan Baker’s, they couldn’t be re-arranged or postponed. However, although there was no visual coverage, we could tell from the cheers coming from the public gallery that even if MPs don’t care about a global concern; the members of the public attending certainly do. I can’t find the right adjective to describe my feelings (disgust isn’t strong enough), or how underhand it was of the BBC to run comments across the bottom the screen during the debate.

Storm Babet arrived on Friday with rain and wind. Not as bad here in Overstrand, as in some parts of the county, with Norfolk as a whole suffering far less than other areas in the UK. Apart from meeting a friend, who kindly stopped by to pick me up, for coffee at the Garden Centre, I spent the day indoors. Today has been a little better, the winds have dropped and we managed a walk first thing, before the rain resumed. I set this morning aside to prepare for the Poppy Appeal, which starts on Thursday 26th. Once the trays were constructed, I added the new style recyclable poppies and other fundraising items, before topping up the ‘kids’ packs’, fixing the QR codes to the collecting tins and labelling everything. Tomorrow’s forecast is for sun so we should be able to get out for our usual walks and if the ground is not too damp, gathering up leaves in the garden.

The path leading from the rock armour to the back of the revetments at the east end of Overstrand, has been fenced off and there is plant (I wonder why construction machinery is referred to as plant) in a compound on the flat area at the end of the beach huts. I guess there is either going to be some work on the revetments or groynes or the steps the other side of the fenced off path. Today, I have nothing more exciting in the way of a photo than one of the plant, in the compound!