Tuesday 21st June 2022 - Providing Variety, Bee Eaters and Into Cromer

The heat on Friday, which peaked at 36°C in our garden and 30°C in our bedroom, was replaced on Saturday with rain and a cool 16°C. We usually like to eat dinner in our conservatory whilst listening to either something on the radio or music but on Friday it was just too hot and instead ate in the garden. Needless to say, eating in the garden on Saturday was not an option. Nothing like the British weather for providing variety!

There has been much excitement in the Trimmingham area, following the arrival of bee eater birds. On one of our visits to the Greek island of Lesvos, there were numbers of bird watchers staying too, but when we told them about the beautiful coloured birds, bee eaters, we had spotted on one of our walks, there was an element of indifference. We were told they were common on this island. They were more interested in the far less flamboyant rose-coloured starlings spotted in the village.

Living in a village news soon gets round, although in some cases it can get distorted as it does the rounds. A number of people have stopped and said how sorry they were to hear about Barney and today, his groomer stopped by with a memorial for Barney. As we hear of some awful things going on in the world; wars, people being scammed, mass gun murders, harassment and worse on social media etc., it is heartening to be living in an area where most of us are caring.

This morning we had appointments to have our eyes tested; thanks to Covid, it’s three years since we last visited the optician. We took a very pleasant walk in the sun, just after low tide, along the beach into Cromer. I stopped to take a photo of the town and the pier. It’s not as if I don’t have many photos of this scene – I probably have going on a hundred but one more won’t hurt! Arriving with plenty of time before our appointments, we visited Cromer Carpets and picked out a new carpet for the lounge and arranged for the room to be measured. This was followed by purchasing some replacement walking shoes, as both of ours are starting to split. We then spotted the delicatessen in the shop which was HK Hardware; we emerged with a bag of various goodies. It was then on to the opticians where as we suspected, we need new lenses. Leaving my frames at the opticians, for the new lenses to be fitted, I am now wearing glasses which are around seven years old, so vision is not as good as it could be but far better than without them.

So, today’s photo is not as you might have thought, of walking towards Cromer, but of the sign on the Allotment Associations shed. A fine piece of artwork created by village artist, Linda Robinson.