Making progress...

We have lived here at Number 9 for over 3 years now and I thought it was about time we put the back garden to use. We have a garden to the side of our house which we have always used as a back garden, for BBQ's for example. However, there is limited privacy which the back garden will give us, and, there is enough space to grow our own vegetables. It has been hard work but I am making good progress now and am lucky to have good friends who have been willing to come round and help me dig!

This is how the garden looked a few months ago (and how it has looked for the last 3 years!)

Getting started...

Adam lends a helping hand!

Starting to take shape!

I have lots of pictures taken along the way but too many to post them all. These pictures were taken yesterday and show how far the garden has come! I have fixed the fence, dug a veggie patch - Garlic, Onions, Potato's, Broad Beans are in already. I bought ten strawberry plants for Amelia which are also in. Overall I'm very pleased but still have lots to do!!

The Rosemary bush that Adam kindly gave to me.

The Strawberry plants.

So there it is, nearly finished! I would like to say thank you to Adam, Keith, Parsie, and Joy who have all helped me at various stages!

Typing test..

I just found this speedtest websit and thought I'd have a go! Pointless really but there you are!


37 words

Typing Test

A trip to the coast!

I arrived in Morston, a small village on the Norfolk coast, at just after 6pm on Sunday. It had taken me 2 hours to drive the 94 miles from Glaston and I was glad to arrive and to stretch my legs! My friend Adam was waiting for me at The Anchor Inn, and shortly after I arrived he took me to Morston Quay to have a look at the boats. Once we'd had a quick look around we returned to the Anchor for our dinner. We shared a large bowl of Mussels which were without doubt the best mussels I have ever tasted! Once we had devoured those, Adam ordered an Oyster each as I hadn't tried one before. He put a bit of Tabasco sauce, and white pepper on them and a squeeze of lemon juice and then I reluctantly poured it from its shell into my mouth. I swished it around before I swallowed it and was pleasantly surprised, it tasted very good indeed! Soon after we finished our Oyster's our main course's arrived - Mixed Roast for Adam, and Haddock, chips and mushy peas for me. The food was absolutely superb as was the service.

After dinner Adam introduced me to a few of his friends. One of them, Colin, is a sailing instructor. So, I wasted no time in telling him all about the sailing Dinghy I have recently 'acquired' and dashed off to the van to fetch the laptop! I showed him my pictures of it and he was very helpful and knowledgeable, telling me what all the bits are called and what they are for.

Saturday morning I was up very early feeling poorly. I woke Adam at 6am (sorry Adam!) as I was up and down not knowing what to do with myself. We put my dodgy tummy down to the Oyster and the fact that I don't normally eat shell fish. In the end I left Adam in peace and went to the Quay for some fresh air. It was nice to be out so early and I watched people doing there morning jobs with their boats. I saw this man getting some sort of nets from the water and swishing them about before loading them into his pickup truck. I wasn't sure what he was collecting but Adam said later that he was probably collecting Mussels.

Once I was feeling a bit better I headed back to the Anchor to find Adam up and ready to go. So we got into his car and headed to Sheringham to buy some fishing tackle and bait so that we could have a go at beach casting. The man in the shop was very helpful and showed us what we needed. We came away with lug worms, squid, and some ready made rigs and weights.

We then headed back to Morston to find Jim Temple who very kindly spent some time with us tying all the bits on and showing us what was what.

Once we were sorted we headed over to Cley Next Sea to do some fishing. The weather was changing rapidly and withing an hour we were being pelted by hail stones and had no choice but to pack up and get back to the car! The weather improved later on and we were able to go on Jim Temples seal trip boat. We boarded the boat at around 2pm and off we went to see if we could see any seals. It took about 25 minutes to reach Blakeney point which is where the seals usually are. There were no seals on the sand when we got there but we did see a few in the water. Jim was surprised to see so few and said he thought it was due to them going out looking for food. I didn't mind one bit. Whether I saw one seal or one hundred seals, I found the trip to be very enjoyable and Jim was very good talking to us all the whole time explaining where we were and a bit about the seals.

That evening we had another wonderful meal in the pub before going to bed and I returned home this morning (Tuesday) having enjoyed my trip to Morston. I can't wait to go again and highly recommend a visit to anyone who is thinking of something to do for a weekend. Jim Temple's seal trips are definitely worth the money and the Anchor Inn is very friendly and the food is superb!

The Puffin is here!

It has been a while since I made an entry to my blog. Its not that there has been nothing to report, quite the opposite in fact. Life at Number 9 has been very busy especially with me now back in full time employment. This weekend has been a great weekend though and it has encouraged me to come back onto my blog to let you all know about it!

Yesterday, I collected a van which I purchased through ebay. I was a bit disappointed with the state of the rear doors and wheel arches but with 12 months MOT I decided to go through with it and hand over my money - mainly because I knew what I wanted the van for...... My friend Keith took me to Hinckley to collect it and then we drove around for an hour looking for a post office to put some Road Tax on it. Once we had the tax and the van was all legal we drove back to Number 9 and gave it a quick clean and swept the back out.

Then, this morning, we headed over to a little Village not far from here where the van really proved its worth! We went to collect a boat which had been very kindly offered to me some time ago through our local freecycle group.



I could have had the boat sooner but with one thing and another I just couldn't get transport organized for the short journey home - mainly due to a lack of funds. So I would like to thank Adrian very much indeed for not only giving me the boat but also for his patience and for his help in loading the boat and all its bits into the van this morning. Thanks also to his sister Rachel for the cup of tea!! We needed it after all that lifting! Its surprising how heavy the boat is!



I was excited all the way home and couldn't wait to see Amelia's face when she saw the boat! She loves it and we can't wait to get to work restoring the boat back to its former glory, and ultimately back on the water! I will be sure to post pictures of our progress as we go along.