Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Empty shop update

It would seem that the empty shop over the road from me is now an antiques stroke interiors shop. I am very disappointed as it means they do not sell anything I can eat.
I don't think it is the best location for a shop of that type so it may be my tea room one day after all...

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Monday, August 20, 2007

Karen Cow

I feel incredibly proud that I have had a cow named after me and also relieved that, despite the recent outbreak of Foot and Mouth near her home, she is well and only a week ago gave birth to a daughter - Anna.
Karen and Anna belong to my friends Russ and Luke who have lots of lovely animals on their Guildford farm. Since moving to Norfolk we have missed spending time cuddling their goats and other animals. Hopefully I will be able to meet Karen myself sometime soon.
Thank you to Badger for her gorgeous photos. You can see more of her photography here


Karen Cow


Anna Calf

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The green grass of home



We have a lawn and, thanks to the large amount of rain we have had over the past few days, it has been brought back from the brink of death. The grass is now lush and green and it makes our garden look wonderfully alive. It also makes for a lovely photograph!

Friday, August 10, 2007

The empty shop



Round the corner from where I live, next door to the Chinese takeaway, is an empty shop. It has been empty for as long as we have lived here, which is over a year now. I have often thought it a shame that it is empty when it could be something wonderful. I had started to wonder if I should try to fulfil my ambition of opening a tea room there. I'm not sure if it would be the best location but it would have been very handy and I had already started to picture what it would look like as my tea room - what sort of tables and chairs I would have, what colour I would paint the walls, and what cakes I would have on the menu.
However, last week I noticed there were people inside painting it white and fixing hanging baskets to the outside. There is still no sign as to what sort of shop it is going to be but I have created a wish-list of what I hope it might be. I know it will not be a Co-op, butchers, chip shop, Kebab and pizza takeaway, hairdressers or picture framers as we already have those in the village.

My new shop wish-list

* Tea room (obviously stealing my idea but it would be nice to have somewhere to go for the odd sociable lunch break rather than sitting on my own at home)

* Bakery - there is currently no bakery in the village, although there is one in the next village but that is not very good and too far to walk to. A French bakery would be good with baguettes and pastries as the Co-op does not do much in the way of good bread

* Delicatessen - with cheeses from around the world and olives and other yummy stuff in pots

* Book shop - this would be great but possibly a bit dangerous with my book buying addiction

* Card and gift shop - very handy for last minute presents and forgotten birthdays. Currently the only cards in the village are from Co-op and they are very poor. They are always running out of wrapping paper too. Don't think the village is big enough to sustain this type of shop though

* Pet shop - as long as it sells Burns and Nature Diet

* Sweet shop - as long as it sells old fashioned sweets in jars

* Gallery - although I wouldn't be able to afford nice abstract art, it would be nice to have a little gallery that changed its stock frequently so I could go and browse

* Fishmongers - for some nice fresh, pre-filleted fish and Cromer crabs


What I would NOT like to see ...

* Mobile phone shop - they suck the joy from me like a Dementor

* Sports shop - I would have no use for that

* Book makers - would attract the wrong sort to the village

I will, of course, blog the new shop when it has been revealed. Place your bets now!

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Thursday, August 02, 2007

The times they are(n't) a-changin'

Progress is slow in Norfolk and the best way to illustrate it is to show you these photographs taken at Joyland in Great Yarmouth. I don't know how long the bumpy snails had been there before I first went on them in the early 1980s but they are still there now, exactly the same, over 20 years later.

Me and my nan on the snails circa 1983




Me and my mum on the snails circa 1983




Me and my mum on the snails circa 1986




Me on the snails on my own in 2007




The model village in Great Yarmouth has not changed a lot either ...

Merrivale Model Village circa 1983




Merrivale Model Village circa 1983




Merrivale Model Village 2007




And don't get me started on the House of Wax! Nothing has been added to the wax work collection since circa 1996...




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