Mixed bag

Saturday and a day around the coastal fringe, dad's taxi and ice cream hunter early doors.

Steam weekend on the Poppy Line

Then off to Sea Palling in the afternoon.

Got some chilli hemp ready for Sunday..

Turned out nice again

Short afternoon on the Bure today. Found a nice unexpected clear near bank run for a few dace and roach.

Popped into the deeper slower "5" swim for a better stamp of dace, pulled out of a couple of

bigger  fish, fight not jagged enough for perch.

River full, clear and weedy..

Plenty of cattle on the grazing at the moment.

Bassa nova

Walcott wall, Thursday morning out with little-uns for a drive and an ice cream. Chap on the groyne below the Poachers Pocket ramp. ( By the way, would you really fancy a Sunday roast from here?)

Seems these little fellers are in close at the moment bringing the bass in  behind them.

Bass on,

Schoolie just over36cm. About £40 for two half fillets from just one flank on two white plates with a bit of samphire I reckon.

A bit keen to get out there again.

Lovely sky as well

Autumn creeping up on the Allotment

Boho and Boden

Varied clan members headed off for a beano at Bodenville on Sunday. Snuck between Blakney and Cley on the top of Frary Hills  is a fruit farm and cafe. It has a magnificent wood oven for pizza nights, fired up today even with no food coming out of  it, what a lovely woodsey smell.  A magnet for the Boden army overly concerned with avoiding  being associated with  the gratuitous conspicuous consumption swilling round the Burnhams and keeping the braying to a strained sotto voce .

Not a bad view whilst you are sipping your loose leaf tea..

Now, Norfolk is an inward looking, get off my land sort of place, and more so round the stately piles of feudal throwback, such as the huge enclave of Holkham just up the windy flint walled and pan tiled cottage lined coast road. Perhaps that is why the assorted caravans and huts hiding behind the eaterie seemed to be peopled by a fruit picking army more at home with  Radio 4 and the Aga than (whisper it) the Eastern Europe that drives Farage in to lick spittle rage. Not sure about the authenticity of this artisan's dwelling (the cut ivy was stapled on to the door).

The eating and selling bits are quite lovely however:

The food?

Not much evidence of anything really local here apart from the lobster and the Wherry and the salad accompaniment is hardly from Morston Hall. And, note to  front of house. 13 covers is not a small bill and best not ask us to leave the tables before we'd settled. Umbridge taken.

What to do now?  Blakeney just a stones throw to the left along a coastal walk.

  Finished off with an ice cream (not on the hill today, too windy)

 Happy days.

Norfolk's not bad really, chasing the clouds.

Work took me Wells next the Sea way on Monday. Got caught in a mad 5 minutes round Foulsham, we were in post Bertha apocolypse and all around the carnage was bright sun and the bluest sky and whitest towering cumulus you could wish for.

This is looking towards Wighton. English Pastoral

Wighton church over maize

The ridge between Stiffkey and Morston. Second flush of harvest poppies

Bertha and the perigee moon

Sunday was to set to be the mutha of all storms..certainly spurred England on to wipe out India, even if Broadless for the second chuck of the coconut. Out for my customary drive to get the little-un's asleep.

Where, Happisburgh of course!

Bet they were glad they got this field in.

After  a biblical dumping of hail it got out again late afternoon, if a tad windy. A warm (and for a while not wet) wind. Get on it boy. With no big gravel pit at my local disposal, and deciding not to tough it out on a platform on Captains noodled around under a big poplar on Cranes. Just love that big wind sound. Found a few small roach and enjoyed this view of the Bertha perigee moon.

Going back

This used to be a football ground...

This is now a football stadium...

I don't know what's more depressing actually.

Saturday and start of the new football season, Oldham at home. 2-2 and not languishing at the foot of the table..yet. As the first (and last) home game should be. Shirtsleeves and green grass. What is it with refs? Yes we are one eyed the lot of us when it comes to decisions. But how can you miss two blatant handballs and two getting inside the striker's shirt in 3 minutes? Old boy Big (and I mean big) George Elokobi came on in the 2nd half for Oldham to really warm applause all around  the ground. The boy is still a unit. Tank or dench I believe are the yoot speak terms. His party piece used to be the overhead kick clearance from the edge of the box...

Some more nostalgia on the way down. This is Abberton reservoir, once the place to go for winter piking. One rod stuck in the crack of the concrete, hoping to get on the culvert. it's been massively increased in size and the main dam walls are much higher and steeper. No fishing now which is a sad loss.

 Geo man sporting his beloved Col U shirt

A long chuck to the valve towers......

Had  a look at Layer Pit too. Probably the first ever match carp bagging water for a while. Huge home made wagglers holding a 2 oz bomb and floating maggots. Seems a little smaller now.

Still packed with fish though. Not your average F1 pastie venue. Two whackers being played when I had a look and a real lump rolled, certainly large enough for Geo man to notice. Not sure meat over hemp in the margins has been tried for a while though.

Roachtastic

Another short session tonight, on the new syndicate water. Float fished  red maggot. Several roach and perch, this the best. An old warrior at 1.08.