View from Barrow Common

Last night I ended up enjoying the supper at the yacht club much more than I expected. It was a spring supper for the members of the Hawk class of sailing boat, which is the little sailing boat Gavin bought last year. They are made in Chichester but for some unknown reason they are very popular here in Brancaster Staithe, where this club is home to the largest fleet in the UK, and the world! (because they are not used anywhere else). Gavin has not had much opportunity to sail it as it is was a 25 year old boat when he bought it and so it took time to clean it up and by then it was nearly winter. There was no sailing this weekend as the wind was just too strong. 

The people were so friendly and welcoming and we met three other couples who have homes in our small street, so it was great to get to know our neighbours. In this area about 60% of homes are holiday homes, which the locals do not seem to mind as it keeps the area economically viable. 

This morning it was very sunny but that horrible cold wind still persisted. We decided to avoid any beach walks due to the wind and so we walked up the road behind the house to Barrow Common and then down again past the old Roman fort site. This is the view from the top of the common, looking down to the sea. It was a good walk and lovely to see the common for the first time, which had the best display of gorse in bloom that I have ever seen.

After lunch we took Xena for a final run around on the beach - the wind was icy and so strong, everyone was in winter woolly hats but enjoying the lovely sunshine on the beach. With a strong north easter wind, which is an on shore wind, the kite surfers were taking advantage of the conditions and having a grand time. In extras you can see one of the kite surfers - but because the sea is so flat they were so far out, and so using a long lens to get the surfer in the shot I could not also get the kite in the frame. There were hardly any birds about which is very unusual, I think because of the winds.

The local company that keeps an eye on our house has had a problem finding a reliable gardener, and as the lawn was long with weeds Gavin decided to get stuck in and rather do it himself. So after we came back from the beach he went to B&Q and bought a small electric lawn mower and then came back and mowed the grass which did not take long at all as it is a very small garden. While he was doing that I vacuumed and cleaned the bathrooms and then packed up. We left at about 4.30pm and had such an easy journey home again, it took less than 3 hours.