QUIET WEEKEND

Had a very quiet weekend doing odd jobs round the house both inside and out.Weather wasnt very good although not as bad as had been predicted by the forecasters who had warned about high damaging winds on Friday night.I kept waking up expecting the worst but nothing happened,and there was no explanation as to why these winds had not arrived.
Went down to the Church on Sunday morning to observe the bellringers.They make it look so easy,but both Lyn and I know its not.
So all in all a quiet weekend.Good sport on tv especially the Rugby,and good having a laugh at Jan Leemings antics on I'M A CELEBRITY GET ME OUT OF HERE.

SECOND GO AT BELLRINGING

Our second go at ringing was as good as the first with all of us getting better.Lyn made very good progress especially after she stood on a box,she did have a nasty moment however nearly disappearing up into the Bell Tower after letting go of the rope as the main clock started to chime.Steve our instructor saved the day and grabbed the rope .He has been ringing for 37 years and besides being a very nice bloke he is also an expert ringer.
Both Lyn and I are begining to realise how hard this is going to be,but its a good night out and at least we can have a laugh,so we will continue to go along and hopefully we will make the grade.
We will be observing on Sunday when the full team will be out before Sunday service.

BURY ST EDMUNDS AND KINGS LYNN

Yesterday we went to Bury St Edmunds(didn't know he was dead) as the car needed a service and since its still under warranty it needeed to be done by a main dealer,so we had about 4 hours to have a look round the shops.It was our first time to Bury and it is a very nice Market Town with good quality shops and nice restaurants.So we had a good time with lots of walking and surprise surprise the car cost only £138.00 and not the £350.00 I was expecting.

Today we went to Kings Lynn on the bus,this is becoming a regular Tuesday outing,and since we both have bus passes now its also a cheap day out.Lynn is not the nicest of towns but it serves a purpose.

Tomorrow we shall be in as some furniture is arriving and I need to do some gardening,and make sure all our guttters are free from leaves.

MORE FOR JONNY

These are for you Jonny as I know you wanted some Autumn scenes.
Mum and I had just walked down to get the Sunday papers.
By the way our quiet village was subjected to an armed robbery last week
at the Post Office !

FOR JONNY

Jonny hope these will give you a flavour of early winter

Lyn getting ready for her first pull under the watchful eye of Steve

Getting ready

All the ropes and Lyn with Steve !!

Lyn Brian and Beryl waiting anxiously

Has Lyn seen some Bats !!!

Bells in the Bell tower

the 39 steps or were there 44 !!!

OUR FIRST GO AT BELLRINGING

Well the time arrived for us to have a go at bellringing, both lyn and I never managed to get an ology whilst we were at school so we might get to be camponologists (not sure if its the correct spelling) if we get through our training.We walked down to the church to meet our trainers Steve and Pat together with our fellow learners Brian and Beryl who are also relatively new to Northwold.
The first task was to make our way up to the ringing tower,44 narrow twisting stairs. Having arrived Steve(local engineer and farmer)talked us through a lot of safety issues,necessary as some of the 8 bells weigh 8/9 cwt each, he also explained how our training would progress,(I honestly thought it was just a case of grabbing hold and pulling).We learnt about sallys,sliders,stays,handstrokes,backstrokes,and many other terms that I have already forgotten.We went up to the bell tower and had a look at the bells which are huge and very very old 300years plus,to me they looked as though they were going to fall apart but Steve assured us that they were perfectly safe and are regularly checked. I'll take his word for it, but all the same when you are ringing theres nothing between you and several tons of bell than a few old floor planks,presumably also 300years old.
Anyway we all had a go at ringing,but only on the handstoke with Steve looking after the backstroke.I think we were all initially nervous as we didnt know how hard it would be to get the bell moving, but surprise surprise it was very easy and after a few tentative pulls all of us seemed to get the hang of it with Lyn being very good and attentive(think she likes Steve!!!).The lesson ,nearly 2 hours went very quickly,but probably not quick enough for the village residents who had to put up with the drone of one bell for well over an hour.
So our first lesson is over and both Lyn and I are looking forward to next Thursday for our next go.

Us at the front door

The front porch

Part of the back garden

The parking area

Rear view of the Cottage

View up the lane with Adam Cottage on the left

who would have thought that we would be sitting in the garden having coffee on November 15th!

The very small shop and post office run by Kevin and his wife Lulu !!

Full view of Pub,very good quiz nights also very reasonable pub grub

Pub again

Village Pub on the left

Back view of both of us

Another view of the Church

More of the Church

The Church in which we will be bellringing!!!

Near the Church

local river Wissey

Well its now been nearly 4 months since Lyn and I moved up from West Sussex to this sleepy West Norfolk village called Northwold.We both retired from the NHS in July and decided that we didnt want to remain in Findon as we had no ties there as both of our sons have moved away one to Norway and the other to Australia, plus Findon had lost its appeal and, wasnt the same place we had moved to some 20 years ago.
We spent a week in March of this year looking at properties all around Norfolk and were lucky enough to find Adam Cottage which is over 200 years old and had just been totally renovated. It was empty and was simply sitting waiting for new owners. Our house in Findon was sold quickly and we moved on the 18th July on probably the hottest day of the year. I havent been able to post a blog up until now as we have only just been connected to Broadband after a long battle with Orange and BT. Part of the sacrifice for deciding to live so far out in the sticks.
Anyway we moved in without too much trouble and have spent the last few months getting the Cottage the way we want it ie carpets laid ,tiling ,wood flooring,painting,gardening etc etc.Of course we have had our disasters along the way,floods ,disintergrating shower, cupboards falling off walls to name but a few,but I can say I think we are nearly there with the major stuff,and our days are no longer totally taken up with DIY, so we are now able to find out a bit more about village life and begin doing the things we want to do,like pub quiz nights and even bell ringing in the Church.We have our bus passes! and venture into Kings Lyn every Tuesday for about 3 hours,saves taking the car and is really quite a pleasant day.
We are both enjoying our retirement and are looking forward to our new life in NORTHWOLD,so will try and keep a diary of how we are doing.
Bye for now

JUST STARTING

THIS IS MY FIRST GO AT BLOGGING HAVING JUST CREATED THIS ACCOUNT.THE INTENTION IS TO RECORD OUR LIFE IN THIS TINY NORFOLK VILLAGE HAVING JUST RETIRED AND MOVED UP FROM A BUSY SUSSEX.