Return Match

Last weekend Andrew's sister came to visit, bringing Dexter the puppy, an opportunity for us to return her hospitality of a few weeks ago. With two over excited dogs we felt the best bet was to let them run wild on Old Hunstanton beach.

Hunstanton was one of the towns effected by the storm surge a couple of weeks ago and this was noticeable on the beach. When we arrived we noticed the tide line covered with grass, the sea had eroded a lot of the sand dunes and in some places broken through.

Dune erosion

Some parts of the cliff had suffered too, they are made from carrstone. a soft sandstone.

One of the effects of the surge was that the mussel beds,  always visible at low tide, had completely disappeared giving a great expanse of sand for the dogs to run on. Dexter hadn't seen the sea before but Mortimer showed him the ropes.

Come on Dexter!

Whao! That was fun!

Back for more

Nothing like a seawater dip

Do we have to go?

After a good run we had lunch at the café by the lifeboat station which gets my vote as they allow dogs inside.

In the evening we went to a concert at Peterborough Cathedral. We had seen the Medieval Baebes  last year at Ely Cathedral, I love their style of singing with beautiful harmonies and a repertoire of early music. Andrew wasn't sure but had been won over by the beauty of their voices. Forget Gregorian chants (which I happen to like as well) their music has a lot of Moorish and Arabic influences and can be quite haunting. We hadn't told Carole where she was going but, she said,she really enjoyed it.

We hadn't seen the Cathedral at night before but it looked stunning.

I had an overwhelming desire to straighten the stools

Summer visitors

We were lucky this summer to have lots of friends and family to stay, some of whom we hadn't seen for a couple of years. It's nice for us as it gives us a break from working on the house and we get to go exploring. These photgraphs give a flavour of summer 2013.

Lots of these were prepared.

Preparation

Which resulted in quite a lot of these.

So you weren't hungry then?

We spent time on the beach at Old Hunstanton, which Mortimer and friend Ben thoroughly enjoyed. You've no idea how tired they were that evening!

Old Hunstanton beach

We did the tour at Elgoods Brewery and gardens and managed not to get stuck in the maze. Their logo is taken from the family crest which includes a black dog holding a key. Is it me or does it really look like a big bone?

Elgoods Brewery, Wisbech

Which did inspire us to take a couple of trips to the Beers of Europe warehouse. This is a fabulous place which not only sells beers, ciders & perrys from the U.K, Europe and all over the world but also has a huge range of spirits.

Beers of Europe warehouse

On one of the few overcast days that we had we visited Ely, spending a very long time in an antiques centre.

Ely

And Andrew mastered the art of making the perfect mojito.

What's the use of a herb garden if you don't use the herbs?

So with summer nearly spent we're welcoming the first of our autumn guests in a couple of weeks. Now where shall we go?