Two Weekends In One !

Easter weekend we all went to Wroxham. Chaos as usual at the bridge (not guilty) so we all piled onto the paddle steamer for a two hour childrens Easter cruise. Grace identified all the birds pictured around the boat (with just a little help - she's really paid attention on those boat trips with us) and she won herself an Easter egg which didn't last too long. At Wroxham barns she made some friends as she went round the petting farm. The pics are below.

This last weekend I went through the tunnel to France and Belgium. For those of you who wonder why so many people still do what's known as "The Booze Cruise", the prices for cigarettes and wines are so much cheaper than THIS EU country (touch of sarcasm there).

Just to compare, typically cigarettes here in the region of £6.50 in Belgium cost £4.10 so on a carton of 200 the saving is £24.00. You may remember that HMRC from October 1st 2011 reduced the recommended import for an individual from 3200 down to just 800. But that is just a 'recommended' amount. There is actually no legal limit within EU countries and the party I travelled with on average brought back about 3000 passing through customs with no inspection. Similarly, wine bought in France is considerably cheaper. I bought a few cases of Blossom Hill retailing here for £4.99 when it's on offer! At the wine warehouse in Calais a case of six bottles cost £11.65 - FOR SIX BOTTLES! Mind you, the limit is for 120 bottles per person. Ahem!

EASTER DAY OUT WITH THE FAMILY

Day Trip To York

Nearly a year ago I was on a train that got delayed by more than 3 hours a consequence of which was a full refund (in travel vouchers) by the rail company. I've used a few for local daytrips but, faced with the expiry date, needed to use up the balance quick so, whilst I'm on holiday I suggested a day trip first class to York which after deducting the vouchers, came to £3.80. Why not?

Pic 1. The bonus was that on the day East Coast trains were providing complimentary meals and drinks to all first class passengers! Here's my lunch. A very decent chicken and mushroom pie, chips and salad with a generous glass of red wine. No complaints. Pic 2 arrival at York station. An old large and impressive building but if you zoom in you'll see that the ironwork does need some attention. Pic 3. Outside the station is the city wall which is impressive. We didn't have time to walk along it though. Maybe next time.

Pic 4. One of the gates or 'Bar' as they're known. This is the south bar entrance from London and the south. Inside they've pedestrianised a large area which makes it pleasant to walk round the many shops. The equivalent of Norwich's Elm Hill is the Shambles (pic 5) except theirs is bustling because it's crammed with loads of small businesses. It would make Elm Hill look more like it used to! Pic 6 shows the statue of Minerva sitting on a pile of books at the alley leading to York Minster Yard.

I've selected just a few of dozens of pics from York Minster. Works still ongoing. At present they're restoring the huge east window. Still a very impressive building. If you want more pics posted let me know.

This is the outside of the Jorvik Centre near Coppergate. Couldn't take pics inside - sorry. Inside you go down to the archaeological dig where they found the remains of a Viking village. It's covered with glass so you can walk over it and then down a corridor you board a three seater suspended ride like a ghost train only this one transports you through a reconstructed village with animated Vikings and the different smells are sprayed in the air as you pass the butcher, carpenter and on the final way out, the man behind a wicker fence having a poo! Use your imagination!

Finally, we finished our day trip at the National Rail Museum near the station. It's brilliant and again there's so much more than the pics show. Pic 1 The Mallard. Pic 2 a cutaway to show the insides of the engine. Pic 3. I got Sheri to stand next to this monster train built in Lancashire for China. The train home was just a regular size but a free afternoon tea and wine were laid on so no complaints and home by supper.

Impromptu Booze Cruise

Remember we reported on the Breakfast Show some weeks back that HMRC has changed the 'allowances' for tobacco. Often referred to as Duty Free it isn't technically correct. The duty has been paid in the country of purchase if in the EU. The word allowances is not strictly true. To quote their own website "there is no limit on alcohol and tobacco brought from another EU country". Before last October they said that you could enter Britain with 3200 cigarettes and 3kg tobaccowith no questions asked. There was no change to the alcohol recommendations. From 1st October they were saying only 800 cigarettes OR 1kg tobacco. This effectively made it more inconvenient (and expensive) to keep crossing the channel to bring back these amounts. However, read the small print and interpret it as it is. There is NO limit, it's just a question of whether or not you can prove that it's for your own use or a gift. They can confiscate any amount if they have reason to suspect that it's for commercial purposes - in other words you're selling it on. Yesterday was a very successful day. The trip went really well with light traffic and no delays. At Adinkerke I purchased double the recommended cigarettes expecting to be challenged. I had prepared my defence and was all set at Customs when asked about my purchases.

Kittel visitor

We have a guest for a few days as Grace has gone to Butlins with her mum and dad. This is Hugo, 12 weeks old and already curious about everything including dogs. Fudge remembers when we had Daisy and is fine about the newcomer.

Visit to see Santa Claus!

Christmas is just such a magical time if you're young and at Thursford there's the Christmas Experience which enthralled our grandaughter Grace on Sunday. We all went to see the 4D film show before taking the long and winding path to Santa's House. Grace loved all the busy elves and the animals along the route before we went in to see Santa himself! Grace came away with a big present but was more interested in dancing with the floor lights as they revolved around the restaurant area. Then another show with a versatile young magician before leaving for home. She's going to be sooo excited come December 25th.

Snow in Arizona ??

George listens on line whilst riding his horse Waco in the dessert in Arizona. I didn't believe him so he sent this picture of the snow he encountered today. Would you believe it?

MO - vember

MOVEMBER when men grow moustaches to show support for mens health issues like prostate and testicular cancer. Sheik Mahandy and OU Dave are the first and only two to send me their pics. HOW'S YOURS COMING ON - COME ON!!

Well done Martin who started his MO 14 days ago!

And look at OU Dave's MO NOW!

Late October River Lunch

After a hectic day on the booze cruise we made the most of the wonderful October weather. A week to go to November and look at it. People dining outside the Ferry Inn at Surlingham. Not too busy on the river, everyone was moored up and the swans wre having lunch too!

The last sod is trod !

As a number of you have expressed an interest in my garden antics this past couple of weeks, here's the before and after pics. I've taken a whole series which I might turn into a slide show for you. The last turf was laid Saturday morning 11am. If anyone wants some spare lawn I've nine square metres going begging. Just ask!

Training to relax!!

Our day on the trains began at Brundall. We knew the train was coming when they closed the crossing gates. From Norwich we then got the Wherry Line train to Sheringham. Grace couldn't understand why the train went backwards from Cromer. Hard to explain to a two year old!

When we got to Sheringham the Black Prince was just getting up steam. In fact, I've since been told by Mel the platform supervisor at Weybourne that it was J15 and NOT the Black Prince. The controls look simpler than the usual steam engine. We went to Holt pulled by the red engine (do you know the class?) They topped up the water tank before leaving us there. We looked around the station and shops and cafe then watched as the Black Prince arrived to take us back to Sheringham. You can't visit the seaside without having fish and chips then a drink at a seaview pub.
We visited the MO museum with all the old lifeboats and Grace loved the workmans toolshop. What did we de before power tools? From the watchtower we could see the fishing boats returning and so we went to the promenade where Grace could get a closer view as they hauled the boats across the beach.

There was a delay on the return train because of a signalling problem but as the weather was so nice it meant we just had to have another ice cream while we waited. A tired little girl slept most of the way to Norwich but by the time we'd boarded our last train home she was bright as a button again! I think someone wants a train set for Christmas - probably daddy!

THE VIDEO WILL BE POSTED UP THIS WEEK.