One Man and his Dog go to Cley

Having been left to fend for myself yesterday, I decided that the dumb blonde and I should go to Cley for the day.  To be exact, I decided that a trip to WEX was in order (always a good idea), followed by lunch at Natural Surroundings - an excellent wildflower and wildlife centre on an old estate near Glandford, just inland from Cley.  As well as serving the brilliant combination of cheese and jalapeño peppers on toast (thoroughly recommended), Natural Surroundings is also an excellent place to buy bird food in bulk.  Better than I can get at my local supplier, and significantly cheaper.  Poor old Amber had to share the car with 80kg of seed on the way home, but she didn't seem to mind too much.  I am reminded of the quote from Mary Poppins when one of the children asks for 2d in order to buy a bag of food for the birds:

Fiddlesticks, boy!  Feed the birds and what have you got?  Fat birds!

But I digress...

Amber and I spent a very happy hour on the beach at Cley (of "not-quite-next-the-sea" fame), walking on the shingle and watching everyone else being energetic.  Some mad people were even swimming in the North Sea - rather them than me...

There was a time when Amber would have walked for miles along the beach, but she's now starting to get on a bit and arthritis in her elbow joints is really taking its toll.  She was still as enthusiastic as ever to be on the beach, though, and happy enough to walk (slowly) for two 25 minutes stretches with a 10 minute sit-down in the middle.  It really was a wonderful place to be on a Saturday afternoon, and reminds one that the simple pleasures in life are always the best.