Friday 29 April

Today’s excursion was to Minsmere, a coastal nature reserve bird sanctuary. It was about an hour’s drive from Steve’s place. Several different trail walks to go on, with elevated hides along the way so you could keep a watch for the birds and easily take photos. It was a nice sunny morning but we did have a cool wind. It was nice to get out and walk along the coast and through the wetlands. 

Some of the birds we saw: Avocet, Egret, Marsh Harrier and Godwit.

Next, we were all getting hungry so we headed to The Ship (a pub) at Dunwich for some tasty fish and chip’s. 

Then it was back home for a rest before going to Simon and Zoe’s for tea. We also got to see Lydia (my 15 month old great niece) before she went to bed. She was a little tired and was quite shy so we didn’t get to play.

Thursday 28 April

We all took a short drive this morning to visit Bury St Edmunds. Steve and Sue had booked us in for a visit and tour of the Greene King brewery at 11. There were four other people on the tour so it was a good number. The tour lasted about an hour and then we went to the bar for our tasting experience, in the words of our tour leader Maureen "the best part". We started off with three samples, Maureen said I don't need all this and proceeded to top up Ian's glass with part of hers - a good start for Ian. Once he'd gotten started Sue came and gave him her sample's too (unfortunately, Sue isn't a beer drinker). I hung on to my samples and tried them myself! Maureen then brought out several more beers for us to try. We ended the visit with a trip to the gift shop and bought more beers to drink at Steves. It was now 1:45 and we decided we better get some lunch and do some sightseeing. We found a nice Greek restaurant and had spanokopita, baclava and some good strong coffee.
We then walked around the old abbey grounds and the huge cathedral before heading back. We had a rest before heading out for dinner to one of the waterfront restaurants in Ipswich. We all enjoyed our meals and desserts and even managed to catch the last half of the Liverpool game on tv, it was the semi-final of the European League. Unfortunately they lost in the final minutes of the game so will have to do much better for the second leg next week.

Wednesday 27 April

Ian arrived yesterday, on time, which was nice. We picked up our little Renault Clio rental car, bright red so we can spot it in the parking lots. We were pleased to find that it has satnav so maybe we won't get lost as often.
We set off this nice sunny morning on our drive to Ipswich to visit my brother Steve and his wife Sue. We meandered through Cambridgeshire and I was interested in this area because my great grandmother was from here. It's mostly agricultural and very flat. We stopped at Ely for lunch and had a look around, it's a nice small, old town, lots of interesting streets and buildings. We visited the cathedral and I asked to see the Bomber Command stained glass window they have. This window was installed to remember the many lives of the airmen who were stationed not far from here during WWII. They flew over Ely on their way back from missions and it was always a welcome sight, they knew they were nearly home safely. They have four books with the names of everyone who didn't make it back. I asked to see my uncle Jack's name and they opened the book to the page with his name for me. We then continued on to Ipswich to start our visit with Steve.

Fri. 22nd April

Went on a bus trip to Southport yesterday (Southport is on the west coast of England, not too far from Liverpool. We used to go there when we were kids and play on the beach, it wasn't too far from where we lived. The bus picked us up quite early (7:45) and then went picking up other folks in various parts of town. Finally got on our way about 9:15 and headed for our destination. It was another gorgeous day, sunshine and blue skies - perfect to be by the seaside. We got there about 11:30 and went for a coffee and toasted teacake first. We found a nice open air cafe so we sat in the sunshine and enjoyed it. We then went walking around, did the front, seaside area and did the shops last. We had fish and chips for lunch (they always taste best at the seaside). Before leaving for the return trip we got some take out sandwiches from Marks & Spencer so we could have our tea on the bus home. We left at five and got back home about 7:30, so a long day but plenty of sun and fresh air.

Tuesday 19 April, 2016

Well, I've been in Jolly Olde England for a week now. Apart from a bit of rain when I arrived I haven't been rained upon again . . . yet. The weather has been a mix of cloud and lovely blue skies and sunshine, not overly warm but I guess with a little patience that will come.
I've sauntered through my first week, had a shopping trip to Marks & Spencer, and two visits to the archives. Spent Saturday together with Mum and my cousin Kay, a bit of shopping and out for lunch.
Mum and I have been to the Ecclesfield church coffee morning today. The church looked lovely, lots of daffodils in flower.