Birdies, beasties and hedgerow bounty!

First big day trip of the hols and we made for one of our favourite birding places (Cley Marshes and Visitor Centre - worth a visit just to play with their remote control camera!) to see something special...
Off along the boardwalk to the hides... my goodness things have changed since I began coming here as a teenager - a quarter century and now you can get close to the birds with not a spec of mud touching your boots!
But the views are as stunning as ever and we feel so lucky that the beautiful boy is as happy as us to quietly sit and watch what nature has to offer.
I caught this flight of geese but completely failed to photograph a large group of Spoonbill! The largest group to visit the marsh since 1940, and there's a fine picture here. The boy was distinctly underwhelmed! He prefers the Egyptian Geese.
Off around the coast to where daddy spent many of his schoolboy summers. Rockpool dancing at West Runton, one of those activities where, love 'em or hate 'em, Crocs are the best footwear for the job!
And today a fantastic day of frisbee, ball games and dodging showers back at Castle Acre and some bug hunting and plant shopping at the beautiful West Acre gardens.

and a wonderful hedgerow discovery... nothing exciting here?
Oh yes there was! 1.5 kilos of beautiful sweet Wild Gooseberries! Lucky day! Chutney or Curd? Curd or Chutney? Oh such tricky decisions to look forward to later this week!
I've even had time for a little owl play. I finally finished a couple of Rosys. One is in my store but I'm also building up my stock ready for the Little Vintage Lover fair at Heydon on August 2nd! I'm really looking forward to a lovely day out!
And I've been playing with our new owl designs... but too late at night to get any good pictures!
Another day out tomorrow - more birds, more beasts... and no doubt more picnics in the rain! Don't you just love British Summertime! t.x