Zither

I planned to go photograph the coal barn at Thornham at sunrise, as there was also a very high tide of 9.1m. I woke up very early and thinking it through I realised that the tide would be on its way out by sunrise, and as conditions were therefore not optimal for the shot I was wanting to get, I went back to sleep! I woke up again at sunrise and it was not a spectacular one so did not feel bad about not going out.

After breakfast we went for a walk from Burnham Overy Staithe out along the sea defence wall above the sea marshes to Holkham beach. It was grey and gloomy when we left home but when we arrived at Burnham Overy Staithe there was some lovely light and blue skies for about an hour, before it disappeared again, so I took photos of the boats in the staithe. We had a good walk, but it got windy and cold so I was pleased I had packed a woolly hat. Zither sits in the staithe all year round and is not taken out the water for winter as is the usual practice. In extras you can see the sea marshes with the sea beyond that. Norfolk is very flat with the sea, then the seas marshes and then the land so along this section of the North Norfolk coast it is not possible to have houses overlooking the sea.

After our walk we went into Wells-next-the-Sea for lunch. As we got out the car in the car park Xena suddenly got excited and started pulling on the lead to go investigate something she had seen - it was a hedgehog! It is unusual to see a hedgehog in daylight particularly in a tarred car park. It was trying to hide under the cars and I really hope it got out of there safely. We had planned to have a light meal at Wells Deli, but we noticed a new pizza place nearby called Flour Restaurant and when I saw that they serve gluten free pizzas we decided to try it. It was absolutely amazing, the best pizza I have had and the toppings were very different. They had an Ottolenghi styled pizza and the one I chose was called Hot Chick which was chicken with harissa. I had mine on a gluten free base which was absolutely delicious, you could not taste that it was GF and I also opted for vegan cheese as I cannot have lactose. We will definitely go back there again. 

By now it was grey and raining, so we went home. I had planned to go photograph the Christmas lights in Holt just after sunset, as they reputedly have one of the best displays, and they were scheduled to have their official switch on last night. We were debating whether to go or not as it was drizzling, cold and grey and is about a 40 minute drive each way. I googled the lights to see what they looked like this year, and just as well I did that as I saw the lights have been cancelled this year due to 'financial challenges', but that they would be back in 2025. Thank goodness I checked, I would have been annoyed if we had gone all the way there to find no lights! Ah well, we have lit the fire and Gavin is going to settle in and watch the rugby while I read my excellent book, its the new one by one of my favourite authors William Boyd, called Gabriel’s Moon.