All the Fun of the Fair

Despite not looking forward to an outing to Great Yarmouth, I had a surprisingly fun day. It is a Norfolk seaside town that is a smaller, down-market version of Las Vegas. It is certainly an amusing place to do some serious people watching. It was a wet and windy day so, wearing raincoats, we braved the roller coaster, waltzers, haunted house, snails and the vintage merry-go-round horses. The children lost money on the grabbing machines and the addictive 2p pushers. They were amazed that I could throw darts and delighted when I won a goldfish in a small tank. After a cheap supper on the market of chips, mushy peas and cockles, we went to a cinema that seemed to be trapped in a time warp to watch "Transformers 3".  

I am sorry to say that the little fish only survived for two days so it had to be given a funeral complete with requiem and gravestone. It is probably just as well since it would have been very sloshed around on a 500 mile trip back to Scotland. Perhaps we should have taken the moral high ground and not entered a game where the prize was alive but at the time it seemed like a traditional thing to do on a family trip to the funfair. The tub of fish food cost more than the entry fee so the children are hoping for a replacement from our local pet shop.

The weather was not that great for camping and we were glad that we had brought extra blankets. We were very lucky to have sunshine when we hired a boat for a day trip on the Norfolk Broads. Because the boat was electric, we saw plenty of wildlife including several swans that swam right up to see if we would like to share our picnic. We moored up at a remote riverside pub to sample some locally brewed ale. Fergus has decided that he would like a boat when he grows up so that he can moor up, drink some beer and go to sleep for the afternoon.

I snipped loose threads, applied hot crystals and painted some details on 3 yurt panels that I had taken with me as I was worried about finishing them in time for the FOQ deadline on my return. They still have to have their sleeves & labels done and a few more finishing touches but they are almost there. I visited a group of quilters in Chedgrave where my Mother is a member and they were very complimentary about the panels, especially the Hare which I have now officially declared finished. While they tacked their raffle quilt for hand sewing, I helped to make the tea.

 We all enjoyed spending time with family and going on trips to the beach or outdoor swimming pool. The climate in East Anglia is a few degrees warmer than NE Scotland so we often ate outside. It would be nice to have a holiday cottage there. Camping is all very well but everyone was secretly glad when the tent got packed away and we spent the last night in real beds again. We were weary after an 11 hour drive in the Landy but it felt good to be home. After a day of washing it will be time to start making To Do lists again...