SHERINGHAM DIARY NO 125 - Guess Whose Coming To Town

We were in Norwich just coming back from seeing a friend off at the rail station, and returning to collect the car from the multi-story car park in St Andrews. Two female street beggars were sat very very worse for wear on the pavement near the entrance. Slumped against each other like abandoned floppy dolls for support. One was sound asleep head down, resting into the cleft her cloths and breasts made, sagging as though she were this lifeless puppet that had been laid aside. The other woman lent hard against her, one hand precariously holding a mobile phone near to her ear. The other hand held a paperback book splayed open against her chest. It was a Anthony Horowitz murder mystery novel called, some what prophetic I felt - Close To Death.  

Ceremic Bowl For Our Fountain 

As I've written about before, I've been repairing and remaking the patio in our back garden. There are still a few planks in the decking which are a far too springy for my liking. I suspect at least one of them wont make it through the Summer before collapsing. But I have completed revamped one side area, that gets little sunlight, so consequently not a lot grows well there. Reorienting one large trough so it gets more sunlight. I'm going to transfer some grasses from our front garden to fill it out more. I've made a trellis more effectively conceal an ugly old coal bunker. Recently we bought a small fountain to go in one corner inside a ceramic bowl, and some fancy gravel to cover the fractured uneven concrete in front of it. I'm really pleased with the result. So, hopefully I can now sign off on this area, at least for a short while

Though nowhere local to us, this one is not quite a play on words shop sign, but its byline underneath is a bit of a gem.

As this years tourist season slowly cranks up after the Easter watershed, we look expectantly towards the shops that have laid empty since last autumn's seasons close. And we play-  guess whose coming to town. The moment some activity is detected within the site,and they start being fitted say, then our expectations build over what this will turn out to be. Nine times out of ten it will be another cafe or takeaway, pretty much the generic standard that adds nothing new or fresh in terms of culinary range to the high street. 

An old betting shop that's lain empty for eighteen months or so, is about to reopen as a new Priscilla Bacon Charity Shop, Hubby's old employer from before we opened our shop. which is not great news either. An old Harris & James outlet that the landlord took back because they failed to pay the rent, is currently being refitted, and we are in a fizz of speculation over what it will turn out to be. All the portents, based only on the recycled wood boarding that's appeared on one wall, are that this will be some sort of cafe/takaway. If so, do we care? Not really. We never dare to raise our hopes, as Sheringham's retail offering repeatedly fails to proffer anything other than - more of the same.

Its the week of Chelsea Flower Show and the BBC, as ever, is going completely bonkers with the amount of programming it devotes to this haven for the aspirational middle class. We recently watched the opening episode which was obviously aimed at an afternoon audience. Presenters just keeping it lite and trite, and persist with their gibberish in the hope that something meaningful might slip out through the copiousness of its verbiage. Unfortunately, it just as often gives you a classic bit of mock profundity. In this episode a very animated woman in a strikingly lime green trouser suit was blathering on at an obviously more knowledgeable gardener, when she came out with the immortal phrase - 'Water, you can't beat it' - Hubby and I have already turned this into a regular mocking catch phrase.   

A good friend of ours Saddharaja came up for a weekend. He hasn't been up to see us for a couple of years, so it was a real pleasure to be in his company again. We had a number of wide ranging conversations, whilst we did get out and about a bit. 

Jesus Takes Off

A Celestial Gathering Of Ugly Babies

Shrine In The Woods

A trip to Walsingham to view the shrine there, and a lunch in the ever excellent Read & Digest. And a journey into Norwich to the Castle Museum to see the painting collection there of Cotman, Crome and Munnings. These paintings all would benefit from a good clean and re-varnish, One's impression of them as they are now, is of a symphony in brown, which does them a disservice. 

There was also a retrospective exhibition of the work of Norfolk based pop artist Colin Self. His work is extremely eclectic and wide ranging, a lot of it I'd say does not stand the test of time. You don't get much sense of him developing a stylistic focus, he's far too much of a magpie for that. Though there is some lovely stuff in the exhibition, it felt generally a little underwhelming.

In Cromer, near the front is a new self service beach type hut, where tourists can wash their dogs and dry them off after they've been messily rolling about in the sea and sand. It is currently my absolute favourite shop name - Hairy Styles Dog Wash.