“I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with N.”
We had circumnavigated the M25, the London orbital motorway, in a dreadful stop-start fashion and then followed the satnav into the wilderness up the M11.
Felix loves to play ‘I spy’ on these occasions. I had spied many things, during this lengthy journey. Water towers, bridges, windmills, you name it.
But as one delves deeper into Norfolk – England’s curvy behind, at the base of its spine- was it my imagination, or was the street furniture getting less?
Felix umm-ed and aah-ed over N. Was it inside or outside the car? He asked.
Both, I said. Neither.
I confessed eventually. N was for ‘ nothing’. The skies got bigger and broader, dwarfing any detail; and just when it seemed we could not travel a minute longer, We spotted a sign for our village. Three quarters of a mile away.
We found our accommodation: an ancient little terraced cottage with hollyhocks at its base. Its address includes ‘Off The Road’ as a formal line.
Small but perfectly formed, it is known as a cottage where dogs are welcome. Rose the golden lab stayed here last week, and a cairn terrier the week before. Thus Macaulay has been posturing and positioning, though their musk is all that is left, and if he met them in the street everyone would be huge friends.
The canny cottage owners have furnished the sitting room with a long low upholstered stool. It can accommodate a small dog, and the small dog is quietly delighted. He parked there soon after his arrival, and does not move from it for anything less than a walk or dinner.
The whole village is very, very old, but because I have no signal here I cannot, this morning, tell you how old. I’m guessing Saxon and older.The place is full of cobbledash houses, some thatched, of long barns with doors and windows bricked up which must have been open five hundred years ago. In the south I would have hazarded that this was once a monkish settlement; but Norfolk is famous for its wealthy farmers.
Long and low against the vast sky, the whole place looks out on a Constable cow field where cream-white cows chew the cud and appraise the new family and their cartoon dog as they amble by.
No wireless, and no signal. it’s going to be a quiet week, so apologies to my blogging friends.I shall write, but who knows when I shall post, or when I shall be able to visit my cyber friends?
I am in the back of beyond.
And about to sample the beach.
Kate Shrewsday 
Enjoy the peace and quiet offline
I did, Sidey, thanks 🙂
Have fun! Quite a transition – the bustle of New York one minute, and the next in the distant background of beyond and nowhere.
It really was quite a feat, Col, going from one to the other. Total quiet, stunning wildlife and countryside, steam trains and boats to see seals. And Macaulay with us the whole time. Fantastic.
How lovely. Enjoy yourself, Kate.
Thanks, Jamie!
OH PICK ME!!! I want to stay there too. but does it have a pub? Surely it has a wee pub for lunch, I loved english pubs at lunchtime.. Have a glorious time.. no signal is excellent! c
Hi Celi, no pub in that village: but plenty about two miles away. You are right. There is nothing quite like an English pub at lunchtime.
No signal is the new spa treatment.
Digital detox 😀 It was good to slow down for a little, Tammy.
Enjoy the “nothingness” muchly. 😀
I did, Nancy…. But not having access to the historical info on the web drove me NUTS.
I hope you enjoy your break, Kate.
It was educational, Andra 😀
sounds wonderful – good to have a complete break 😉 (however, you may get blog withdrawal syndrome)
I miss hearing how everyone is, that’s for sure – just coming round to catch up after I have answered my eleventy one comments 😀
I was thinking the same thing as colonialist. It was merely a week ago when you were traipsing all over Gotham City and now you’re on a forced vacation from the web, but at least Macaulay gets to go along for this journey. That seems like a nice trade-off.
It is the perfect foil to the NYC trip. We slowed right down, got rid of jet lag, and did almost nothing. Now we’re back, and leafing through the photos….it’s been quite a fortnight.
make the most of it Kate, we will all be here when you get back!
Thanks, Tandy!
The Norfolk horizon always has me fascinated, bemused and freaked. I wouldn’t call it nothingness though, there are always a great deal of novel and intriguing things to spot. Like the occasional hill. 🙂
😀 In fact, this part was quite hilly. Not sure if that was the doing of landscape architects and engineers, though. Amazing place.
I’m not surprised to hear Felix plays “I Spy.” His mother is so attuned to interesting details, things, and places (luckily for all of us).
Thank you, PT! Felix is obsessive about all games. He would play games all day, every day: cricket, monopoly, football, Cluedo, chess. The boy is an automaton. I Spy is part of his Long Journey repertoire.
“Cobbledash!” What a word! Have a marvelous beach week, Kate! Can’t wait to catch up on your New York posts!
Thanks Cameron! Hope Felix is enjoying school – if I have that right…
A perfect place to retreat to after four days in the Big Apple. Enjoy your bit of time on that bench. Sure you, and Macaulay, are glad to be reunited.
Thanks, Penny. Back now, and very glad to be home. But it was wonderful.
It sounds amazing, Kate. I’m so glad Mac is getting a vacation, too! And I hope you come to completely enjoy being “cut off” from the rest of us! We’ll still be here when the fresh and rested Kate returns. 🙂
Thanks, Debra: back now, full of stories from Norfolk.
Beach or blog …. definitely beach!
Ah, now, if you’re me, Hope, you might settle for beach AND blog. Writing about our days has become part of reflecting on them 🙂
Can I come sample the beach too?
Belle, one day I’d love you to see this coast. It is breathtaking.
It looks stunning!
I would have been happy to help with your connection issues Kate but I too was in the land of the Carrot Crunchers and Hedge Monkeys 😉
Jokes aside… Looks a great place to stay – we just went the premier inns route which worked for us. I don’t work internet when I’m away. I just pre-plan so I know where and what I need to cover if I’m silly enough to blog 😉
😀 Great plan, Martin…usually I get somewhere with wireless, but not this time. Ho hum. It was a little frustratin not being able to get the history of things with a touch of a button…I shall appreciate it all the more now I have returned to civilisation. Beautiful part of the world though. Stunning.