A Lovely Time in Whitby.

We set off early Sunday morning the roads were empty and it was warm and sunny. Whitby was packed as it was their Regatta weekend, we got a parking spot outside our B&B as someone was just leaving.we couldn't believe our luck.
Many years ago it was all about boats and boat racing, now a fun fair comes for just one day and sets up on the pier and they have market stalls all along the sea front. The fair comes in the night before at 10pm and all the roads are closed to allow the big trucks the space to get in. Half the town turns out to watch the spectacle plus all the visitors. It is quite a big event for such a small town and it seems a lot for only one day but all the kids were excited.
We queued and dined at the Magpie, excellent fish and chips, they now have a takeaway and a very good little shop in the town selling kitchen stuff. They have really expanded since I was last here.
Monday we awoke to heavy rain, well it is Whitby, but we had come prepared. After a wonderful hearty full English breakfast we set out to see the parade. The rain soon cleared and it became hot and sunny. It did my heart good to know that bits of English culture that I remember from my childhood still live on and that computer games haven't completely taken over the world??
By 12 noon the day trippers had arrived and you couldn't walk, the place was heaving. We left and drove to Robin Hoods Bay the next small village down the coast. A beautiful picturesque little place but you need mountaineering skills to get in and out of the village. How they managed in the 17 and 18hundreds with horses and carts I will never know. It was really busy there, the tide was out, it is a huge rocky bay and was full of families fishing in the pools with small square nets on bamboo canes. The kids were in their elements.
I expected the place to be half empty but again it was probably another sign of how many people are taking their holidays in England this year?
We arrived home tired Monday evening, Michael had a burnt head as he had forgotten to take a cap and the sun was strong? We forget that the sun here can burn especially by the seaside.
I wilt reading Fuads blog at the temps and humidity they have. I know our weather is varied??? but as I have got older I can deal with ours much better than the constant sun and heat that he has. I think it is easier to warm up than it is to cool down. I love our long summer days rain and all, it is just January and February that I would like some sun on my bones.
I was also excited that my heel was ok after walking around all day,albeit at a gentle pace but I can still only wear my Birkenstocks.
Michael is still knackered bless him. I think he has lived on his adrenalin for the past year tooing and froing from Turkey, the Carribean and Australia. He now has nothing to do football wise so has probably just sagged and is relaxing for the first in a long time?
I started typing this at 4-30am as I couldn't sleep. It is now 5-30am, yes I know I am a slow typist, it looks like a good day however rain is forcast for later on.
Today is Sheilas birthday.Happy Birthday to you etc. They have gone over the border to stay at Gina and Andrews in Lancashire to celebrate it. The last I knew Poppy had gone missing and it was raining. Sheila has been put off buns for life after her stint as a judge and having to taste all the cakes and produce at the Alford Show. It probably could be seen as a form of torture to some but not others??
Sandra didn't do her blog this Sunday. It has been such a long time she will probably need retraining??? I know S&S are both knackered after the seminar and are just getting back into some routine again but your blogs are missed Sandra, there is so much for us to catch up on from down under.
We are currently harvesting peas, beans, potatoes, onions both red and white, lettace, cucumber,garlic,fennel,cabbages,early tomatoes and salad leaves.All of which are wonderful and have been helped by the rain and warmth to grow very well this year.
The sun is up,I am going to make a cup of tea and go back to bed.
Good Morning All.