Walton on the Naze

Yesterday we made the most of the sunshine and had a family day out to Walton on the Naze, apart from Rachel, who came here on a geography field trip last year, none of us had been before. As we drove up the A12 we seemed to leave the warmth of the sunshine behind us and by the time we arrived in Walton it was a little overcast and rather blustery. We parked on the sea front and walked into town.

Walton, for the those of you that don't know, is a small seaside town in north Essex. It was a little like stepping back in time and even Rachel commented on how it felt like being in the 60's!

The town itself is a bit run down, which is a shame, but I'm sure in the height of the summer it is bustling with people enjoying the beach.

We headed straight for Yate's fish and chip shop, which Paul had read about on Trip Advisor, we weren't disappointed, the fish and chips were freshly cooked and delicious! Needless to say we tucked in rather swiftly which is why there isn't a photograph!

After lunch we headed back to the sea front where we were hoping to spend a little time on the beach but it was almost high tide and there wasn't much beach left....

The seagulls enjoyed someones leftover crusts,

and Tomas was determined to get as close to the water as possible....he did eventually end up with wet socks!

There were lots of photo opportunities with the crashing waves.

and although it was cold the water was still very tempting.

 Eventually we find a bit more beach to explore,

Tomas and I found lots of sea glass amongst the pebbles and shells

we were quite pleased with our treasures but the others were getting a bit wind swept and chilly so it was time to head back to the car and make our way up the coast to the Naze.

The Naze is a headland just a mile north of the town and is home The Naze Tower and a small nature reserve. We headed down these steps to the seawall and walked along the cliff defences, the cliff are eroding rapidly and without the defences the Tower would end up falling into the sea.

 

It was a great place for wave photographs.

Tomas was a little disappointed as this is supposed to be THE place for finding sharks teeth and fossils but with high tide at it's peak we weren't able to get onto the beach.

We headed back up the cliff steps and were lucky to find that The Naze Tower was open and that we could climb to the top.

There is a tiny tea room at the bottom of the tower and 111 steps to climb, with platforms at regular intervals showcasing the work of local artists. Tomas clambered up the narrow spiral staircase as only a six year old can, I on the other hand could have done with a rest about three quarters of the way up but Tomas was determined to get to the top.

It was definitely worth the climb as the 360 degree views were spectacular.

Rachel and Jack decided to head back down and Tomas and I waited to see them as they headed back to the car.

The flag at the top of the tower has taken a bit of a battering since it was hoisted a bit like my hair by the end of the day which felt wonderfully salty and windswept.

The climb back down the staircase was a more leisurely affair, with time to stop and look at the artwork

and look out of the windows,

before reaching ground level and heading home.

We had a fabulous day out and will definitely be returning to find those illusive sharks teeth.

P.S Today is the last day to put your name down for the cracker swap in my last post. 

Cracker Swap

They say absence makes the hearts grow fonder, so I'm hoping that a few of you have missed me just a little bit! No excuses, just a busy life, probably like the rest of you. 

I'm hoping things will settle down after Christmas and I can get back to blogging regularly and taking part in more swaps.

Talking of swaps do you think it's too late to run my 

Cracker Swap???

It would be lovely if I could and if you haven't taken part before and are wondering what on earth I'm talking about here's how it works.

Each of us will make a fabric Christmas Cracker filled with goodies 

1) Take a kitchen roll tube (much roomier and nicer than a toilet roll!)

2) Fill your tube with goodies (you're be surprised how much you can fit in!) I think it would be great to include your favourite Christmas joke or recipe!

3) Wrap you filled tube in some lovely Christmassy fabric and tie the ends with ribbon

4) Send your completed fabric Christmas cracker on it's merry way to your swap partner

5) Receive a gorgeous fabric Christmas cracker stuffed with goodies and a lovely piece of fabric too!

*****

Suggestions to fill your kitchen roll

sewing and crafting goodies in the way of buttons, ribbons and threads, needles and pins, stickers, beads, charms and lots more

Christmas chocolates, sweets etc

pampering goodies like nail varnishes, bath bombs, soaps etc

something handmade (as long as it fits in the tube! Although it could also be wrapped around the tube underneath the fabric too!)

key rings, brooches, earrings etc

A favourite Christmas joke

A favourite Christmas recipe

*****

SWAP RULES

This swap is open to UK and overseas bloggers

Last posting date for your Christmas cracker will be 15th December (before if you are posting overseas) - if for any reason you can't make that deadline please let your partner know. 

Blog about what you receive and what you have sent so we can all see your wonderful goodies.

I will set up a flicker group and post the link when I have partnered everyone up.

Right, I think that's everything, if you have any problems during the swap then please let me know, but bear in mind that I am only the organiser of this swap it is up to you and your partner to swap details, likes and dislikes etc and to arrange a time to swap (by the deadline hopefully). I do understand that sometimes things happen and if for whatever reason you can't take part in the swap and need to pull out then please let me and your partner know, it's so disappointing not to receive anything!

Here are some pics from previous cracker swaps

If you would like to join in please leave a comment below by the 

29th October 2014 and I will announce swap partners on the 31st.

Don't forget to let me know whether you prefer to post UK or are happy to post overseas 

xx 

Here is an image for your blog posts and a link (if I can get it to work!)

http://madaboutbagsuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/cracker-swap.html

My Little Street Urchin

On Wednesday Tomas' school held a Victorian day where all the children, staff and parent helpers dressed in victorian clothes and met Florence Nightingale. Looking at all the things that Tomas made he had a whale of a time. 

Here he is dressed as a street urchin complete with dirty face.

and here are my favourite makes of the day, a victorian birthday card painted by Tomas and a gold locket with a picture of his Dad and a lock of hair! For those of you that have seen photos of Paul he has a number one haircut all over and is ginger so I'm not entirely sure whose hair that is!!!

Back to School and a Birthday Celebration

Today all three of my children went back to school

this was about the best picture I could get of them!!!

Today was also Jack's 15th Birthday

presents at this age are minimal when money is wanted instead.

We did enjoy a delicious meal out tonight although he was a little embarrassed when the waitress bought his apple pie out complete with candles and we all say happy birthday!!!

Here is the birthday boy tucking into his ribs, he has turned a little camera shy so wouldn't even look at the camera, and although I would love to share some of his baby and toddler photos with you I know he wouldn't be very happy with me so this one will have to do.

He is a son to make his parents proud and is growing into a wonderful young man.

Happy Birthday Jacko!

P.S Thank you for you helpful comments on my last post, thankfully I swapped today's fasting day to Wednesday so I was able to enjoy some delicious food tonight but I do have to say I'm finding the fasting days easier than the non fasting days at the moment, calorie counting to 500 is so much easier than to 1200, or is that just me?

The beginning......

As today is the 1st of September I thought it would be a good time to begin blogging again. I've been a bit absent and I have missed my little corner of blogland. I'm way behind on my blog reading but am hoping to catch up on all your posts very soon.
Paul and I have also decided to use this day to start on the 5:2 diet. Have any of you tried it? Do you know any good meal plans for the fasting days.
We have never dieted before just tried to eat healthily but I think our portion size is a little bit haphazard and as I'm now in my mid forties I don't seem to able to keep the weight off!
We have spent quite a bit of the day using the my fitness pal app to work out the calories of foods so that we can stay within the 500/600 (me/him) calories for the fasting days.
We were surprised to see there were quite a few things we could have, which is great.
So how have I done on my first fast day?? Not too bad actually, it was easier than I thought and I didn't miss my gazillion cups of tea as much as I thought I would (I only had two cups today).
Evenings are my worst time as I like to sit and watch a bit of TV and then get a little peckish and once I start picking I don't seem to be able to stop!! Anyone have any goods tips other than Paul's suggestion of a Hannibal Lector mask!!
Now the evenings are drawing in I will try and finish some of my crochet projects and hopefully this will help to stop the picking.
I'm going to try and stay within 1200 calories on the non fast days but I do have a sweet tooth so will need to keep an eye on this. That said there's nothing wrong with the odd treat is there. Lol!

Our next fast day is Thursday and we will see how that goes!

I have lots of makes to share with you too, so my posts won't be all about food or the lack of it!
I have been very busy over on my facebook page and I am also taking part in lots of crafty swaps so I'm looking forward to receiving lots of happy mail in the post.

Okay I'm off to watch the rest of Big Brother before hitting the sack, nighty night xx




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Le Tour de France

Yesterday we were lucky enough to see Le Tour de France as is passed through the Essex countryside. 

We had road side seats as a friends house was on the route through Chelmsford and had organised a BBQ for around 60 friends and family.

With the main route roads closed we took to the back lanes and I was amazed at how many people were making their way to watch, some walking, lots on bikes and many like us in cars trying to get as close as we could before parking up and walking the rest of the way. 

   The children had lots of fun on the bouncy castle before La Caravane Publicitaire arrived.

Boy, did they go through fast!!!

There was lots of waving and cheering as the different sponsors passed through the village throwing sweets and freebies out to the crowds.

The Haribo cars were a bit hit!

There was then a long wait before the actual cyclists would be arriving so we all went back inside for a BBQ and some delicious food.

All the while we were keeping an eye on the TV to see how far away the peleton was and before we knew it, it was time to get back outside to watch the main event.

The first sign of any action was the arrival of five helicopters zigzagging they way towards us and then "they" arrived.....

and although they weren't travelling as fast at La Caravane Publicitaire 

the cyclists whizzed past within a matter of seconds!!!

19 seconds to be precise!

As soon as it was all over we raced inside to watch ourselves on TV, cheering as we saw ourselves, we were very lucky that we were actually on as apparently the adverts in between the race were very long and lots of villages missed out.

A super fun day all round.