Category Archives: Rural Diary

My life in rural Suffolk. The wildlife around my home, the weather that affects what I do, my family and the people I meet.

13th January 2014

13 Mon Jan 2014

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I have been so busy for the past ten days I have had no time to add anything to my blog. The post-Christmas clear-up took ages and then I had to catch up on jobs that had been put to one side during the holiday. I am almost back to normal now and have time to write a brief resumé of the things that have happened recently.
Sat 4th Jan:A wet and windy day again. R and I went to the Rector’s Coffee Morning which he holds on the first Saturday of every month. We took a couple of things for the Bring and Buy stall and bought a book and some home-made marmalade (Rector’s special recipe with whisky!) We also won a pair of neon yellow gloves and some chocolate in the raffle – hmmm! An enjoyable event as usual where we heard all the gossip and had a laugh. Went on to the farm shop where we bought strong wholemeal flour. They stock Pakenham Water Mill flour which is the most beautiful silky flour and makes the best bread I have ever tasted.
Sun 5th Jan: A beautiful sunny still morning for a change. R and I decided to walk to church this morning. The Eucharist service was at St Margaret’s which is the church nearest to us (a mile away) but is not our parish church which is a mile and a half away – we live on the parish border. Despite the sun there was still ice on the road. 2nd Sunday in Christmas, so we had our last chance to sing carols. Lovely birdsong on the way home and we looked at the Jacob sheep in the field opposite the end of our lane. A cloudy afternoon during which I cleaned and sterilised all my bird tables and feeders.
Mon 6th Jan: Epiphany and all the decorations to be taken down and put away. I would like to be able to keep the crib out until Candlemas on 2nd Feb with the figures of the Kings offering their gifts to the Christ Child but it would mean two trips up to the loft and the thought of that is too off-putting when we are tired. The day started windy and wet but by afternoon was bright, sunny and mild. The birds were not at all interested in the clean feeders I had put out. They would much rather have stinky dirty mouldy ones I think! R and I went to the Epiphany Eucharist this evening where incense was burnt to commemorate the frankincense given to the boy Jesus.
Wed 8th Jan: Our last remaining goldfish died today at the grand old age of ten.
Fri 10th Jan: A frosty night and a calm sunny day. Shopped in the morning and then spent the afternoon preparing fruit for the freezer. I have no time and no inclination for preserve making at the moment so I’ve put all in the freezer for later – much later, I am sure, knowing me! Youngest daughter went for a walk down the lane and was chased by a small dog. Why won’t people keep their dogs under control? E also had to leap into the hedge to avoid an HGV which thundered down the lane then up again. HGVs, some with trailers, have become such a menace in recent years. They are as wide, if not wider, than the lanes: they break the banks and verges down and cause terrible damage. The mud from the sides is spread across the road by their wheels making it dangerous and messy to walk and drive along. Everyone living in the country has filthy cars at the moment – it isn’t worthwhile spending time cleaning the mud off when we know that within minutes of setting off our cars will be muddy again. Farm traffic is enormous too and also causes mess and damage.
Sat 11th Jan: It is our turn this month to clean our church so R and I spent a couple of hours this afternoon doing our duty. Our church is a lovely place and nearly a thousand years old. However it is in such a bad state of repair and we have no money to do any work on it. It is damp and has woodworm – the roof leaks and the windows need repairing. It is so cold in the church in the winter despite some electric under-pew heaters. Condensation and penetrating water drip on one during services. Bats live in the church and cause so much damage but they have nowhere else to go as all the old barns have been done up and converted into modern residences.
Sun 12th Jan: A frosty morning. Drove to St James church for the Eucharist service this morning. Very cold but enjoyable service. Home for lunch then out again to our church, Rumburgh, for the Plough Blessing service. This takes place on the first Sunday after Epiphany. A local farming family has a lovely old plough which they bring to the church and decorate with ribbons. This is blessed during a short service which is thought to ensure food for the coming year. The following day, Plough Monday, traditionally is the first day when work on the fields is recommenced after Christmas. I will include a picture of the plough in my next blog. Made apple cake when I got home. A delicious Mary Berry recipe. R and I had a small slice each and E had the rest over the next 24 hours!

Winter Weather

03 Fri Jan 2014

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Not as windy overnight as forecast but very heavy rain about 8 o’clock in the morning. Fortunately this didn’t last long and by nine o’clock the sky was clearing and the rest of the morning was quite beautiful. I had some shopping to do in Beccles, a town about eleven miles away. Not much traffic on the road so I got there quite quickly. By the time I had finished my shopping the sky had clouded over and the wind had picked up again. I really enjoy driving on the road between Beccles and Bungay. It usually doesn’t have much traffic on it so I travel at about 50 or 60 mph. The road rises and falls and the views from the tops of the hills down into and across the Waveney Valley are good. Today, the clouds were purple-black and I could see the mist of falling rain in the distance. It began to thunder and lighten and I drove into heavy rain which quickly changed to sleet and hail. The roads in Bungay had a lot of surface water on them and then as I got on to the hill out of the town I had to drive on roads covered in a layer of hail stones which were very slippery. The temperature dropped from 9 degrees C to 4 degrees in just a few minutes. The afternoon continued cold and showery but at nightfall the sky cleared and a new moon and stars appeared in the sky. Quite a windy evening.

My Home

03 Fri Jan 2014

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My house is a typical eighties-built one: red-brick, grey roof, nothing special, quite plain. It is easy to maintain but set out a little strangely with the kitchen, utility room and downstairs cloakroom at the front of the house and the living room and dining room at the back. There is an unusable conservatory opening out of the living room – leaky, too cold in winter and too hot in the summer. The house was designed by the people who owned the field on which it is built. They liked to eat their breakfast looking out on to the road at any passing walkers or traffic and wanted to relax in their sitting room looking out over the fields at the back.
Our plot of land is almost an ‘L’ shape, the upright going from (nearly) south to north (top to bottom) and the base from east to west. The house is at the top of the ‘upright’, the front of the house facing ESE and the back to the WNW. The kitchen with windows on two sides has sunshine almost all day long in the summer; the living room behind it, also with windows on two walls is full of sunshine from just before midday until sunset. The garden wraps round the edge of a large field used for arable crops – wheat, barley, peas, beans. We have ditches all round the garden except where it adjoins the field, so we are almost moated but not quite. We also have hedges all round except for the part that adjoins the field at the base of the ‘L’ shape. This means a lot of work for my poor husband who has to cut these hedges a couple of times a year. We are also responsible for the ditches too – making sure they are clear and draining well. Most of the base of the ‘L’ is taken up by a large pond with a tiny island on it. We have a grassy path around it, open to the south-westerly gales coming off the open field on one side and much more sheltered on the other side with lots of trees and scrubland between us and another lane and also a couple of our neighbours. We have another two ponds – one is at the front of the house and is part of the ditch and the other, which needs a lot of work doing to it, is at the back of the house. We have planted a few fruit trees and a few ornamental trees up near the house and we have started putting trees along the edge of the garden without hedge which abuts the field. We have a couple of vegetable plots and a greenhouse and a few small flower beds but most of the garden is laid to grass. We moved here in April 2006 and had hoped to do much more to the house and garden by this time. However, my husband’s work has taken him away from home so much in the last few years and ill health and other problems have meant that it has taken us all our spare time to keep things as they are and no time for innovations.
Now that I have described where I live and a little of what it looks like I will begin my blog.

My Suffolk Lane

02 Thu Jan 2014

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I intend this blog to describe what life is like for me living in a Suffolk lane.  It will be a diary of sorts; the weather, the changing seasons, the great pleasures and the great inconveniences of living here. 

I live in a detached house with a large garden in a small hamlet in North Suffolk – the Waveney Valley – the border land between Suffolk and Norfolk.  The three nearest towns, all small market towns, are all about twenty minutes drive away.  The nearest place where supplies can be bought is a small shop attached to a pub about four miles away.  Any specialist shopping has to be done in Norwich or Ipswich.  We prefer Norwich as it is easier to get there from where we live.  Public transport is scant.  There are a couple of dial-a-ride bus companies who will collect from your door, but the nearest bus stop is a couple of miles away and buses are few and far between.  The nearest railway station ( please note that I do not use the words ‘train station’ ) is in one of the market towns where an hourly service takes us north to Lowestoft or South to Ipswich on a single track.  Until very recently the service was every two hours but a passing loop has been put in at Beccles which has improved things greatly.  If we need to get to London or Norwich and don’t wish to change at Ipswich/Lowestoft we drive to Diss, a market town thirty-five minutes drive away (unless stuck behind a tractor or a slow convoy of lorries when we might be travelling for forty-five minutes or more).  We tend to drive everywhere and are lucky enough to own two cars.  My husband works and has a company car which he will have to give back when he retires in eighteen months time.  Our nearest large hospitals are at Lowestoft, Ipswich and Norwich and it takes us about three-quarters of an hour to get there.  There are cottage hospitals in most of the market towns and medical centres in all of them.

There is not much for young people to do, unless they enjoy walking or have the money to pay for horse-riding or other country pursuits.  Parents spend a lot of their time driving their children to different venues or friends’ houses, as do parents all over the country, but the distances are so great as the catchment areas for the schools are enormous.  Older young people who can afford to drive cars or bikes can cope but those who cannot are often bored or lonely. 

East Anglia as a whole is a very cultured place with many theatres, concert halls, music and dramatic societies etc., but again, you have to be able to travel a fair distance to take advantage of them.  The coast is about nine miles from where we live and we enjoy walks there whenever we can.  Winter walks are especially pleasurable when the seaside towns aren’t crowded with visitors; however when we walked at Southwold a few days ago on one of the few dry days this winter, we found it difficult to find a parking place.  We love visiting Minsmere, the RSPB reserve near to us and there are areas of the coast owned by the National Trust and other organisations where we walk regularly.  When our daughters were young we often went to Orford and Framlingham castles.
My husband and I attend the local church and our social life revolves around it and the friends we have made there. We get on well with our neighbours as is necessary in a fairly remote and sparsely populated area.
I love the remoteness, the quiet and the beauty of the place I live in and would wish to spend the rest of my days here.