The wonderful colours and individuality of Essex beach huts

Warnings of a surge tide with high flood risk got us to run through a furniture moving scenario, and we had a great spring clean!

Luckily the surge coincided with mid tide and by the time the tide was high, the 2m surge had reduced to a couple of foot and thankfully remained below the flood defences – still a rough and lumpy estuary and just to the right of the centre of the photo you can see the Lightship LV18 heeling badly to starboard in the high winds. Hats off to the Environment Agency and our emergency services who were on guard to keep us all safe throughout the three days of threatened floods

I built the framework in the space left after the chimney and hearth dismantling, with 4×2″ and other wood donated by Steve from The Globe and Howard, and the insulation is in

Finally the floor boards are in. Now to ‘dot & dab’ the plasterboard onto the bricks…. then on to the kitchen chimney breast, oh yeah!

Amazing graffiti next door to where I used to work in Spitalfields. I went down to meet a lovely pal Marge for lunch in mid January and caught up over a cup of tea with an old colleague Mohammed  Yahouaoui who has the most vowels in a surname ever

Is this the party of the illiterate or a weird farmyard jive club? This place has popped up round the corner from our cottage, much to the embarrassment of many locals. We are an International Port after all. The gaudy signage knows no discretion, though the misspelling caused much laughter 

The best two loaves of home made bread yet, based on a wonderful recipe very kindly shared by a lady Clive occasionally delivers to in Aldeburgh, whose grandfather was a master baker in Austria – amazing

Cassie the fun mutt leapt onto the bar stool to chat up Duncan at at the Harwich Town Sailing Club…. “Where’s my biscuits?” Her fur rivals my winter Hagrid coat

Distant Drum is out of the water at Titchmarsh Marina, ready for her antifouling on her bottom and other maintenance. Clive & Howard sailed her round from Harwich just after the surge, which she rode out well on the River Stour, bow plunging in and out of the choppy waters, whilst we worriedly braved the icy winds on shore to check she was safe through our binoculars. We watched a yacht which had slipped its mooring circling gently up the river, before being lashed and towed back to safety by a Harwich Haven Pilot Boat