Friday 4 August 2017

Admitting Defeat

Thank you for all the good holiday wishes on my last post. You may be wondering why I'm posting today when I should still be on holiday, well, we finally admitted defeat yesterday and came home. I had hoped that we might get some decent weather, the forecast when we set off last Saturday looked mixed for the week ahead, but after the first couple of days it got steadily worse.

We were staying in a lodge in a small place called Anderby Creek on the Lincolnshire coast. We were really happy when we saw the lodge, it didn't look much from the outside but it was lovely inside and the outlook was fabulous. The garden was enclosed, so Archie was safe, and it was furnished really well. It's just a shame that we didn't have the weather to make full use of it.


Anderby Village was in the throws of hosting a scarecrow festival when we arrived last weekend, this hairy biker was my favourite.


Anderby Creek is a seaside hamlet a couple of miles north of Chapel St Leonards. There isn't much there, caravan sites and a couple of bars which also serve food, but it has a beautiful sandy beach. Sadly, we only made it on there once during the whole of our stay.

The lodge sits on a lake and we enjoyed watching the wildlife. A heron visited, looking for his supper I expect, at the start of the holiday but we didn't see him again after the first couple of days.


The small island in front of the lodge was home to a moorhen and her two chicks. Sadly, we only saw her with one chick before we left yesterday, I don't know what had happened to the other one. The Canada geese and mallards were always hanging around waiting for us to throw a bit of food for them.


Fishing wasn't allowed from the lodge itself but Mick and Eleanor managed to set up their rods on the opposite side of the lake a couple of times before the bad weather hit. There were some huge fish in the lake, we could see them swimming by, but Mick didn't manage to catch a thing and Eleanor only caught two eels.


The lodge and its location would have been perfect for a beach holiday had the weather been kinder to us but the incessant rain and, later, wind just got us down. On Tuesday when we realised it wasn't beach weather, yet again, we had a trip into Skegness where we got caught in a thunder and lightning storm, Archie wasn't too keen on that and nor was I.

We did manage to relax though, I took two knitting projects with me but I didn't pick either of them up all week, instead, I've had my head stuck in a book. I've just read two really good books, I'll do posts about them shortly. We also had trips out to nearby Sutton on Sea, a small coastal village, and Alford, an ancient market town at the foot of the Lincolnshire Wolds, where we visited the craft market.

To be honest, we're all glad to be home and now we're looking forward to September when we're spending a week in Norfolk and keeping our fingers crossed that we get better weather.

I'll be catching up with all your news over the next few days so please bear with me.

46 comments:

  1. Sorry that your holiday was cut short. Having a fishpond in our garden I have to say that I was happy to hear none were caught but don't tell the fishermen.

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    1. Looking at the weather today, although it's not raining here in Leeds, it's very windy so I think we made the right call. Eleanor didn't mind coming home early, she went straight out to see her boyfriend and is working tonight and Mick gets to play cricket tomorrow so he's not too bothered either. I'm not a fan of fishing either but they do put back whatever they catch.

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  2. It looks a great spot and you did have a good break . . . annoying about the pesky weather though. 😊

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    1. We stayed in a lovely place, it would have been nice to have got on the beach more but perhaps we'll visit again one day.

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  3. So sorry your vacation was rained out, Jo. We are having the coolest, wettest summer on record. Some of my plants are happy, others are not with tomatoes not ripening and no blooms on the sunflowers. Glad you were able to relax for a little while. P. x

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    1. I had high hopes for a good summer this year after spring got off to such a good start. I think the nice weather we got early on must have been our summer. I found the first of my tomatoes had ripened on our return so I'm hoping they start coming thick and fast now.

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  4. Oh gosh Jo, so sorry to hear that it was raining so much, glad you managed to have some relaxing times though and I hope that your next holiday will be much better weatherwise and just as good relaxing wise!

    I forgot about you reading the Agatha Christie books, if you would ever like any of the ones that I have finished when I have read them do let me know, they are all second - or many times more! - hand, but I would be glad to send them on to you as and when if you want. E-mail me if you like and we can discuss further or PM me on Ravelry if that is better for you. No stress either way, just an offer!

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    1. We had some torrential downpours as well as lots of showers and the wind got up towards the latter part of the week too, not great for a beach holiday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Norfolk now, we sometimes have some lovely weather in September. What a kind offer, thank you so much, I'll drop you an email.

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  5. Oh no, unfortunately that's the problem with the UK. It looks beautiful and as the old saying goes, a change is as good as a rest. You managed some relaxation. Tx

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    1. I always say that we have some fabulous places in the UK, if we could only guarantee the weather there would be no reason at all to holiday abroad. We did manage lots of relaxation so all was not lost.

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  6. Shame about the weather but good to see that you still managed to get out and about, and relax as well.
    Enjoy your weekend. xx

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    1. It would have been the ideal spot for a beach holiday had the weather been good but we did manage to see some other places too and get plenty of relaxation too.

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  7. Sad when the weather is bad and we're on vacation. Better luck in September.

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    1. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for September. That's the only problem with holidaying in the UK, the weather.

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  8. For high summer our weather is terrible, the winds make it impossible to do anything, last night we were watching items in the garden take a pounding. The rain here has been heavy, along the south coast is one of the driest parts of UK, this year we have had record rainfall.

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    1. I think it's the same all around the country. I don't know why we're so surprised, you'd think we'd be used to summers such as this by now.

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  9. hope you had nice family time with Eleanor(I love that name).Bx

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    1. It was lovely having Eleanor with us, we laughed a lot on this holiday, she's such good company. She'll be with us again in Norfolk but I think that will probably be her last holiday with us.

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  10. How frustrating that Mother Nature spoiled your week away. Fingers crossed September is an Indian summer and you enjoy warm and balmy temperatures.
    We've had a wet and windy week here too.
    Xx

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    1. It's a shame that we have to rely on Mother Nature when booking a holiday in this country, but I think it's always in the back of your mind that the weather might not cooperate. I think the weather's been the same everywhere this past week, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for September.

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  11. Oh...drat and darn it!!! It's awful when the weather is just lousy, it certainly does spoil everything. It sounds like you enjoyed your outings though, apart from the thunder storm, we were out with the dogs in one recently, oh how they hate it! Love the hairy biker scarecrow, and that heron....shame about the moorhen chick, nature sure doesn't take no prisoners. Hoping you get some decent weather now you are home, looking forward to your book review, I'm compiling a list for when I have my hip done mid September. xxx

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    1. We made the most of the holiday to a point but when you've booked a beach holiday and the weather's bad, there's not a lot you can do. We enjoyed the bits of good weather that we had though, enjoyed the relaxation and enjoyed each other's company. I just hope the moorhen chick was in hiding and that it appeared again after out departure. I've a couple of book reviews to post, I've read some good books just lately.

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  12. Darn the weather! It sounds as though u=you did have some lovely time to sit and relax which is so essential when we go away. Visiting a couple of new places too was a bonus but that horrid storm didn't sound much fun.
    Lisa x

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    1. One thing we did have was plenty of time to relax and we have come home with out batteries recharged. Mick's got another week off next week so we're hoping that we can get out a bit then.

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  13. What a shame that the weather made you cut short your holiday, Jo. The weather has been dire here too. It's rained so much that we're wondering if we should start building an ark!

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    1. An ark would have been very handy, we've had so much rain. I'm now hoping that we've got it all out of the way so that it's lovely and sunny when we go away again in September.

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  14. Looks lovely, but pity the weather didn't live up to it's proper title of "summer". Sounds like you at least had a couple of days tripping around, seeing some sights. Have a great weekend, as we are supposed to be in for a horror one here & it is already howling with wind, rain & supposedly snow down to 800mts, and blizzards in the high country. Maybe we'll even see some sleet or snow flurries here.(giggle). Take care.

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    1. It would have been a wonderful place had the weather cooperated, the beach there is beautiful, sandy and so wide. There weren't many people on it when we were there, though I don't know if this is typical or not since we were only there the once. Your weather doesn't sound very good either, I'm hoping it's dry here tomorrow as Mick's supposed to be playing cricket.

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  15. The place looks lovely, what a shame that you didn't have the weather to go with it, still, I'm sure the change was good for you all.

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    1. It was a lovely place, it would have been perfect had we had some sunshine. We did enjoy the time we spent there though, it was nice and relaxing and lovely spending time with each other.

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  16. It looks like a lovely area and at least you managed to get out and about sometimes.
    It's a shame you had to cut it short but I can understand why, relentless rain is just miserable. Fingers crossed you get better weather for your next break. X

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    1. We did enjoy the time we spent there but the weather eventually got us down. I'm looking forward to Norfolk now, I just hope the weather is better.

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  17. What a shame. I'm glad you had a few good days though. It's so unpredictable at the moment isn't it.

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    1. It is, I don't think there's much good weather around at all. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it arrives in September just in time for our next week away.

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  18. Oh, that's nice. Good luck on your next trip. And well, it is good to admit defeat because it humbles us and makes us better I think.

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    1. I don't think I'd have called it a day quite so easily had I not had another holiday to look forward to. I just hope the weather's a bit better come September.

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  19. It sounds like a lovely place, though a shame about the weather. Still nice to get away and be in different surroundings and you have Norfolk to look forward to... maybe we'll get some summer then xx

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    1. We really liked the place itself and it would have been a perfect base for a beach holiday had the weather cooperated. We did enjoy the relaxation but hoping for better weather for Norfolk.

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  20. Oh Jo - what rotten luck! Sounds as if it was too wet even for the heron. I think that you took the best course of action though. We once left a cruise after a choppy crossing from St. Malo to Plymouth and the thought of an even choppier crossing to Dublin still to come. We felt guilty about it for a while but there's no point prolonging a bad situation. Fingers crossed that the weather gods behave in September.

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    1. It was quite hard making the decision to leave, as you say, you get feelings of guilt, but we were relieved once that decision had been made. We're looking forward to our holiday in September now and hoping that the weather's better then.

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  21. Such a shame about the weather ...
    I loved your photo's though, and you do have your week in September to look forward to.

    Hope the week ahead is a good one for you and the family.

    All the best Jan

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    1. I'm glad we split the holiday into separate weeks this year, at least we've got another chance for some good weather in September. Mick's still on holiday this coming week so we're hoping that the weather improves so that we can manage some days out.

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  22. I'm so sorry you had to cut your holiday short Jo. Our British weather can be so unpredictable, at least you had a change of scene for a few days anyway. Fingers crossed that September will be better for you.
    Have a good week.

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    1. The change of scene was lovely and we did get to unwind whilst we were there so all was not lost. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for September now, surely we can't get two weeks with such bad weather.

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  23. I'm sorry to hear that the whether interfered with your holiday.:( I guess the rumors about foggy England are true!:). It sounds (and looks) very relaxing regardless!

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    1. You can never rely on the weather in England, especially during summer when it's supposed to be sunny but rarely is. We did have a nice relaxing time though for the time we were there, it would have been nice to have some nice weather.

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