A little bit of Norfolk transported to the countryside..

We've just returned from our latest jaunt to the North Norfolk coast.

What an amazing time we had.

I'm choosing to forget the arguments over Lego, food choices, poor choice of birthday cake (6 turned 7 whilst we were away..) and am choosing only to remember the fabulous warm and sunny days, the walks along the beach and the general family harmony that existed for at least some part of every day we were there! Norfolk delivered yet again.

Whilst I wasn't able to bring back the warm sunshine, at least for today and the beautiful beaches, I was able to bring back the perfect reminder of this trip.

Tucked away down a street just off the main stretch in Burnham Market you will find 'Fish and Ships Coastal Art', the studio/home of artist, Andrew Ruffhead. http://www.fish-and-ships.com/

Andrew has quite a CV having studied Painting and Printmaking at Brighton Polytechnic before going on to Central School of Art and Design. He has worked as a textile designer producing fashion, furnishings and wallpapers for companies such as Osborne and Little and Calvin Klein.

Should you be in Norfolk then I would urge you to pop by Fish and Ships and take a look. Andrew is so welcoming and more than happy to allow you to browse whilst chatting about how and where he finds the inspiration and materials for his pieces. 

On this visit, we bought a couple of prints which I absolutely love! I love the cheery, coastal colours and the style. I love the fact that they are a small reminder of the coast for us living in the countryside. Have I said 'love' enough?

The children were thrilled that the prints were personally signed and that the artist was more than happy to do so. My daughter is still (some years on) reeling from an unfortunate encounter when meeting her then favourite (very well known) author only to be disappointed when she gently approached him for a photograph and to sign her book (which he was there promoting!) only for him to huff and look irritated by the request as if she had asked him to chop off his leg! She now refuses to read his books.

We will definitely be popping by again on our next visit.

Whilst out on an altogether different jaunt, my daughter spotted this navy and white whale laundry bin/storage bin in TK Maxx today and convinced me to buy it. To be honest, it was £12.99 so I was going to buy it anyway.....it is quite lovely, large, pleasing to the eye and fits well in the bathroom.....but thought I would let her sell it to me with her KSPs being that if we had it she would be more motivated to not drop her dirty washing on her bedroom floor....that she would make sure it was always put into the laundry bin and that she was convinced her brother would do the same, honest!

Yeah. Right. Let's see how long this lasts.