Wednesday May 22 – Water and Ducks

There was lots of rain overnight, and the weather wasn’t much better in the morning and so we decided on a lazy, local day.  There was an entertaining pheasant in the garden (and feeder), SarahP had an online Pilates class, and I had a good book.  Some errands (such as a new kettle) were run as well.

After lunch though, the rain had turned into just a mist, and SarahE and I wanted to go exploring.  The local pub had made up some placards describing various walks around the village, and we chose one and then set off.  We strolled into the town, and then turned into a small eco-garden, where we saw overflowing ponds, ducks, geese, and lots of goose and duck shit.  Many of the waterfowl had young ones, and we were especially entertained by the greylag geese, the Egyptian ducks, and all their young ones.

We continued up the lane to the Great Massingham airfield, where drug smugglers are rumored to land once in a while, though the airfield is defunct.  Walked along the old airstrips in the nice and misty day, watching birds and trees, and then turned down Mill Lane back to Station Road back towards the center of town.  Stopped by the Great Massingham village hall to inspect the newly cleaned tennis courts (no one was using them!) and the bowls court.

Walked around St. Mary’s church and then finally to our real destination (if we had one), the Dabbling Duck pub.  This is the local in Great Massingham, and we had a very relaxing ale and cider, while watching and listening to a few of the local denizens.  The day turned brighter and brighter, and a few hardy ones actually sat outside.  Eventually made it back to the house, where the remainder of the new vegetables were being planted.

We had reservations at the other pub they’d talked up for that evening.  And after changing to our dinner clothes, we took off for another great meal at the George & Dragon in Castle Acre, which is the home pub for the local brewery, Duration Beer.  We were seated at a small table in their dark and book-lined dining room, and SarahE and I couldn’t resist splitting their mixed grill for two, which included a jerk half chicken, wild boar sausages, steak, ribs, and some great onion rings.

But we couldn’t linger and rushed back to the house.  The final episode of that year’s MasterChef was on that night, and we were kind of excited.  Brin ended up edging out Chris and Louise, though they all produced fantastic menus.  Watched another installment of Race Around the World after that, and then to bed.