Yesterday was the most beautiful, hot summer's day in Norfolk; we vowed to make the most of the evening so headed out to the beach armed with cameras to enjoy the last of the sunshine. It was just the break from the weekday routine that I needed and proved to such a tonic. I only had a chance to scan through the photos last night, they will take a while to sort through but I'm really pleased with some of them on first glance.

Take care in the summer heat

Sophie

We've done a lot of walking lately. Taking a few hours at the weekend to just slow down, breathe in some fresh air and drink in the scenery at a steady pace on foot is invaluable. In Norfolk we're very lucky to have plenty of well walked paths and trails (although never enough in my book, but that's perhaps just me being demanding again) with the Norfolk coast path being a significant route following the coastline.

Usually when we visit Wells-Next-The-Sea we mooch through the high street down to the harbour then straight down to the sand and along as far as Holkham sometimes. It's not often we take the coast path East.

Back in September we thought we'd ring the changes and take the walk from Wells to Stiffkey. The wind blew away the cobwebs and the fresh sea air left us feeling more tired than usual – is that a myth or is there some logic behind it?

Once we arrived at Stiffkey there was nothing for it but to turn around and walk back again, what else.

Sophie

These photographs have somehow remained elusive over the last few weeks even after setting them aside to be kept safe (a little too safe, clearly). They're from one of the gorgeous, glorious evenings we spent walking along the beach at Wells-Next-The-Sea when I bathed in the late evening glow of the golden hour and beyond.

There were precious few people around which was a great delight to have such a beautiful landscape to ourselves but the ones I did see rather tickled me and if there had been just a couple more I had in my head a post entitled 'strange behaviour at sunset'. It was mostly people taking pictures of the sunset, which was beautiful although difficult to capture in a way which showed just how it looked to stand there taking it in.

The man and woman sitting down with their dog in-between was so sweet, along with the parent and child holding hands in the distance. It's one of my favourite photographs in a while and definitely represents how I feel about families; if there are two or more of you it's a family. Chris, Lincoln and I are a family; I loathe it when people say “start a family” honestly, we've been a family for years and reproducing has nothing to do with a status.

The woman trying to get her dogs to pay attention while her partner took a picture of them really made me laugh, it was so comical to watch, thankfully they weren't close enough to hear me. I don't know what the group of people bending over were looking at but I sorely wanted to sneak up at have a peep too, to satisfy my nosiness.

Sadly, the light in the evenings doesn't last long enough for us to make it to the coast any more but I have all the sights locked away in my memory to lighten up the long winter nights.

Sophie

hawaiiEver had the most magical evening midweek when you get the most phenomenal sunset where the rich orange glow saturates everything it touches? That's what happened last week. We returned to Wells-Next-The-Sea on a balmy Wednesday (I know, deja-vu) but I wont apologise as I took some different pictures which I absolutely love and I'll be sharing those with you soon too.

My red printed denim shorts are a firm old favourite, it's not often I find something that fits so well and makes me really smile. Another random find probably from ebay a few years ago. Worn with my treasured Joules blouse which is still available in a mini polka dot colour way on sale which I thought looked pretty good flapping freely over my black vest top (The Norfolk Boutique).

Who remembers what life was like before I found these ankle boots (I know, but seriously they are perfect for every occasion). My floral crown did receive some odd looks as I walked along the quay upon arrival, not sure they were ready for such a sight. Chris insinuates that I plummeted headfirst into a hedgerow, which paints an amusing picture in my head.

Photograph overload a little bit but I was fascinated how these turned out (I haven't edited the light or put a filter on) and note how I definitely look happy in at least a couple. Body confidence is something I've had cause to think about recently; Belle du Brighton wrote an excellent piece just the other day which reminded me again. I used to be particularly aware of what I looked like, kind of anxious and awkward, thinking I looked plain/ugly/just a bit rubbish. It was very tiring and pretty draining really always second guessing about what other people thought, though I imagine it's how many girls feel about themselves growing up. Lately, I've come to the conclusion that the 'people' I thought were judging me are women, all women. Chris doesn't even notice if my hair is a bird's nest, my cardigan is buttoned up wrong or one turn up is completely different to the other, many other guys (but not all) fall into the same boat as this. My brother asked me where my glasses were recently, I haven't worn glasses full time for about three years...

It's hard to pinpoint when I stopped caring, but I'd have a stab at around May 2013 when I wore this pussybow dress

nothing specifically triggered it, maybe something just snapped inside me and I couldn't be doing with it dragging me down any longer. Conversely, I feel like since I stopped caring what I look like, I look better, my style is freer and more relaxed.

The term 'body confidence' is one which irritates me too somewhat, in my mind it stands akin to arrogance so personally I wouldn't call myself body confident, just carefree and looking after myself. Eat clean, exercise sensibly, dress to please yourself. That's got to be the winning formula.

Sophie