{"id":99800,"date":"2020-09-25T15:46:33","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T14:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/?p=99800"},"modified":"2020-09-25T17:09:51","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T16:09:51","slug":"the-sand-between-my-toes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/julia-roberts\/the-sand-between-my-toes\/","title":{"rendered":"The sand between my toes\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

After missing writing a blog last week as I was on annual leave, I\u2019m back with a bumper blog this week which includes my vegetarian lasagne recipe that some of you requested and a heads up on two fabulous beauty Today’s Special Values this weekend on QVC \u2013 more on that later.<\/p>\n

I must confess it was really good to get away for a few days, although we almost had nowhere to go. We thought it would be quite easy to book somewhere last-minute in Cornwall or Devon, but how wrong were we? Everywhere seemed to be booked up to the end of September until we found the perfect one-bedroom cabin on a farm in Devon on a well-known website (which will remain nameless!) We were already packing on Thursday morning when we received an email from the owners saying the property had been booked in error and that they couldn\u2019t accommodate us. Cue Katie, our son\u2019s girlfriend. Her family own a flat in Wells Next the Sea in Norfolk and she said it was available for the five nights we were after\u2026 phew! After programming the new postcode into the sat-nav, we set off in the opposite direction to Devon just after lunch and I\u2019m so glad we did!<\/p>\n

The flat itself is moments from the quayside, so right in the heart of things. If you\u2019ve visited Wells, you\u2019ll know that the beach proper is just over a mile away along a walk next to the harbour inlet. There is also a little train that you can take, or a car park if you choose to drive, but we walked. In fact, we walked every day bar one when it was a little too cold, so clocked up an impressive thirty kilometres \u2013 thank goodness for my ankle brace!<\/p>\n\"\"\n

The main part of the beach has a row of brightly coloured beach huts, but we chose to walk beyond that to the dunes where it was a bit more sheltered most days, apart from Friday when we retreated to the shelter of the back garden to have our picnic lunch to get out of the blustery wind.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

We went and had a look at the shops on the main street in the afternoon and I was waiting for Chris while he popped in one for some supplies, when a lady approached and said, \u2018I guess you won\u2019t be presenting Fashion on Friday today then!\u2019 \u2013 small world. She was right of course. I didn\u2019t present last week\u2019s and there isn\u2019t one today as it\u2019s Christmas all day on the main channel and the slot is occupied by Dale and Andi Peters. I will however be on the Style Channel at 5 p.m. with two hours of accessories if you need your fashion fix \u2013 I\u2019m still going to claim a Julia\u2019s Pick\u2026 maybe even two!<\/p>\n\"\"\n

We really liked Wells Next the Sea and I particularly loved this sculpture of a horse standing in the sand near the quayside. Apparently, it was part of a sculpture trail in 2018 and was removed last year, but local residents missed it so raised \u00a315,000 to have it re-instated. It was inspired by the horses who used to tow the lifeboat down the channel to the sea. You can see from the two photographs the difference in water level between high and low tide \u2013 at low tide the sea is very distant.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

We were very lucky to have sunshine most days, particularly the last two, where it was wall to wall and very warm. Although we were out every day, we spent most of our evenings in, apart from the last one when we managed to book a table at a pub called The Golden Fleece \u2013 apparently a haunt of smugglers in days gone by.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Chris and I shared our three courses as we often do as we are not particularly big eaters. Our starter was \u2018cauliflower\u2019 buffalo wings (very yummy), followed by veggie pizza and sticky toffee pudding \u2013 well, we were on holiday.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Talking of food, here is my veggie lasagna recipe as promised:<\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/strong>
\n9 sheets of green lasagna
\n4oz walnut pieces
\n8oz frozen chopped spinach
\n8oz cottage cheese
\n1 onion
\n1 clove garlic
\n1 tin of chopped tomatoes
\n1 tbsp tomato puree
\nblack pepper to taste
\nFor the cheese sauce:
\n1 pint skimmed milk
\n2oz plain wholemeal flour
\n2 oz margarine
\n4 oz mature cheddar
\n2 tbsp grated parmesan<\/p>\n