hot weekend

Summer weather to finsh off May meant it was too nice to be inside uploading blog pictures!

The beautiful weather brought many visitors to the area for the weekend but as 99% of the visitors are beach-bound, we like to go inland...

29th may09, Howick Coast, 9am

29th May09, Hepburn Woods, 3pm

31st May09, Hepburn Woods, 1pm

Quite a long walk with good friends through the woods in the heat today so a few snaps then it all ended with a pub lunch, an excellent pint and a tired dog. For those watching from a warm country it was 21 C, 70 F but that's hot for me!

Chickweed Wintergreen, known as "seven star" it's more common in Scotland than here in NE England. Despite its name, it can have 5 - 7 petals.

Woolly Bear

More buttercups...

28th may09, Falloden Woods, 3pm

Back to the beach. No chance to try the new kite as it's flat calm and very high tide :-(

28th May09, High Newton, 7pm

This is a curled up, defensive, Woolly Bear. Caterpillar of the Tiger Moth

Watching Flowers in The Rain

A damp morning with no wind made for a very pleasant atmosphere as we wandered round the village.

28th May09, around Christon Bank, 8am

Campion

Buttercup

Sycamore leaves

standing stones

I do like a pile of stones...

27th May09, High Newton & Football Hole, 4pm

"...where the sky is darker than the land"

Drinker

A beautiful evening on the beach. Lots to see.

26th May09, High Newton, 6pm

This is the caterpillar of a drinker moth - apparently it gets it's name from a habit of drinking from dew drops. I can only look up the insect book for a certain time before the weirdness of the variety of insects gives me the heebie jeebies!

catamaran

Back home after a week away. We were in Lewis and I have posted some pictures on my other blog here.

Yesterday was a bank holiday but we never left the house and loved every minute of it! The beaches were for the crowds yesterday.

Then today it was back to the peace and quiet of our own beaches.

26th May09, Low Newton, 8am

This is either a catamaran motor cruiser (the likes of which I've never seen before) or it's a yacht with its mast removed. Either way it needs to be moved before we're past the spring tide...

Cranesbill

kites

"Flying Kites" used to appear on my CV under Hobbies (when I used to have need of a CV). So I was pleased to watch these foils buzzing around in the stiff on-shore wind. I may have to look to see how much they cost these days...

14th May09, High Newton, 4pm

First, Trooper does a bit of flying about in his own style.

Birdsfoot trefoil aka "eggs and bacon"

Perfect day for it

backlit

Another fine day although with a cold wind off the sea. Trooper and I wandered down to the far end of Football Hole for a change.

13th May09, Football Hole, 8am

With a bit of backlight from the sun, even the dreaded nettles can look good.

Cowslips overlooking Football Hole from the South (most pictures are taken right the other end which is Trooper's favourite bit.

13th May09, Embleton Bay, 6pm

An evening walk on Embleton Bay with the sun doing the same trick at the other end of the day.

Book of The Sea

First to the woods this morning.

11th May09, around CB, 8am

This is a dock leaf that was lit by the morning sun from the back. No fiddling on the computer - it looked exactly like this. Isn't it beautiful?

Off to the beach this afternoon and it was lovely and warm, windless and sunny.

11th May09, High Newton, 5pm

I found this impression on the sand. It looks like someone has wiled away a few hours with a heavy book. It looks as if there should be words right there on the sand.

calm waters

At last the wind's gone and it was very pleasant on the beach.

9th May09, High Newton, 8am

10th May09, Low Newton, 8am

This "bungalow" has just been completely rebuilt onto its original frame. It looks great. the folk that have the bungalows on the dunes at Low Newton really love their holiday homes and they're very picturesque.

Common mouse-ear

Lady's Bedstraw