Friday 31 July 2009

The sunbather

31st July09, Embleton Bay, 7am

A beautiful morning and overnight nature had scuplted the sand into ripples that led the eye up to the castle. Further along and humans hands had been at work too creating another fine sand sculpture.










Thursday 30 July 2009

when storms collide?

28th July09, High newton, 8am





29th July09, Low newton, 6pm

This is one of the finest sandcastles I've seen. It even had a nearby village over the bridge!



Spectacular storms very close to each other but fortunately over the sea. I wonder what would happen if they collided?





30th July09, 8am

An appealling sand scuplture in a narcissistic kind of a way!



Monday 27 July 2009

flowers - not so wild

24th July09, Howick coast, 6pm

This lump of polystyrene had been honed into a boat shape and named. We relaunched it with feathers for sails and it was last seen heading for Norway!





25th July09, High newton, 8am

Trooper heads for his favourite spot at the end of the dunes.



25th July09, Howick Gardens, 2pm

Last time I was here was for the snowdrops in February. It's a good bit more colourful at this time of year.







27th July09, 8am

A busy day for the fishermen and the insects alike.





Friday 24 July 2009

Flotsam

23rd July09, Scremerston beach, 7pm

This beach was a childhood haunt of Su and is only half an hour away, so we had fish and chips and a stroll round the rockpools. The limestone outcrops in classic "pavements" and is dotted with huge tree stumps washed in over the North Sea.





Thursday 23 July 2009

Natural Sandcastle

22nd July09, High Newton, 8am

Trooper runs in circles. He would do this endlessly all day.



22nd July09, Alnmouth, 4pm

Beautiful light on the sea from the high ground behind the beach.



This, to my delight, is thyme. Whether it's natural or an escapee I don't know. The tiny ant isn't in my book.



23rd July09, High Newton, 8am



This is one of the most intriguing things I've found. The sand was wet and I'm afraid I think this was scuplted by a dog peeing on a pile of sand. Nice though isn't it!!



Tuesday 21 July 2009

senses working overtime

As forecast, the rain returned this afternoon. Undaunted me and Trooper headed off; me in my (leaky) old waterproofs and Trooper, as ever, in his all-weather fur.

21st July09, Howick Coast, 4pm

The coast looked very atmospheric - seeing as the air was thick with raindrops it's not surprising! Missing from the photos are the sound of the waves and wind, the taste of the rain on my lips, the feel of the leaking rain starting to dampen my shirt and the smell of guano from the hundreds of kittiwakes and fulmars that dot the cliffs hereabouts.



rain, sun, rain, sun

18th July09, High Newton, 3pm

The rain finally stopped long enough to splash our way down to the coast. This is a teasel in flower. Teasels were once commercially grown for use in the weaving industry. The spiky, hooked seed heads were used to "tease" out the nap.



19th July09, at home, 5pm

The rain now limited itself to heavy bursts, sometimes while the sun was still shining.



20th July09, High Newton, 8am

Normal weather returns and, as the schools have now broken up for summer, the beach was pretty busy with early rising families and with signs of passing families from the day before.







Saturday 18 July 2009

rain stops play

17 July 09, at home

24 hours of rain. Poor old Trooper gets minimium walks. He looks happy enough at home.



18th July09, at home

36 hours of rain. after a very brief trip to the beach it's back home to watch the tomatoes grow.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Monet's pond

14th July09, Christon Bank, 4pm

Trooper doesn't like spikes in his paws so he's very careful padding through the summer undergrowth.



The pond surface rippling in the wind reflected the surrounding trees in a very impressionistic, abstract waterscape.

Monday 13 July 2009

smashing perch

12th July09, Snook Point, 5pm

Quite an exciting wee perch up here as the waves smashed themselves into a million pieces on the rocks.





13th July09, High Newton, 8am

A Monday morning is always quiet on the beach and the weather was much quieter too.



Where I come from this is a Bluebell but in England it's a Harebell

Friday 10 July 2009

things that fly

More big dramatic seas this morning. Few other dogs and Trooper looked like King of The Beach

10th July09, Embleton Bay, 8am





10th July 09, Howick Coast, 5pm




7 spot ladybirds



On a bigger scale, this Big Boy's Toy is a Westland Sea King of RAF Boulmer's search and rescue squadron. They often use this bit of coast to practice some skills like hovering, flying backwards etc. All very impressive.