Monday 31 July 2017

A Monday morning

31st July 2017, Dunstanburgh, 7:30am

July draws to an end with another showery day and with more forecast for the foreseeable days and weeks.

This morning's rain headed out over the sea to leave blue skies.  Just like yesterday.




changing weather

30th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 8am

Very calm seas after the morning rain. The grey rain clouds are brooding out to the East but blue skies coming this way from the West...The best light is when the weather is changing



crystal waters

27th July 2017, Football Hole, 4pm

Beautiful water to cool the paws.


29th July 2017, Beadnell Bay, 6pm

A sunny Saturday spent in the house until the beach crowds dispersed a little bit.



between showers

26th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 8:30am

Some of the local horses out for their morning ride.


26th July 2017, Newton Point, 4pm

It's all about timing the dog walk to miss the showers...


Tuesday 25 July 2017

40 winks

25th July 2017, Newton Point, 4pm

It's nice to have such a chilled out hound for company.  She sat and watched the world go by while I had 40 winks listening to the waves.

Monday 24 July 2017

winter moods

24th July 2017, Holy Island, 11am

A fun Photo training session on Holy Island despite the wintry conditions!

It seemed to invite black and white photography...





Sunday 23 July 2017

a bit damp

23rd July 2017, Newton Point, 7:30am

This summer there does seem to have been a lot of wet cold weather between the odd very hot day...




Friday 21 July 2017

Hidden Northumberland

21st July 2017, Roughting Linn, 11am

An interesting day out mooching about the hidden gems of Northumberland. These beautiful abstract rock carvings are found all over N Britain and there are loads in Northumberland. They are hard to date but are definitely ancient and most likely late stone age.




These figurative animal carvings of goat crag also cannot be dated and some think they're quite modern. If they are prehistoric then they are unique in UK.



Quite lucky to see a fair bit of water in these wee falls. A beautiful, peaceful place worth knowing about when the beaches are crowded...


Wednesday 19 July 2017

grey and cool

19th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 8am

Ah, the peaceful cool of a grey morning. Fair weather beach walkers need not apply for here is beauty for the connoisseur!




Tuesday 18 July 2017

fishing in the right place

18th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

This fishing coble stops here everyday through the summer catching (I believe) salmon and sea trout. If he didn't do it for the fishing you would pay him to park his coble here purely for aesthetic reasons...


hot and blue

17th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

Coming home to this from a wet weekend is like going on holiday...


17th July 2017, Newton Point 4pm

A baking hot day by UK standards.  Daisy led the way so she could could cool off in the sea...


herbalism

14th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

Enjoying a sunny Northumberland morning before a weekend in Scotland with a rainy forecast...


Woody Nightshade. A bonny wee flower and an interesting herbal history according to Wiki...

Solanum dulcamara has been valued by herbalists since ancient Greek times. In the Middle Ages the plant was thought to be effective against witchcraft, and was sometimes hung around the neck of cattle to protect them from the "evil eye".
John Gerard's Herball (1597) states that "the juice is good for those that have fallen from high places, and have been thereby bruised or beaten, for it is thought to dissolve blood congealed or cluttered anywhere in the intrals and to heale the hurt places."


Thursday 13 July 2017

First aid

13th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 8am

Hurt paw makes her yelp
Soon forgotten in the sea
Cool waters cure all

Wednesday 12 July 2017

Wandering

12th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 8am

A nice morning to wander along in each others footsteps.


12th July 2017, Newton Point, 4pm

Burnet moths in great profusion at the moment. 

Tuesday 11 July 2017

A rare evening

11th July 2017 Dunstanburgh 8pm

We don't go for an evening walk very often but it had been wet all day so we made the most of a warm evening.

Saturday 8 July 2017

Don't get comfortable

8th July 2017, Dunstanburgh, 7am

The sun is out and the sky is blue.  Just in case you get too comfortable,  Northumberland has provided a chilly breeze to keep things in balance...

Friday 7 July 2017

Soft

7th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

A gentle light this morning.  Not quite grey but not quite bright either.

Thursday 6 July 2017

more ancestors

6th July 2017, Bewick, 10am

One of my favourite walks with huge historic interest.

Here's the bronze-age burial cairn...


...and then further up the hill are cup and ring marked boulders.  They could be contemporaneous with the cairn but are probably older.  Old Bewick Moor is significant in British rock art as it is the place where the first panel was recognised as a man-made phenomenon in the early 19th century




Wednesday 5 July 2017

measuring days by wild flowers

5th July 2017, Craster/Howick, 3pm

There were several bees on the wild thyme patch.  You see so many unwell looking bees these days that it was nice to see them energetic and happy doing their thing.


The next on the agenda for wild flowers is the harebell and I saw my first of the season today including this one just about to pop open.


The sea pinks are always beautiful and they provide a lovely contrast to the lichens and rock


interesting and sandy

4th July 2017, Embleton Bay, 8am

A fairly dull day but the patterns of the burn flowing over the sand are endlessly interesting.


Sunday 2 July 2017

sun's back

2nd July 2017, Football Hole, 6am

At last the sun is back.


Daisy was enjoying the sun and wind on her fur


old things revisited

1st July 2017, Embleton Bay, 8am

Looks like the recent spell of wet weather is fading away and it was dry and a bit warmer this morning.



1st July 2017, Chatton Park Hill, 3pm

This the Kettley Stone - it last appeared on this blog in 2012 but it's very and hasn't changed much.  It's an early Christian font.


These are much older and no one knows what the significance of these cup and ring marks was to the people who carved them. To me they resemble raindrops hitting a pool of water. (PS sheep poo is of more recent date!) They are in a poor state compared to 2012.  I think they had been cleaned up for academic study in the mid-2000's and they're fading back to natural rock now.  They're completely surrounded by shoulder-high bracken at this time of year.


This is the view (180 panorama) from this location. Much nicer walk without the mist.