beast

27th Feb18, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

The so-called "beast from the east" has arrived but we have less than 1cm of snow and at the beach there is none at all.  There is a fierce easterly wind though and dramatic clouds.

Daisy's ever-watchful eye was disturbed by a sudden gust of wind...

As you can see the thick snow has made navigation almost impossible!

27th Feb18, Chatton, 10am

Today's archaeology walk with 3 hardy souls.  A Scot (me), two Geordies and a Cumbrian - pretty tough us Northerners!

As you can see the day was an absolute corker.  Eventually a big snow shower came over but we'd got back to the car by then.

27th Feb18, Football Hole, 4pm

A mixture of bright blue skies and intense snow showers

windblown

26th Feb 2018, Bamburgh, 9:30am

Just occasionally I use Intentional Camera Movement (ICE) in a landscape as it imparts a sense of the movement of the grass in the wind. This morning as I was standing, talking about photography with 2 clients on a windblown dune with hail in the air was just such an occasion.

There is a high pressure over Norway sending cold, siberian air over Britain for the next couple of days and the media has the country braced for the Worst Winter Ever.   Hmm, we'll see...

26th Feb 2018, Beadnell Bay, 3pm

The weather brightened against all expectations and this afternoon's walk was very pleasant.  The only beast from the east was Daisy

lying

24th Feb18, Embleton Bay, 8am

A long lie in this morning (after 7:30!) meant that the sun was well up by the time we reached the beach.

A bitingly cold wind had stirred up the sea into big waves but lying in the long grass staring at the sky was a very comfortable option until Daisy got bored and we moved on...

Friday sunrise

23rd Feb18, Embleton Bay, 8am

Happy Friday sunrise to my blog readers wherever you are in the world.

"And then a pathway across the sea,
 Joined the sun to me."

hail fellow well met

21st Feb18, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

A fellow photographer out and about this morning. I wonder if he's the chap I have for a 1:1 photo training session later this morning...!

shapes

20th Feb18, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

Just a stripe of colour at sunrise but reflected in a glassy sea

20th Feb18, Chatton Park, 10am

A cracking day leading an archaeology walk.  the low sun showed up the carvings beautifully

seasonal signs

19th February 2018, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

A damp, misty morning. The gorse is starting to flower and unlike its occasional winter blooms these early spring flowers are starting to carry the gorgeous perfume which, come April and May, will fill the air.

changeable

15th Feb 2018, Dunstanburgh and Embleton Bay, 7:30am

A busy morning started sliding down the road on the ice.  I was glad to get round the bend!

When we got to the car park it was bright to the east but a threatening cloud was coming from the west.  I jumped out the car and got this shot of the start of sunrise behind the castle

As we walked up the golf course the hail started and swept in sheets across the fairways.  It made for a spectacular sight though so I was glad to be out in it.

Afte 20 minutes or so the hail stopped and blue sky spread from the west.  Soon there was not a cloud to be seen so we walked on down to Embleton bay to dry out in the spring sunshine.

clouds tell the time

14th Feb 2018, Embleton bay, 7:30am

A few minutes after sunrise and the clouds close to the horizon are still in warm colours while the sky higher up is starting to look like day.

water sounds

13th February 2018, Embleton Bay, 7:40am

The forecast was for rain and snow but right now that was all inland to the West.  Out in the East we watched a beautiful sky from the kitchen over breakfast but by the time we'd got to the beach the pink pre-dawn had been replaced by golden sunrise.

Down at the skaith the river has cut more tightly than normal into the south bank and uncovered a concrete sandbag structure and a number of in situ tank traps.  Some are very eroded but one isperfectly intact that's been under the sand for many decades.

13th February, 2018, Roughting Linn, 11am

Inland a bit but this beautiful waterfall is always worth a visit.  There are 2 waterfalls with this name a few miles apart.  The first name refers to "roaring" and the 2nd apparently means 'pool'.  That doesn't make much sense to me as the pool isn't making the noise.  In Scotland 'Linn' is a common word for a waterfall so I suspect it just means "noisy waterfall"!

13th February 2018, Newton Point, 4pm

Our afternoon walk is in broad daylight now.

But if you stay out long enough the sun starts to sink on the walk home...

late for sunrise

12th February 2018, Embelton Bay, 7:40am

Sunrise is now at 7:40am which is about the time I arrive at the beach on a normal morning.  That means this week marks a transition from me being there before sunrise to being there too late for sunrise (unless I make a special effort).

Daisy had a short run this morning and didn't seem to feel any ill effects from her leg.  Then she went back on the lead and we stood together and watched what was left of the sunrise.

on the lead

11th Feb 2018, Embleton Bay, 7:30am

After an altercation Daisy has several stitches in a leg wound so she's confined to on-lead walks just now.  We were both missing the chance of zoomies on the big empty beach at sunrise this morning.

life-saving?

5th January 2018, Embleton Bay, 8am

End of an era: Out of the 5 lifebelts that were on Embleton Bay only this one and one other remains as the council have removed them due to their being "redundant". So why not all of them? Why leave the posts sticking out the dunes and in one case lying broken in the grass? Why do it at all? Who knows.

Here is a short "videograph" of this morning's sea:

5th January 2018, Newton Point, 4pm

Standing on dark rocks
Watching the deep swirling sea
Glad I’m high and dry

sunshine and showers

4th Feb 2018, Low Newton, 8am

A quick walk on the beach before heading home for breakfast

4th Feb 2018, Holy Island of Lindisfarne, 10am

The island was open from 9am to 3pm so we headed up for  a walk round the island.

We timed it badly as there was one big shower coming in off the sea - fortunately we only caught the edge.