Foolhardy and Lost

Foolhardy because we set out in a big storm, and were on the motorway in weather that you normally get caught in but don't choose to go out in. Heavy rain that made it hard to see. Cars still rushed along while I cowered in the onside lane at 50. But it eased off eventually. We thought we were going to Reculver for a walk on the beach and maybe a pub lunch. In fact we were going to the place in the photos below. A much nearer place but one we have not visited before. I took the wrong exit off the motorway and we were heading for the Isle of Grain. A romantic sounding name for a place that is, strangely, romantic. Wild and marshy, lying between the Thames and the Medway as they run into the sea. Industrial too, which means good roads. Little villages with ancient churches. Names like Upper, Lower and Middle Stoke, and The Hundred of Hoo. A 'Hundred' is a Saxon land division. I read up a bit about the place when we came back and it is fascinating. It is where Boris Johnson wants to build his extra airport. I really hope that never happens as it will spoil it. I love this article from the Guardian about what the Hoo peninsula represents and so, what will be lost if it is developed. (Having just looked again for information it looks as if the plans will not go ahead as there are too many issues-link to report at end) 

There is a place called Allhallows that was going to be a large holiday resort. This never happened because of the war. We went to Grain beach, saw tank traps,  and walked along the path by the sea. You can see Sheppey, Essex, and passing container ships. There is a building in the middle of the water which has access by a causeway at lowtide, and, I found out when we got home, is for sale. £500,000 would buy it, plus a lot to do it up! A lot of photos with added raindrops!

 I think this is Kingsnorth Power Station. 

 Grain beach.

 View across to Sheppey. 

 The house in the water. The address is No 1, The Thames, Sheerness, ME3. It only has one bedroom though. Shame!

 The lifeboat in the distance. 

 A freight ferry. 

 A poor green crab. 

 Tank traps. 

 Beautiful rusty green bench 

 Boats and marsh. 

The Hoo Peninsula Blogspot  Hoo wikipedia. English Heritage geological report on Hoo Peninsula
Airport watch report on Boris airport plan. 

Holiday People

Andy looking out to sea. We love our holidays. He likes the same things as I do and puts up with me stopping to take photos every two seconds. He even takes them for me if I am driving. And he doesn't mind long car journeys. He will not go to sleep though, just in case! We love driving up unknown roads,  the more sheep filled, empty of cars, and wild the better. 

Me. Well my feet anyway. This part of the coast had collieries on it and so there is coal dust in the sea. Parts of the beach wash up black as the tide goes in and out, and it makes interesting patterns against the paler sand.

Robson Green. He was filming at Wallington Hall when we visited, and my zoom came in handy for a bit of paparazzi work. It was a boiling hot day. They were filming for ages, something with a little helicopter thing that I thought was a drone, but overheard one of the crew saying was an 'octocopter'  Having looked at them they seem to be for carrying cameras to get aerial photos, so maybe that was what they were using it for, to film from the air.

Me again. We visited Anne and Malcolm in Scotland again, and had a lovely day with them. Anne gave me a free motion embroidery/quilting lesson. I really enjoyed having a go at this and can think of lots of possibilities for using it. Just need to work out how my machine can do it!

Anne and Malcolm themselves. We had just finished a delicious dinner and were about to head off back to our home for the week. Thank you Anne and Malcolm!

On the Thursday we drove over to Wylam where Andy grew up. We stayed with Bob and Maisie. This is late in the evening in their garden. It was lovely sitting around the fire like that. We had a great time and drank far, far too much wine!

On the Friday, Bob drove back over to where we were staying to take a walk on the beach with Springer his dog. Springer loved it!

After Bob headed back home, Jeremy, another friend of Andy's, and his wife Lisa drove over. We had another walk on the beach (can't have too many!) and then went for lunch. Lisa is an early years teacher too and we had much to talk about. A lovely couple of days!

Below is a picture of the view from my sister's house. I visited her and her boyfriend Will in Leeds on the way back. Andy had to go to Edinburgh with his family to start to sort out the things in his Mum's flat, so I thought that would be a good opportunity to see Jane as we don't get to meet up often. I had a lovely time there too! But although I took lots of photos of her cats and fish, I took none of her and Will!

Lots More Birds!

These are my favourites or the most interesting out of the rest of the bird photos I took. 

 A sparrow I think. Eating seeds on plants at the edge of the dunes. 

 Crows tucking into something tasty on the beach. And a little pied wagtail in the background. 

 Starlings and seagulls. 

 Single crow looking at the beach. 

 Canada geese on the bird reserve. This is near to where we were staying and has hides. We spent about an hour one evening watching and listening to the huge amount of birds. Magical. Slightly scary as someone else turned up...his feet crunching on the gravel..axe murderer or bird watcher? Bird watcher who wanted to see the sunset which we couldn't see from there. We made him jump too!

 Watchful mother duck and her sleeping ducklings in Morpeth.

 Gulls and tiny birds which run around fast on the beach then fly off and land all at the same time. I need to find out what they are.

 Not sure what this is either. A wader!

 More geese. I love the icy blue of the water in this picture. 

 A starry starling. 

 We visited a place called Boulmer on the last morning. It has an interesting beach too. These crows are sharing a fish with a gull.

 A cormorant. (I think!) This is at Low Hauxley. 

 Drying his wings? This one was at Boulmer beach. 

 Crow on the roof outside the back of the cottage. He is the one in the photo below. These two were grooming each other.

 From a distance this looked like some kind of eagle. When it moved again I realised it was two gulls doing an impression! Also at Boulmer.

 The unknown waders again. 

 Pretty brown gulls of some sort-maybe young ones?

 Mystery object. I found another one later in the week. I think they are nests though there is no obvious entry. Any ideas?

Herons

There are lots of herons on the beach each morning. They are not too bad to zoom in on as they stay still very well. I really need to get a tripod as it is touch and go whether when you press the shutter the camera will not have moved slightly. I found some convenient rocks on the beach but that is not always the case!

The Birds

We just got back from a lovely week in Northumberland. We stayed in the same place as before, Lobster Pot Cottage in Low Hauxley. A two minute walk from the beach, and surrounded by beautiful countryside. I took my usual hundreds of photos and am going to sort them into types of thing rather than days. Birds have flown into a lot of the photos, so I will start with them. Just the Oyster Catchers today. Too many birds to put all at once. I love watching these birds. They are so comical when they run. They have quite a distinctive call and so you always know when they are coming.

 Herons tomorrow!

Die Cutting, Flowers and Freedom!

I love die cutting! I have about ten different dies, which I have chosen carefully for potential. I have birds, butterflies, shapes, a cat and dog and a typewriter. I spent quite some time yesterday cutting out birds in lots of different papers. You can use the left over shape as a stencil too so two for one! The butterfly below is from a coke can and looked so pretty on the moth book it deserved a photo. 

 Some of the birds. 

 Shadows of butterflies and a dragonfly. 

 Tuesday was the last day at work. I was lucky with flowers and had too many for a normal vase. The trug did nicely though.

 The last ever photo I took of school. It looks, appropriately, like a prison.

Cassie loves holidays, as I am around more to give her more treats and play. Here she is trying to wind up Tiger but is failing. Tiger just looked at her contemptuously. Every so often she will put her in her place though, so Cassie knows that she is still the boss!