Monday 10 August 2009

Sun, Sea and Homegrown Goodness

We've had more sunny fun at the beach this week and it has really dawned on me lately how very lucky we are to live near such a beautiful and varied coastline. In the six miles of beach from South Shields to Sunderland there are so many changes and each "beach" that have visited lately has been different.

On Thursday the beach we were on (the main sea-front in South Shields) had a sudden drop down to the sea with big crashy waves so that the children invented a kind of "swim-surfing". Unfortunately my camera had died earlier in the week so there are no photos of the fun they had.

Then on Saturday we went nearer to Sunderland - more rocks, finer sand, fewer people. The tide was quite a long way out and the fishermen were bringing their boats in. It was really interesting watching a "working beach" as opposed to the pleasure beaches nearby. Most boats were towed up by tractor and the few boats left bobbing in the shallow water were very picturesque.


Daisy and Fred got busy building sandcastles while Dorothy, Mr Locket and I lolled about reading.


Then after a while I wandered down to the sea to look for shells and the three Little Lockets soon joined me for a paddle.

They quickly realised how shallow this bit of sea was and were able to wander quite a long way out. If you look closely at the bottom left hand corner of the collage above you can see a canoe skim right past where Fred was standing - it just looked a bit surreal!

There were lots of dogs on the beach as this is one of the stretches where they are allowed but I was far more interested in watching the horses being exercised in the sea.

Again there is another funny shot of the canoe-guy paddling towards a huge horse.

But I think this was probably the childrens' favourite part of the visit

When I had taken the photo I said to Fred "You were supposed to be smiling!"

"I was smiling and licking" was his reply!

On our way home we called at the allotment which is really blooming

and picked more piles of veg

Courgette soup anyone?

18 comments:

silverpebble said...

Oh gorgeous - what a prefect post. Seaside AND tastiness! I can smell those sweet peas from here. They remind me of my Grandad's allotment.

Gina said...

I do envy you living so close to the sea. I love the new picture on your header. The little Lockets look like they're having so much fun.

wonderwoman said...

lovely pics Lucy - brings back memories when i used to gallop on the beach at Studland and then take my horse in for a good old splash around!

xxx

periwinkle said...

we've been beaching it too , Marsden and Seaham ... we are quite lucky aren't we , some people would kill to have just one beach near. I you visit a blog called Salt and Chocolate Mary Beth always has courgette recipes :-)

Carin said...

Beautiful pictures, beautiful children. Lovely flowers and veg!

I wish I was closer than 16 hours to the beach!

Leanne said...

Lovely post Lucy I love your collages. Are all your near by beaches sand. I love watching horses in the water also. That second ice cream Dorothy was holding ? was it for you.

Ali said...

Courgette cake time! Yum yum yum. You all look to be having a lovely summer.

Anonymous said...

Courgette???? What are they?? Zucchini?? The things above the beans?? Looks like you all had a great time!! Love the smiling and licking photo!!

hetty said...

I've learned something new today. Courgettes are what we call zucchini. What a great place to spend the day! Your garden harvest looks great! Those sweetpeas are pretty, I have to laugh at the varification word. 'unbrit' I guess that's me!

Sal said...

Your allotment is amazing! Oh those Sweet Peas!
;-)

Helen said...

What lovely, lovely holidays. We are blessed with the most beautiful beaches here in the north east arn't we?
Helen x

ladydi said...

Only a gorgeous beach and perfect day with the family could lure anyone away from your wonderful pink sewing room. :>}

Thimbleanna said...

You are INCREDIBLY lucky to live so close to the sea -- and I'm so happy to see you taking advantage of it. Your pictures are beautiful -- I would have loved to see the horses - Wow! And it looks like another successful year at the allotment!!!

piecemaker said...

The Lockets looking good with Amy Butler!!!!

French Knots said...

I wish I lived near the sea,I love the smell of it and just sitting watching the waves.It looks like you had a super time!

Valeriacrea said...

You had a lot of fun, didn't you? I live quite by the sea, too, but here in Liguria we have almost only stone beaches...
If you know something about british swap opened to italian girls, please tell me, because I will be so happy to swap with british crafters ^_^
Happy Summer!
Valeria

Kitty said...

Oh I wish we were near the sea, I really do. Looks like you are all having a perfect sandy summer. The pictures are fabulous. x

Spinningfishwife said...

I used to go to Sunderland Uni when it was still a polytechnic. I lived right out on the edge of Sunderland...right on the outer edge of Seaburn, even, down on the prom...and used to walk along the coast to that weird pub that pretends to be a pirate cave, down in the cliffs. Sometimes I got as far as South Shields, for the markets.
Small world...I was looking at that pub two weeks ago, from the deck of the ferry back from Amsterdam.
I used to see allotments too, from the train into Newcastle....