Wonderful Britain
The Little Boats
We are fast approaching the longest night and what better way to embrace this than to visit some festive lights? The little boats in Ramsgate harbour always put on a splendid display bringing some festive cheer to warm your heart and make you smile.
Poppy Lanterns
Remembering
The Sunny Dandelion
The Happy Sunny Dandelion.
Time Travellers
The Dover Rings or is it a time portal?
The Tricksy Summer
A tricksy summer and ditsy winds.
From a Hill Top
Finding that 'Happy Place'.
Snapshots of Summer by the seaside.
Smells and sounds of summer at the seaside.
Hold onto your Hats
Wind. sand and surf.
The Curious Sea
Misty Cornwall, Porthtowan, Cornwall UK.
Chlidren Again
Children Again, Holywell Bay, Cornwall.
How Pretty is the Roadside Verge
Vibrant and fragrant roadside verges.
Puddles of Clouds
Minnis Bay, Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, UK.
Borrowed Light
As the sun sets in the west casting the last of its amber light over Whitstable, the full moon rises east over Tankerton, sprinkling silver into the sea. Standing at the end of ‘The Street’ a pathway that stretches out to sea at low tide is a wonderful way to see the day gradually morph into the night.
The Bells of St Peters
A weekend of rejoicing, with the ringing of bells.
A Well of Light.
What a fantastic bit of engineering. A triple spiral staircase, all three winding the same way around a central shaft, reaching up 140 feet. The Grand Shaft is hidden in the beautiful White Cliffs of Dover, illuminated by a well of light that cascades down the central shaft. How neat is that?
White Horses
The hovercraft have long gone, Pegwell Bay, is now a little bit of wilderness on our east Kent coast. When a storm rolls in, the sea can be whipped up into a frenzy, it is mesmerising to watch cascades of waves rolling in with the tide, and on those windy days, white horses are seen and heard aplenty galloping across the bay.
The Sunny Dandelion
The Happy Sunny Dandelion.
Silent Footsteps
This sea of blue caught my eye as I travelled to work one morning. As soon as the weekend was here I ventured to find out what it was. Waking with the sunrise I travelled to the field to discover a carpet of ground ivy and periwinkle with the odd buttercup thrown into the mix. I watched the field come awake as the sun rose, it was one of those rare mornings when the world just felt right. It was perfect.
A Matter of Perspective.
After visiting Langdon bay, I would sit on top of the steep steps that lead down to the bay and watch the tide come in. A great place to ponder the world. It is hard to comprehend that the earth spins roughly 1,000 miles per hour and to think we are being taken along for the ride. How awesome is that?
A Winters Tryst
Something a bit whimsical, a simple love story, between a valley and its errant stream.
A Stick and a Float
Many different dwellers live on or around the waterways that make up the beautiful Norfolk Broads. Some are residents all year round others are visitors that flock in the warmer months, many will return again and again captivated by the magic they find that makes them feel as if they are in their own special realm. ‘A stick and a Float’ is the first of a series of postcards sharing the joy that is the Norfolk Broads.
Dew Pond
We came across this dew pond after we had left the track to take shelter under some old crab apple trees. We weren't the only ones to seek shelter as we were soon joined by several New Forest ponies, who seemed a bit disgruntled to find us there and eyed us rather suspiciously from under their long lashes. As the heavens opened we all stubbornly stayed put. The rain shower soon moved on and as the ponies went one way we decided to go the other. We found a delightful dew pond high up on the heath, sheltered on one side by prickly yellow gorse and on the other by fragrant heathers. Breathtaking.
Blackthorn Winter
This particular year the snow fell in early March. The blackthorn was in bloom indicating spring was ready to be embraced but winter had not entirely done with us. This is known as a blackthorn winter. Often there is a rivalry between the seasons as one season transitions into the other, but eventually, it is always the outgoing season that will give way letting the new season flourish. Our unpredictable weather will always keep us on our toes.
Swimming with Stars
Weeks before any trip I always buy a paper map of the area and find myself poring over it to find places to visit. We visited the beautiful county of Dorset in 2019. The place name ‘Dancing Ledge’ on the Jurassic coastline captured my imagination. Our visit luckily coincided with an outgoing tide, where we watched a lone swimmer in the tidal pool on the ledge. This was something that had to be on my to-do list but we were unprepared for such an adventure that day. We finally returned in 2022, the sea was calm, the sun was bright and it appeared as if thousands of stars were playing chase in the sea. I swam in the tidal pool surrounded by stars, how heavenly.
Orchestral Breeze
The years continue to pass from one to the other like a relay race. We say farewell to the old year and welcome in the new year. Maybe we are the batons being passed from one year to the next. Looking back, 2022 was very hot in the UK and new years day 2022 went down as the warmest on record, and many took advantage of this, it was reported some even had barbeques. Most just took to their feet to get out and enjoy the unusually warm winter's day, southerly winds brought the warmer air making the trees dance and sing. A glorious day to be out and about.
The Folkestone Washer-Women
Folkestone Harbour signal box. UK.
Poppy Lanterns
Poppies are one of a handful of flowers that close at night. This I discovered on a sunny July evening. My husband had arrived home from work and mentioned he had seen a glorious field of poppies on his travels. How could I not visit? Camera in hand off we set. It was now late evening and we found the field to be bathed in the last of the setting sun's golden rays. Most of the poppies had closed up shop for the day, it is apparently what they do and in this seemingly simple act, the field appeared to glow with little red lights. How enchanting. I like to think this is their act of remembrance.
Wrapped in Chains
Grain Tower, Kent, UK
Woods are Great
Woods are great in every season, some woods are good for wildflowers and butterflies others for weird fungi and chestnuts and then some woods are good for getting lost in. I like to think the trees listen to everything, storing away anecdotes to dream about during a long winter's hibernation. Kings Wood near Ashford is a particularly magnificent wood matching its grand name.
Strutting Out To Sea
Deal Pier, Deal, Kent UK.
Blooming Lovely
Deal, Walmer and Kingsdown, Kent, UK