Jack

This is Jack, the dog that lives in the pub up the road. If's pretty big and likes to stretch out all the way across the pavement. I also found some snap dragons up the road! They take me right back to my school days!

At the beach

What a beautiful day, hey hey! The levellers are apparently in the field next to us! X

This ole house

I was babysitting and trying to get the twins to go to bed when Devan ran and told me there was a rainbow. Bedtime was forgotten in favour of staring out her window at it! It shone right down to my house and the second, paler rainbow falls to the other side of it. :)

Whoosh

'twas a windy day at sea!

The beach

The beach is lovely in the late afternoon. While it's nice in worse weather (watching the waves crash and listening to the roar of the sea) it is beyond beautiful on a warm afternoon. There are always one or two men fishing along the way, people walking their dogs (one particular dog, drenched, decided to come and say hello to my previously dry mother) and families deciding to face the cold water in favour of an empty sea. By day (a good day, at least) the beach is packed!

I don't like to go in the sea generally. Stinky fish, pollution, cold water. But today, after MANY years of not doing so, I went in. And, really, it was quite nice once my screaming and swearing subsided.

Once upon a time, I was adventerous and fearless. Then something switched inside me and I started to fear my own shadow. But, today, it was ME who went in while my family watched from the sidelines. Mum kept saying how impressed she was that I went in. And I plan to go in again. Chris's family, who had invited us, is good for me. I've always admired and envied their intelligence, beauty and, most of all, their free spirited and fearless nature.

Next time I might go without my shorts. And sunglasses. The flip flops are debatable!

The weird thing is, I kept thinking back to the Festival of the Sea a couple of years ago. Glen had sailed the boat out and they were close enough to the shore to shout to us and talk. They told me to get in the water and swim over but I refused. I wish now that I hadn't. Whatever it is I fear all the time, it is pointless. Small things like stepping into the sea can be so liberating and wonderful, however silly it may seem.

And I need to start living a little more, I think.

But if I see anything creepy and squid like out there, that's it. Game over.

:P

Summertime

I live in a naval town. However, the military seems to be moving out slowly and the area began to die. The council tries to pretty it up with new paving, buildings and painting over the old, but it is the summer that really does the trick. Boats return. The beach looks beautiful. The harbour is busy. There's a pulse.

Distant Rain

On my way home from Bath, I was on the ferry and watching the sky. Half of it was bright blue and summery, the other was dark and grey. Then I spotted, over in the distance, the rain falling over a nearby town. Of all the sky, it was just that one section!