Showing posts with label Charmouth beach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charmouth beach. Show all posts

Wednesday, 29 April 2026

A Short Break away πŸ¦–πŸ¦•πŸ¦ˆ


 So , here we are ! On our way home from a couple of days fossil hunting in Charmouth .

By the way , I'm not driving ! I was holding the camera up the other way around .

Not a good idea to drive with a big basket of needlework supplies , snacks , bottle of water and a coffee cup full of water and lots of scavenged plant cuttings .

Not a good idea for me to be driving at all really , because I can't !  

Charmouth Beach with the Golden Cap in the distance .

Sunday was sunny with a chilly breeze and being Sunday , there were so many people arriving on the beach that we were glad we took our walk early . Then headed off to Chesil and Cogden Beach ....which was blissful in it's emptiness .

We did a very long trudge down and along Cogden Beach and Chesil Beach  and a gruelling walk back up to the car park . Grateful for the occasional seat to get our breath back along the way .

There's the Golden Cap in the distance .

The Crambe Maritima looking amazing at this time of the year , with it's huge white flowers . 


                         Also known as Sea Kale .


           The ancient brassica of our ancestors . Isn't it gorgeous !


Every part of this perennial kale ; the leaves , the buds like broccoli and even the roots are edible .


               Potentilla anserina , also known as Silverweed . 

                                      Just so beautiful !
 
Then off to Groves Nursery for lunch .


Ricardo had  Jacket Potato , filled with Chicken , bacon and avocado .
  I had good old jacket potato cheese and beans . 
It was busy in there so I had to go and grab a table in the shade and he knows what to order for me . He knows what I like . 



Back at the hotel , I did a little more of my Pentecost embroidery listening to some beautiful music  .
  
 πŸŒΏπŸ•Š️ Harpa Dei - Music for the Healing of Nations (From Gethsemani )πŸ•Š️🌿

"Siblings in blood and spirit . Singing in various languages Aramaic , Hebrew , Greek , Latin , Chinese and various European languages ."


Monday we walked about three quarters of the way up to the Golden Cap ... I got heat stroke ..... and can't remember much more about it really . 
 The hot weather had really caught us out , we were unprepared and had not thought to bring our sun hats .  Husband can take it ...  I can't .

We went back to the Premier Inn in Seaton . I had a very uncomfortable night feeling so poorly .
 Ricardo said he would take us home that evening but I was feeling too rough to do so . 

 Felt a bit washed out next morning , but okay to do the drive home .


We usually go fossil hunting in the Winter  , so it was lovely to see our beautiful English countryside on the drive home .


We didn't find any fossils this time , I found a piece of rock with lovely crystals inside it  . Actually there was lots of it , a geode that someone had smashed open . Huge chunks ! Beautiful and sparkling !
 I was told quite firmly that I was not to try carrying it back to the car ..hmph ... so I gathered up a small chunk . I'll show you tomorrow . 
 I did find lots of stones with holes in . I seem to be drawn to them  ! lol !  
At the moment they are in every pocket of our coats , clothes and in every corner of the car , under the seats πŸ€— ..... if I hadn't been feeling so bad , there would also usually be a pile of drift wood too .... sigh .....
  I slept the rest of the way home .
 Thoughts were now turning to my plants in the shed and in the greenhouse .
 I had left one side window partly open , but if it has been as hot as it has been in Charmouth , I was afraid that I might lose everything !


 So glad to see the "Coming Home Trees "on the way back .


Back home and straight up to water everything in the shed and greenhouse .


Sweetcorn and beans have all germinated and are even climbing out of the ventilation vent of the propagator !


I might sow another batch of sweetcorn . A variety called Swift and they did come up so fast !


       πŸŒ±πŸŒ±πŸŒ±  Everything is germinating and doing really well .🌱🌱🌱


Over in the greenhouse , the tomato vines are now just beginning to push their way up and through the greenhouse bench . 🌿


Soon I will top up the pot bags they are growing in with some fresh compost .
I don't give any tomato food just yet .
    🌿 I begin to feed as they start to flower .🌿


I pulled the strings forward to gently wind the tomato stems around as they grow taller . I planted the taller growing tomato plants at this end and the shorter ones further down so that I would have access to open and close the side window .

Anyway ....


      Then we went for our evening walk .  Aah ....it's so good to be home  .


               Hope the weather is being kind wherever you are .

                        ☀️and a bitterly cold breeze again here !

                                         Love and Peace πŸ•Š️

                                  Love Debbie x
















Sunday, 8 February 2026

The one where I sow my Tomato Seeds 🌱

 

                                  🌧️We got away for a few days .🌧️

             πŸŒ§️  Fossil hunting in Charmouth .  It rained ....we don't care !  🌧️ 


He found ammonites .....

I gathered beautiful driftwood and .......


   .............and quite a few "hagstones " ....I'll show you them tomorrow ! ( if you're interested ! 🀣)

We visited Montecute House , Lyme Regis , Symondsbury Hill , Chesil Beach πŸ’š West Bay , Burton Bradstock , Glastonbury , the wonderful Groves Nursery .....where we had coffee and chai and shared a huge cinnamon bun ....and yes 🌿 I spent ages walking around and around the glasshouse with all the lovely indoor plants πŸ˜ƒ and bought a couple of ferns before being dragged out of there ... 🌿 .....but mostly we were fossil hunting on Charmouth Beach .πŸ¦•πŸ¦–πŸ¦ˆ 

Spring is well on the way , we saw lots of the sweetest little lambs , golden catkins and snowdrops in the hedgerows . I was surprised to see Mistletoe growing up in the trees . I don't think I have ever seen Mistletoe growing in the wild before .  So beautiful .
  And all the pretty country cottages !  So lovely ! 
The Somerset cottage we stayed at was probably a little too far inland from Charmouth in Dorset for us , but it was on at a good price and it was nice to see a little of the beautiful Somerset countryside . 
     πŸŒ§️Huge puddles , roads and fields flooded and teeth jarring potholes ...🀣 same everywhere really isn't it ? !  🌧️

The country roads ,  unfamiliar to us along with the driving rain , we made sure to be back before dark .


 Evenings were spent sitting at a beautiful Georgian table in the small dining room  ......


       ............sketching and doing my embroidery to just the sound of the rain on the window . 


                                  no internet , no radio, no telephone 


                                    Very peaceful   πŸŒ§️


    Husband sat watching his American football on the tv in the other room  πŸ™„  🀣


The cliffs are constantly slumping and slipping , we keep well away from them and gather our fossils from lower down towards the shore .We don't smash rocks , there is no need . We didn't find much this time , but have over the years had some great finds . Ichthyosaur , Plesiosaur vertebrae and bones , teeth , garpike scales , as well as ammonites , belemnites and lovely crinoid sea lilies ..all without the use of a geological hammer .
  Enjoyed fish'n'chips in Morrisons Bridport .


Then thoughts turned to home ....
🌱🌱🌱 Hoping and praying that my Sweet Pepper seedlings would still be alive ! The lettuce and Leek seeds just sown in the shed !  🌱🌱🌱


                                              " The Coming Home  Trees "


            It rained just about everyday and it rained all the way home  .🌧️🌦️🌧️🌧️


Dashed straight away upstairs ! All is well ! They are fine , phew ! I immediately sowed my Tomato seeds and gave everything a drink .

     πŸŒΏπŸ…  It's official .....the Tomato seeds have been sown ! 7th February 2026  πŸ…πŸŒΏ

A parcel had arrived !


                                                      The kind of parcel I like !


                                          Amorphophallus atroviridis tuber/corm/bulb /thing 

                                                         Let's just call him Fred 

                                                                 Oh ! Wow ! πŸ˜ƒ


                                   It's a rare and more tropical type of Voodoo Lily !  


                                                Oh ! It is good to be home !

                                                             πŸŒ§️🌦️🌧️