Jake's Bones

Here we are on the beach again, beach combing and looking at our brilliant new book !
 Me and my little grandson reading the best educational children's book I,ve seen for a very long time " Jake's Bones " written by Jake McGowan -Lowe .Published by Ticktock.
  Jake who is 12 years old has been interested in wildlife and collecting bones he finds whilst out on nature walks , woods and beaches . He shows how he puts the bones together as complete skeletons of the different animals  . It is such a fascinating hobby and a great introduction to biology in general .
 We love that dinosaur on the front cover !

Violets

                                      O Wind , where have you been
                                       That you blow so sweet ?
                                           Among the violets
                                         Which blossom at your feet .

                                           The honeysuckle waits
                                          For summer and for heat ,
                                          But Violets in the chilly spring
                                            Make the turf so sweet !
                                                                                    Christina Rossetti 1873

 So with the cafe closed at Charmouth , off we drove to Groves Nursery in Bridport .
....Where we enjoyed a huge...and I mean huge, full English breakfast !
I stocked up on shallots and onion sets , peas , beans , seed potatoes , greyhound cabbage and kale seeds and potato sacks......hormone rooting powder ....
    ............. and then fell in love ....... with Mr Groves collection of Violets .
 Violets ,  an almost forgotten about treasure of our English wild-flowers  .
Oh ! My goodness me ! This was the first time I have ever breathed in that sweet scent from a real Violet flower , heavenly !
 With delightful names such as Grandads Violet , Annalesia , Becky Groves ,Perle Rose , Lydia's Legacy , Lavenders Lady , Dawnie and Dick o The Hills .
 I took home with me to Cornwall , The Baroness de Rothschild ....an early Valentine 's  Day gift from my husband xxx
Our Cornish violets , which are so beautiful , along our Predannack Cliffs , Mullion , sadly have no fragrance ,  unlike the ones that grow in Devon and Dorset ...I must go and see them ..they must be loving this rainy weather !

Charmouth Dinosaur Hunting

So we finally got away to Charmouth between the storms . In fact we had four dry and quite mild days .....and when the tide went out , we did some dinosaur hunting .
 We,ve been coming to Charmouth for many years , looking for fossils along the shore line.    We never bring geological hammers , there is no need !

Think small , you can find sweet tiny things lying in the shingle on the beach .
The sea has washed off all that grey sticky shale for you and you stay safe , well away from the mud flows and slipping crumbling cliffs .

                                         Heres a beautiful tiny piece of coral .

                                         
                                                         Ammonite .

 Very worn, sea rolled piece of rock with ammonites in , beautiful ....into my pocket it goes !

Beach combing is so therapeutic and back at base , I turn out my pockets !
      Now look at this !  This might be something special ....any ideas  ?
                  I am pretty sure it is bone ( fossilised ) .

Over the years , I have been lucky to find both Ichthyosaur and Pliesiosaur vertebrae  at Charmouth . Yes ! You will find them from time to time and they are easy to spot lying in amongst the shingle and cobbles on the beach . I decided that I would begin to train my eyes and brain to find other bones apart from vertebrae . So I,ve been doing alot of study and research .
 I think this might be an ankle bone , calcaneus ...and if it is then it will be from a land dinosaur .Scelidosaurus is the one that has been found in Charmouth .....and they have one in the  Charmouth museum and heritage centre ,which sadly , was closed while we were there ! : (        ( so were the loos ! )

 Anyway , here is another pic of my best find , have a look and please if you are an expert on fossil bones , then let me know what you think it might be ?
 I also want to stress , that this too , I found lying in the shingle , not far along the beach really  . I didn,t feel like walking all the way up to the Golden Cap this time !

The Charmouth Heritage Centre and Fossil Museum is brilliant ! Especially for children !
Here there is also a Fossil shop full of wonderful things , fossils, rocks , crystals ,Massive Ichthyosaur skeleton .There is a cafe too , but also , not open while we were there : (