Amber's Dragonfly

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

There was an announcement on our local radio yesterday, that it has been found through studying surveys, that people who live in Clevedon, have an average life span of 85 years. That is much more than many other places round here.

Well yesterday, my son took me to Clevedon (in Somerset) for the day.......... so heres hoping that it has added on a few hours of life to all of us!

I have started to feel quite well again after my virus and the shock of the cut finger and so far, antibiotics haven't had a detrimental affect on me....... well maybe my bowels, but we won't go into that.

So when Sam asked if I'd like to go with him and the girls to Clevedon which is small a sea side town not too far away, then I quickly made sandwiches and took clothing for any situation, which meant my bag was full of sun hats and cardigans and rain gear because the weather here could do anything.

As it happened, it turned out to be warm but not hot and a gentle sea breeze seemed to make us feel refreshed most of the time.

Being Friday, there were not too many people about as the school that my granddaughters go to had a non pupil day and broke up for half term a day early. That meant we had the beach to ourselves. It was a lovely change for me to go somewhere different.

The girls enjoyed collecting pebbles and using them for artwork. The top photo is Amber's dragonfly and Sam was trying to see how many stones could be successfully built one on top of the other. I think eight was the limit.

We eventually walked miles along the cliff top walk and we had a really lovely time. Today my daughter is coming for a few days with our grandsons, so I am going to be rather busy over the long weekend of the Bank Holiday.

Things seem to be getting back to normal and I feel very contented.

What will you be doing, I wonder?

The Trying Journey.

This photo is copyright of Maggie May.

I found a good seat on the bus and looked forward to being on my own for the hour long journey to the sea. I had a delicious feeling of a pleasant day ahead, with the possibility of writing post or two while I travelled. One of the last days of the half term school holidays, the lull before the storm because I was having all the grandchildren for a sleep over and a weekend with my daughter and son. I could recharge my batteries before they came, especially following my roof alterations and the tensions that had been building up with the rat hunt.

However, my peace was to be shattered. What was that noise?

Two very large women climbed onto the bus followed by their sons, who I estimated to be aged 4 or 5 years of age. One of the women and her boy made a very noisy couple as they walked in my direction down the bus. The mother shouted to him, "You got your DS?" and she flopped into the seat directly behind me. This particular mother and son were the noisiest of the two families and the peace of the whole bus was shattered as she shouted out commands to the boy.

"Sit back, put your feet down. Get out your DS. What game do you want? No not that one. That's me brain training one."

She went on to say. "Try this one. You got to take exams on this one. Yes, you have to....... do you understand you got to?"

The child was immediately put off this game and wanted another. He started to fidget around my back and I felt his fingers on my shoulders.

"If you pick your nose, you'll get a wart on the end of your finger." She announced. I shuddered at the thought of the yucky fingers on my back, but reminded myself that I was quite used to children and I blanked it out.

From time to time the woman behind me talked loudly to her friend across the isle. I noticed the friend's son was fairly well behaved and sat quietly with his DS , sometimes nodding off.

The bus, being delayed by the traffic, stopped for some time beside a colourful poster on a board outside.

"What's that picture mean, mummy?" said the boy behind me.

"It's a picture," She said.

"But what does it mean?" He insisted.

She answered three times that it was a picture before the boy gave up and I felt quite sad for him.

His mother ranted on. "Sit back, feet down or I'll put you off the bus."

"Stop doing that, you're hurting mummy. I'm going to smack you." SLAP! I expected a reaction but he didn't flinch. He must be used to it, I reckoned.

"When you get to the beach, you can have chips with your sandwiches.

The child protested that he didn't want to eat on the beach.

"Well you got to," was the reply. "We will have ice cream too." More protesting.

"Well you got to try it. Yes, you got to."

"Can we go to the shops? the boy asked.

"You will go to the shops when I want to and not when you want to," She replied. "You will not throw sand. Sit back, feet down."

"Don't do that, you are hurting mummy." Slap!

And so it went on.

Well I mentally started writing a post so I suppose something positive came out of the tiresome journey, but the loud voices and the mother's behaviour did grate on my nerves a bit. It was almost painful having her shout so near to my ears. Yet I couldn't bring myself to move. It would look so obvious and it was a single decker bus with no where else to move to.

When we finally reached our destination, the boy got off the bus with the others and started to cry. "I'm bored," he said. Already, I thought?

I turned away and looked for a bench to sit on and made notes so that I wouldn't forget the conversation that everyone on the bus must have shared.

I looked around me. The sun was shining and the day stretched before me. I could do what I liked, go where I liked and be answerable to no one.

A sudden wave of contentment coursed through my veins as I forgot about the trying journey and the boy.

Lonely Beach

There is not much to say about this outlet of fresh water bubbling out into the sea. All the beaches along the Bristol Channel have beaches where the tide goes out a long way. However it does move fairly rapidly.

Not sure what that little black blob was though. Any ideas?

Watery Wednesday is hosted by 2sweetnsaxy. Why not look her up?

Mud-bath Anyone?

Or Sandie Shaw?

Meet the local seagulls preening themselves and bathing in the sea! The water isn't dirty. It's just a very muddy area. It's always brown.

I remember when I went to the former Yugoslavia for a holiday, where the Adriatic Sea was so crystal clear and blue, feeling almost despair when I came home to our muddy sea. Everything looked a mess.

Funny how easy it is to get used to things again.

Construction On The Beach

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Weston Super Mare, such a grand name isn't it? However, if you went there right now you might be disappointed. Not only has the pier been burnt down, but the sea defenses are under new construction. Much of the town is low lying and during high tides, shops and homes are in danger of flooding.

For most of the summer there were cranes on the sea front and I took some great pictures of them. It was very interesting to watch these giants picking up large, heavy equipment.

There was a kind of beauty in all this heavy machinery and I was snapping away quite happily, much to the amusement of my long suffering husband. He ought not to be surprised by now that I always take my camera and a notebook and pen with me when ever I have a day out. There is usually some very good blog material on such a trip.

Don't you just love this crane and the rust tinged chain?

This photo reminds me of Little and Large! Remember the comedians?

When these alterations are completed by the end of the year, Weston will be a great place to visit. The pier will take a little while longer to rebuild but there are plans for a really good building to replace the old one.

It is amazing when we go back after a long time and see the way that the work is coming on and what seems like pointless digging and heaving about, suddenly becomes part of a new structure that looks really good. While visiting we have stood for ages just watching all the men at work. This seemed more interesting than anything else, at the time.

Can't wait for it all to be finished. I dare say I will be posting photos...........

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cicely and MamaGeek.

Wordless Wednesday.

Sweet William

Where have you been all day, my Billy boy?

The Waiting Game!

I have been sorting out the photos that I took during the half term, when Sam, Amber, Millie and I travelled a good way to the sea only to find when we got there it emptied down with rain.

Although Sam was the one who first got me started on putting one photo at a time on my post, it was Crazy Cath who wrote me a very good email explaining how to put multiple photos on one post. So this is my first attempt at multi photos. Thanks Sam and Crazy Cath.

What can you do with two young children cooped up in a car while a storm blows outside? Only one other car in the car park!

Well you could give Millie driving lessons! And look out of the window and gaze at the storm or start eating your sandwiches one hour early!

Whatever is Amber doing? Maybe she has dropped a sandwich! Getting a bit bored with the waiting now!

At last! A gap in the storm and ten minutes on the deserted beach before the next downpour that involved hail, thunder and lightening!

Ah well, it made a change from the city!

Just Think Of The Baby Gazelles & How They Feel!

I was in a bit of a tizz the other day, when I had to visit the Bank to rectify something that I thought was a complete mistake they had made. Sam had gone with me. I'm not sure whether he thought I didn't understand about the mistake or whether he'd gone as a guard to stop me from hitting the Bank Manager! (Well actually we were going somewhere else afterwards.)

While we were waiting,  he said to me."Don't worry, just think of the baby gazelles and how they feel! "

Did I just hear that right?

He repeated the sentence. A puzzling thing to say in the middle of a bank! I suppose he meant that they had predators and didn't have an easy life compared to me.

I suddenly started to laugh at the absurdity of the sentence and how it didn't seem to fit in with the problem at the bank at all, but it did diffuse the situation, which was fixed more easily than I had anticipated.

That made me think of other strange things that people have said to me.

Children are always saying things that make me smile.

Three year old Millie, my granddaughter remarked when she saw her daddy kissing mummy goodbye, "Daddy, why are you kissing Mummy?" He replied, "Because I am going out and she is my wife."

Millie got quite annoyed and said, "No, you are MY wife and you shouldn't do that! You should kiss me!"

My other granddaughter, five year old Amber, went with the family to a pebble beach the other day and she found a tiny paint sampler that had been washed up with the tide.

 She then opened it and proceeded to paint some of the pebbles bright pink. When the children were told they were going back to the beach recently, Amber said, "Oh goody! We can paint more pebbles. Well she obviously thinks that it is perfectly normal to find tiny paint samplers washed up on the beach. Sadly though on another trip, a very large tin of gloss paint was washed up with the tide, but Sam steered the children safely away. No need to overdo the painting! Enough for a whole beach there.

I know someone who had a Cocker Spaniel which was taken out for a walk by a twelve year old. A neighbour said "What a lovely dog, is it a lady dog? (Being polite) "Oh no," was the reply, "Its a cocker!" Well it did cock its leg, I suppose!

So next time you are in a situation when you feel annoyed or upset and thinking of funny sayings doesn't seem to help, you can always try thinking of the baby gazelles and how they feel!