Sunday 9 September 2012

Time off

I've been taking some time off, time off from blogging, time off from making, mulling over the direction I want to take for the final year of my degree (and doing a bit of long overdue decorating!).  Still not sure yet but I have the germ of an idea, a starting point, we shall see where it leads.

We've had gorgeous weather this last week or so.  It looks as though today might have been the last of the really nice days, so I'm glad we took advantage of it and went for a walk along the beach this morning.  It's something I don't do nearly as often as I should.

Looking out

I love the 'wideness' of the estuary landscape, and the sheer quantity of open sky.  Mountains are beautiful too, but the way they block out the sky makes me feel a little hemmed in.

We met someone on our walk... there is a natterjack toad reserve fenced off on the beach but I've never actually met one before...

Natterjack Toad

...he didn't stay long...


Looking back the way we'd come...

Looking back

Being so shallow for such a long way out, and being estuary of course rather than 'proper' sea, our beach is not much good for beachcombing.  But today there were piles of tiny pink and white shells collected in the sand ripples, looking a little like sugar sprinkles on a cake.


Now I have some tiles to grout and some decisions to make...

6 comments:

  1. the sprinkles look lovely! we don't have toads, but we do have lots of edible frogs, largest (and loudest!) in Europe apparently. Never seen one, but my goodness we can hear them. First time I thought it was a laughing duck, that's the nearest I can get to describing their weird sound. http://www.surrey-arg.org.uk/cgi-bin/sarg2reptilespeciesdata.asp?species=marsh_frog

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    1. Natterjacks are supposed to be very noisy too, I can't say that I've noticed though. I wonder if that's where their name comes from?

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  2. Great to make the most of the weather (I did too but in the hills). Looking forward to see where you go next year...

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    1. I'm dithering ;-) Really hoping to make it out to Spurn for your exhibition, my Mum and I are plotting a trip. Just not sure how she'll manage if the road is out though...

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  3. Aren't those shell sprinkles just lovely. I too prefer big open skies to mountains, probably as a result of being brought up in North Norfolk and a definite advantage as I still live in East Anglia, and I know exactly what you mean about mountains being beautiful but hemming in! Mr Toad was a handsome chap wasn't he!

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    1. You know, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels like that about mountains! I went to Austria on holiday years ago and yes, it was magnificent, but the lack of sky in places made me feel really uneasy. I'm not much of a climber!

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Helen Smith, artist and maker in glass, print and stitch.

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