The Watch House

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This morning we took a drive out to Lepe, during a brief window of sunshine in a gradually gloomier day.

Jackie dropped me off at the Watch House, from which I walked to the car park, alongside which, in the café, she was enjoying a coffee.

Watch House reflected

Perched on a rocky spit, the occupants of this house, reflected in the water, must have enjoyed an excellent view when on the lookout for smugglers.

Gate to Watch House 1

Grasses by sea

A set of steep stone steps leads down from the road

Lepe seafront with walkers 1

alongside the seafront,

on the other side of which stand the coastguard cottages, still undergoing refurbishment.

A number of pairs walked along the sea wall.

Dark Water Stream

The Dark Water stream flows under the road.

Gulls perched on the wooden breakwaters.

Piles

The sea has sculpted some of the piles into abstract forms.

Various vessels sped past the Isle of Wight.

Yacht, walkers, dog

Providing a backcloth to a dog straining to reach a gull, one yacht sailed into the harbour,

Yacht

and back out to sea.

Turnstones

Turnstones tried their luck on the shingle,

Dog chasing gulls

where a spritely little dog dashed about in vain attempts to catch gulls.

Turnstone

The only bird, another turnstone, that it could have caught hopped around at a safe distance in the car park, on one foot. It clearly found enough food.

Seafront with car park

Alongside the car park,

Man in heavy vehicle

in the cab of a heavy vehicle, sat a worker wielding a pen. Was he, like Jackie, working his way through a puzzle book?

From Lepe, Jackie drove us to Molly’s Den in New Milton where we bought a birthday present and my debit card was blocked. Fortunately I had enough cash to pay for the item. When we got home a phone call to the bank sorted out the problem. I really can’t be bothered to go into what they had done and the hoops I had to go through to put it right.

Elizabeth, Danni and Andy joined us this evening and we all drove to Lal Quilla in Lymington for the usual excellent meal with really friendly service. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and Andy drank diet Coke. The rest of us shared two bottles of the house merlot. After that, if you expect me to detail the meals other than my own king prawn Ceylon and mushroom rice you will be disappointed.

51 comments

  1. Sorry to hear about your debit card, Derrick. No explanation needed…I’m quite familiar with those hoops.
    Thank you for taking us along to the shore! I loved all of the photos, particularly the “and back out to sea,” shot…it’s gorgeous!

    1. Many thanks, Jill. The bank had sent me a new card that was unnecessary. I had phoned to say I didn’t want it. I had been advised to keep the old and shred the new. That was 3 weeks ago. I am becoming cynical in my old age, so I didn’t shred the new. It is the old one that was blocked, even though I’d used it the day before. Now I have two, just in case

  2. Wonderful photos, Derrick. It may be imagine what the place must have looked like when there were smugglers–well, maybe there still are, but I meant those of the past.
    I’m glad you got the debit card straightened out–and had a good meal–and drink. 🙂

  3. ‘After that’ I’m surprised you could put together a coherent blog post! Many years of practise I suppose. I haven’t heard the name ‘turnstone’ before. Is it an eponymous naming?

    1. Many thanks, Pauline. The only bit I did ‘after that’ was the final para. 🙂 Turnstone is named from its habit of turning over stones to find food – just looked it up 🙂

  4. I suppose after knocking off a couple of bottles of house plonk, I wouldn’t expect anybody to be able to give details about who ate what, so I’m just happy that you were able to recall what you had. 👿

      1. Too funny! And just for the record, they all appealed to me! 🙂 I am learning so much about where my family came from through your little jaunts!

  5. An interesting and beautiful day.
    That house is so close to the water – any trouble during storms?
    I feel bad that the poor little bird has one leg raised.

  6. Sounds like a merry February evening! Wonderful pictures, especially the one with the sea grass in the front and the ocean behind.

  7. I was happy looking out at the sunshine on the snow, after looking at your photos.. now I want to be where you are.. =^_^= waves

  8. King prawns and mushroom rice? I wouldn’t have a thought for anything else either! It sounds wonderful. Derrick, your photos are just stunning in this one. Love that watch house, for watching. I think my favourite shot might be the sculpted pilings. They’re all wonderful though. Nice to catch a few sunbeams in there too!

  9. Love your photographic skills Derrick, you capture the scenes beautifully.
    I did wonder what a watch house was needed for until you mentioned smugglers.
    Great post as usual mate.

  10. What a beautiful day.. such a lovely watch house and so enjoyed those views Derrick.. so pleased you got your debit card sorted.. Big smiles at the remembrance of your evening meal out.. Glad a good time was had by all.. 🙂

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