My New Haircut

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Today the temperature was unseasonably warm, and the skies overcast. Although we have a great number of flowers still blooming beyond their normal time, I chose this morning figuratively to pick

Dahlia 1Dahlia 2Dahlias 1Dahlias 2Dahlias 6Dahlias 4Dahlias 2Dahlias 3Dahlias 5

a bunch of dahlias from the garden.

Spider and leaf

On my way round my attention was drawn to a fallen leaf, twisting frantically in an attempt to free itself from the spider’s web from which it was suspended. This brought the arachnid scampering down its central line, only to be disappointed in what it had trapped.

Bench in West Bed

I have recently featured developments in the West Bed, cleared of shrubs and an old rose by Aaron, and having two new roses set to climb the arch by Jackie. There is now a new bench ready for positioning on reconstituted stone paving.

Elizabeth came for lunch and dinner. This afternoon we all travelled to Friar’s Cliff Beach and visited the Beach Hut Café for refreshments.

Yacht and couple on beach

A heavy haze restricted rendered the Isle of Wight invisible beyond a passing yacht.

Couple and dog on beach

From Steamer Point nature reserve I watched the couple seen in the above picture  continuing along the beach in the direction of Mudeford.

Man and dog on beach 1Man and dog on beach 2

Other dogs were frolicking on the beach;

Retriever on beach 1Couple and retriever on beachMan and retriever on beach 1Man and retriever on beach 2

one retriever in particular swimming like a seal,

Woman filming man and retrieverWoman filming man and retriever 2

its antics being filmed from the breakwater.

Red seaweed and group of peopleRed seaweed on beach 1Red seaweed en masse

Red seaweed on beach Friar's Cliff Beach

Even as far away as the clifftop car park we could smell the red seaweed that coated the sand

Gull and red seaweed 1

where a solitary gull wandered.

Gulls

This bird was joined by another and quickly took off,

Gull flying

flying out to sea,

Gull on beach

leaving the visitor all forlorn.

Seawater

Bubbling eddies swirled around

Rocks and seaweedFriar's Cliff BeachFriar's Cliff Beach

the rocks swathed in green and red weed.

Seaweed tinged wavesSeaweed on beach and tinging waves

As the waves rolled in they were tinged with red.

Gull leaping waves

The gull bobbing on the wave above leapt to avoid the next one,

Wader flying

and a wader flew off as I approached in an attempt to identify it.

Elizabeth photographing

I photographed my sister focussing on the water,

Derrick Photographing

and she got her own back.

Derrick photographing 2Derrick photographing 3Derrick photographing 4Derrick photographing 5

This served a dual purpose in that we could satisfy the request of LordBeariofBow to feature my new haircut so that he could pass judgement on it.

This evening’s dinner consisted of Jackie’s superb sausages in red wine, creamy mashed potatoes, and crunchy carrots and cabbage. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and Elizabeth and I drank Parra Alta malbec 2016.

 

 

79 comments

  1. It certainly looks like winter is coming, although the dahlia’s offers such lovely color. Can’t wait to be back in Argentina sipping that wonderful malbec! Cheers to you~

  2. It is hard not to appreciate the dahlias or your haircut. Graceful is the word that comes to my mind. Your canvas is vast and varied and has space for things big and small, from seas to spiders.

  3. The solitary gull takes me back over the years to Jonathan Livingston Seagull which was compulsory reading for those of us that considered ourselves cerebrally cool youngsters in the seventies. I haven’t thought about it in years. I must see if I can find a copy and revisit to see what I think now. This risky practice of re-reading books is always interesting, I find. Thank you for prompting my fusty brain cells 🙂

  4. I really like your first photo of the beach and the sea, the one with a yacht. It’s really well balanced in my opinion. The bird is an Oystercatcher I think and your seaweed is conceivably from the Caribbean, uprooted by Hurricane Irma possibly. I know they do occasionally get coconuts drifting in from there in Cornwall.

  5. Most of the pics didnt load for me but your writing painted vivid pictures for me. I’ll check this post another time do I can get a squiz at your new do (but I won’t judge!). ?

  6. The flowers are gorgeous! I have not seen red seaweed like that and so much of it. It is fun to see the beach and how different it looks each time. Sounds like a relaxing day and a great dinner.

  7. I love to watch dogs on the beach. Your photos reminded me of my old golden retriever who loved to run and swim in the water. Here, dogs are only allowed on the beach from October until April. But sometimes people sneak them on at night. 🙂 That dark red dahlia is very alluring.

  8. Awesome post Derrick! So much to see and feel! Wow ?
    Great to be able to see you in action too!
    Interesting you’re on the strand…looking for the few you’ve recently been severed from?

  9. Your garden still has so many blooming flowers! Your day down by the beach was interesting too, with all the red seaweed washing up. Is that common so see so much wash up?

  10. It took me a while to find the spider camouflaged in the picture. I did not think that flowers survived September cold in the UK but your garden seems to be still flourishing. Wondered about that red seaweed and had to google it.

      1. I’m glad about that as we get to see more flower pictures. I have to say though that your snowy garden pictures are also fabulous like the ones of the fall too.

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