Sunday 20 August 2017

Perfect Weather?

It was so very hot and sunny earlier in the year I bought tons of sun cream, yet as soon as the school holidays started, away went the sun.

For me, this has been perfect holiday weather. Being cloudy has meant I haven’t had to keep applying sun cream to young skin and worrying in case I missed a bit.

None of the kids want to play on the beach any more – they just want to swim in the sea, so in future I’m only going down there when the tide is in. Last week my eldest granddaughter gashed her leg on a rock just under the water. If we’d been down there at high tide, it wouldn’t have happened.

Not deep enough for swimming


Poor little girl came away from the beach with blood pouring down her leg (looking worse because she was wet) and I thought we’d end up at minor injuries, but once she was in the bath, the bleeding stopped and we went back to the beach to rejoin the others. I think she’ll have a scar on her leg though as the cut was quite deep.

We went to good old Clacton Pier this week. My smallest little person was at last tall enough by a whole centimetre to go on the Aqua Blast Lagoon in a boat of his own – and they all had a blast (see what I did there). Only seven boats were operating and my crew took up four of them. Ours were the red/blue, green/blue, blue/yellow and blue/white.


Aqua Blast Lagoon


We spent nearly seven hours there. When we arrived it was raining and chilly, but within an hour the sun had come out, the jackets were stowed in my backpack and of course I didn’t have any sun cream so we all came home with sun-kissed faces – but no burn.

The 146 year old pier is undergoing refurbishment and I could already see a great improvement. I hope the refurbishment includes updating the loos – they still have the old high pull-the-chain kind of cisterns.

Dusty enjoyed his walk after heavy rain left a small lake on the field. The gulls love it when the field floods – they don’t love it when a water-happy dog splashes through it. By the next day the wind had dried the lake up.

Dusty making a splash!


I may have mentioned that I love gulls. When I was a child and my mum was in convalescence after a major operation, she said that what she missed most (after the family) were the gulls.

I took this photo of the lighthouse because there was a gull on top making that lovely racket that gulls make. When I was a child and even when my own kids were small, that beach was sandy. I don’t know where all the shingle has come from.

Can you see him?


And I took this one of the sky because… well you can see why.

Gorgeous Gulls


One day the boys and I had a walk round the woods while the girls went to the park which was lovely and relaxing.

Woodland Adventures



Only two and a half weeks of summer holiday left. Where has the time gone? It goes much too fast.



18 comments:

  1. Love hearing about your days with your grandchildren, Teresa. I have my eldest (13) on Tuesday and we're going to Lewes to do a treasure hunt. We've already done Steyning and Arundel and he loves them!

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    1. Thank you, Wendy. Sounds like you're having a lovely time - a treasure hunt sounds brilliant. My eldest is 12 now and as tall as me - I don't know how that happened!

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    2. My 13 yr old is about 2 inches taller. I tell him he'll never be too tall or to old for grandma hugs!

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  2. You make me think of Enid Blyton's Famous Five stories Teresa. Lots of outdoor adventures and crumpets by the fire. Wonderful!

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    1. Oh that's lovely, Maggie - what a wonderful thought. I loved the Famous Five!

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  3. The boats look like a great deal of fun. I'm sorry your eldest granddaughter hurt her leg. She has young skin that heals quickly so hopefully she won't have a scar. Get her to use bio-oil every day that really helps.

    I have to admit the cool weather is getting me down. Summer will be over soon, and I really need my dose of sunshine before winter sets in!

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    1. I had forgotten about Bio-oil - I used to use it on an operation scar on my neck. It did nothing for me, but to be fair, it is a horrible scar. I know it's good stuff. I'll have to get some.

      I suspect the sun will come out in early September on the day the kids go back to school. I hope you can get a good dose of sunshine before winter.

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  4. I too remember only sandy beaches in Clacton...oh and scars, I jumped over a tricycle aged seven and still bear the scar I got from catching my leg on the rusty mud guard - I wonder if bio oil would have helped?? x

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    1. Clacton still has lovely beaches :-) Ooh that sounds painful - the tricycle injury x

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  5. Not having to bother with suncream is a definite advantage of not so sunny weather. It goes everywhere it shouldn't, yet still managers to miss a patch of skin which gets burned.

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    1. Yes and I really dislike having to apply it on the beach as you end up exfoliating everyone!

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  6. This has been a very odd summer for me, I seem to have missed all the sunny days. Every day out I've had has been blighted by rain!
    Never mind.
    Looks like you have had a lot of fun along the way.
    Smear a little manuka honey on the granddaughters leg, it'll help it to heal.

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    1. What a good idea - I have a tube of medical grade manuka honey and I didn't even think of putting that on (you can imagine me slapping myself on the forehead about now!). Her leg is healing very quickly though I'm glad to say. Hope there are some sunny days for you before summer is over!

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  7. What a lovely day out, Teresa, and shame about the gash. It's too long since I swam in the sea, which I love. That's our schools away back now!

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    1. Me too, Rosemary - I'm seriously thinking of going in for a swim with them next time. Sad to think of your schools being back already.

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  8. Stunning pictures, Teresa. I love gulls too, especially their sad, but somehow comforting, cry. I hope the poorly leg heals quickly and that you all continue to enjoy the rest of the summer xxx

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    1. Thank you, Joanna. You're right, there is something comforting about the gulls cry. They are so clever too. The leg is looking much better. Children heal so quickly xxx

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