The Treasures of the Beach

Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula

Yesterday was a grey day- the Channel was a blue-grey, well more a grey-blue, with dark clouds above, and a perhaps ominous calm.  Though no storm came our way.  The Captain drove me to a beach where we saw Ringed Plover parents with their two fluffy chicks.  They have done well to manage to bring two up - there is so much against them. Too many dog walkers, too many seagulls, too many foxes.

Ringed Plover chick

I walked a little and found a wall I could perch on among the treasures of the beach; the stones, the shells, the egg cases of various sea creatures, and the fluffy chicks.  The sea always makes me think of eternity - of being here on the earth, thousands of years from now, with the Captain - watching the ringed plovers bringing up their chicks - able to go up and say hello.   They wouldn't be scared of me then.  And it also makes me think of childhood holidays with my parents, so many years ago, in Cornwall.  It was a remote and empty place.  Those Cornish beaches of the 1950s remain my ideal - the perfection of seaside.

I managed to restock the freezer with marmalade muffins - though I had to use goats butter.  Will the Captain notice?  He will if he reads this...  oh dear.

We are enjoying soups from our Soupmaker - a great invention.   And I am enjoying The Great British Menu. Watching it, not eating it.  Though I would love to eat some of those dishes, given the chance.