A Walk in the Snow

It snowed here last week, which was annoying (because, hello, where is Spring? I want it to be Spring, please!) but also rather gorgeous.

I popped out to take "a few photos" and ended up going for a three and a half hour walk, taking rather more than a few photos along the way...

The beach itself wasn't covered in snow (unlike earlier in the month when the Beast from the East brought us LOTS of snow and a blast of very cold temperatures), but enough had settled on the benches and fences and bushes along the beach to make everything very picturesque.

I love the lines of snow clinging to these poles...

... and how the sand dunes looked like iced gingerbread.

 

There's a steep footpath that leads up from the beach and down through the golf course on the other side. I couldn't resist walking up it to take a peek at the snow-covered course.

Can you spot the Old Church of St Nicholas on the hill in the distance?

Then I carefully clambered back down the path (to the great fascination of a passing dog which was amazed that a person had magically just appeared on the beach) and walked further up the beach and down Beach Road towards Uphill village and the boatyard.

The road should have been closed that day for the local half marathon, but the organisers had taken the sensible decision to cancel due to the weather!

My winter shoes were lovely and cosy, but I wish I'd brought wellingtons so I could have braved the muddy paths around the boatyard. I went this far and no further, retracing my steps back to the road.

Uphill hill was looking almost other-worldly in the snow, a bleak but beautiful landscape of white and brown and grey.

I followed the path up through the nature reserve, past groups of kids on sledges and people out walking their dogs (both dogs and people wrapped up warm against the cold).

I love how transformative snow is - making the ordinary extraordinary, at once concealing and revealing.

 

After all that walking (and taking my gloves on and off so I could take photos with my smartphone) it was definitely time for a cup of hot chocolate at the boatyard cafe (yum) then to head home and get warm!

You might also enjoy my walk in the fog, and to see how different the nature reserve looks in May.   

A (Quick!) Trip to Burnham-on-Sea

Yesterday we spent a couple of hours in Burnham-on-Sea, which is just down the coast from my new seaside hometown.

 

We walked along the esplanade (it was quite windy, but we're used to that in Weston!), browsed the local charity shops, had a very tasty lunch (with some seriously delicious chips) in a local cafe then headed homewards. Not exactly the world's longest Nice Day Out but a fun one all the same.

 

 

I think I'm starting to develop a bit of a "thing" for seaside towns.

The wide open space of the beaches! The bright colours of ice cream shops and amusement arcades and stalls selling buckets & spades! The faded loveliness of Victorian streetlamps and shelters! The wonderfully worn surfaces from all that wind and salt water! The mid-season buzz and the off-season quiet!

I particularly loved this wall...

... the gorgeous turquoise blue of the lamps in this little park...

... and the little boats in these windows (plus the fact that houses in Burnham-on-Sea appear to have eyebrows!).

 

A Walk in the Fog

The end of May was wonderfully sunny but one bright, hot afternoon I decided to go for a walk on the beach only to find that the beach had vanished!

 
The rest of town might have been baking under a clear blue sky, but you stepped onto the beach and into the enveloping mists of a thick fog rolling in from the sea.

 

It was incredibly atmospheric and slightly eerie, with all the familiar landmarks looming up out of the fog. Of course, I couldn't resist taking lots of photos!

There were just a few people out in the fog like me, and a few holidaymakers at the sunnier edges of the beach trying to make the best of their day out. People looking a little depressed as they ate their picnic lunches, kids throwing balls and yelling "I can't see where it's gone!", the tourist horse and cart disappearing up the beach and into the whiteness leaving a trail of hoof marks on the sand.

It was especially surreal being able to hear the end of the pier but to not be able to see it. Just knowing you were getting closer as the 60s and 70s hits got louder and louder...

Definitely not the kind of walk I was expecting, but a very enjoyable one all the same!

A Trip to Bristol (ish) - Winford & Weston-Super-Mare

Remember the weekend trip to Bristol I took earlier this month? Well, after spending Saturday wandering round central Bristol I headed out of the city and spent Sunday in Somerset. 
 
I spent the night on my crafty chum Lisa's (very comfy!) sofa and in the morning, we went for a walk around her village...

  

... and went to the village shop.

 

Then we drove to Weston-Super-Mare to meet up with our friend Nicola for our first get-together in about three years. I'd never been to Weston before so it was great to go for a walk around town and along the beachfront, although the weather was a bit miserable!

 

 

The summer attractions were all looking a little sad and empty...

... but there were quite a few people out for a walk with their (happy and excited but very windswept) dogs.

 

Lisa, Nicola and I have been friends for years (after meeting via Etsy sometime in 2007, 2008?) so it was great to chat about life and Etsy and crafting and generally catch up over a cuppa or three!

Can you tell how chilly it was from the photo? :)