Saturday, February 27, 2010
Stormy seas
When the alarm went off at six o'clock the rain was beating hard against the window pane.
I reminded Bill that the Met office web sight foretold that by 7 o'clock we were in for a dry spell.......and they were right!
So, happily, we could go to Ford and enjoy browsing. I have few interesting things, but it was Bill who spent the most money. He has bought a Victorian plate camera.
One of my finds leaves me baffled. I have a commemorative beaker. On one side there is a transfer print of a young man, hardly more than a boy; there is also the date May 30th 1929. At the back of the mug is a print of Arundel castle.
It could easily be one of the Dukes of Norfolk (possibly the 16th), but I have not yet found that date as being significant.
A little more research tells us that in 1929 the 16th Duke would have been 21. Now I need to find the date of his birth.
And yes - he was born on May 30th 19o8,
Problem solved!
Once we were finished with Ford, of course we went to Littlehampton.
We parked the car and walked to the beach - we could hear the stormy sea before we could see it.
What a contrast with the Littlehampton beach we walked along last Saturday.
It was just past High Tide.
We have not see the tide as high before.
Thick spume had formed by the side of breakwaters.
The frothy glutinous spume seemed to shiver and shake, blown by the wind. It looked like something from a Science Fiction movie - the evil monster would be formed within.
All sorts of things are tossed up onto a beach at high tide.
Looking east from the little pier or jetty.
Silhouettes on the pier.
Looking inland along the River Arun.
Littlehampton West. There used to be a ferry to take trippers across who arrived at the station.
The view from our table in The Balaton.
Pictures on the wall.
Bill studied the turnstones busy on the beach.
By the time we walked back the tide was already rushing out fast.
I reminded Bill that the Met office web sight foretold that by 7 o'clock we were in for a dry spell.......and they were right!
So, happily, we could go to Ford and enjoy browsing. I have few interesting things, but it was Bill who spent the most money. He has bought a Victorian plate camera.
One of my finds leaves me baffled. I have a commemorative beaker. On one side there is a transfer print of a young man, hardly more than a boy; there is also the date May 30th 1929. At the back of the mug is a print of Arundel castle.
It could easily be one of the Dukes of Norfolk (possibly the 16th), but I have not yet found that date as being significant.
A little more research tells us that in 1929 the 16th Duke would have been 21. Now I need to find the date of his birth.
And yes - he was born on May 30th 19o8,
Problem solved!
Once we were finished with Ford, of course we went to Littlehampton.
We parked the car and walked to the beach - we could hear the stormy sea before we could see it.
What a contrast with the Littlehampton beach we walked along last Saturday.
It was just past High Tide.
We have not see the tide as high before.
Thick spume had formed by the side of breakwaters.
The frothy glutinous spume seemed to shiver and shake, blown by the wind. It looked like something from a Science Fiction movie - the evil monster would be formed within.
All sorts of things are tossed up onto a beach at high tide.
Looking east from the little pier or jetty.
Silhouettes on the pier.
Looking inland along the River Arun.
Littlehampton West. There used to be a ferry to take trippers across who arrived at the station.
Bill and I have used that ferry - way back, before we were married.
The view from our table in The Balaton.
Pictures on the wall.
The mirror reflects Mr Balaton's Mohammed Ali collection.
The colour photographs are new this year. I covet the one at the bottom, to the left of the mirror.
Bill studied the turnstones busy on the beach.
By the time we walked back the tide was already rushing out fast.
The turbulence in the estuary was even more spectacular as the rushing tide hit the waves being blown fiercely in from the open sea.
We bought some locally caught sole from a kiosk by the river, which was built last year.
This afternoon I made a huge fish pie.
It had been my plan to add prawns - I had some in the freezer.
I bought them a while ago - but was flabbergasted to see just how long ago. Best before Dec 2003!!! The prawns looked rather dried out and poor quality. They probably wouldn't have killed us - but we decided to throw them away and open a tin of crab instead.
This evening we watched a film. This is a rare occurrence for us.
We have bought some well received films on videos over the last few years for a few pennies, but not got around to watching them.
Tonight we watched Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts and a brilliant Albert Finney. It is based upon the true events of the real woman who battled against a major US corporation who contaminated local water supplies causing much illness and death.
I enjoyed it - we must do it again!
The weather warnings for tomorrow have been heard loud and clear. I have heard of events that have been cancelled because of the serious nature of the storms tomorrow.
But we shall be up early to go to Croydon. It is so good that the Boot sale we used to go to in a multi storey car park has started up again.
Labels: Sussex
