Rural bliss

So I *still* haven't started knitting again - there is just so much exploring (and nest building) to do!

Our main reason for moving to the seaside was to relocate our daily walks - but we had a niggling worry that we'd miss the countryside.

Luckily we've got the best of both worlds here. Literally just around the corner from our house we found a footpath leading up a field...


I've often shared photos of lambs when we've been walking




but we've never before been able to see the sea at the same time!!


We resisted the temptation to have lunch at the Royal Oak - but if you're in the area they have a great menu which includes a "daily deal" for £4.95. (We had gammon steak, chips and salad last week and it was yummy.)

We headed back past the church through fields to Fairlight and then along the cliffs back to Pett Level.

Isn't this a great viewpoint? All downhill from here I'm pleased to say!


I've zoomed in on the white cuboid house you might spot on the beach - it's the Big White House featured on Grand Designs. We watched the programme when it aired in 2003 (I think?) but had no idea at that time that we'd move here.



I promise I'll start knitting again soon....!

Our new neighbourhood

Well, we've finally moved, the computer is back up and running and I've even started knitting again. Time to catch up, and as always you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them:

On Sunday (the day before we officially moved to Pett Level) we walked from Pett to Winchelsea along the Royal Military Canal, built way back when to defend the UK from Napolean Bonaparte. It was a glorious spring day with a brisk breeze - we were putting layers on and taking them off again all day!


The end is in sight - can you see the towers of Winchelsea Strand Gate on the horizon in the photo below? Years ago I took a series of photos starting here for my first website celebrating the Lone Pine Club books by Malcolm Saville. I should probably retake them now I have a better camera, they're a bit washed out!


The photo below is taken from the Strand Gate at Winchelsea, looking back across the canal and marshes to the sea. We had a quick pint in a pub garden, then headed back down the hill again to find the coast.


Yes, it's spring - lots of proud mums around!


The tide was out - we were very pleased to see so much sand, we'd thought we'd moved to a mostly shingly beach!


Nearly there (below). In the distance you can see Cliff End which is where we will leave the beach and turn right to head for our new home. Apparently there are many fossils to be discovered here at low tide, but we will have to time it correctly - it's 3 miles before the cliffs can be ascended again and I'm not that good a swimmer. Certainly not for today, at the end of a five mile walk.


One last photo... I was entranced by the beautiful designs (and I use the word deliberately) that the sea has drawn in the sand - isn't it wonderful?

Unwind...

I don't know about you but I'm BUSY BUSY BUSY :-)

But I try to make time to walk each day - this photo is from Sunday's walk along the canal at Appledore. Gorgeous.

We saw a little egret, moorhen, swans, woodpeckers,plenty of fallen leaves and just one person during our couple of hours walking. Bliss!

Walking along the Pilgrims Way

Harrietsham, Kent, UK







We even found a pilgrim cat!





I don't know what these seedheads are, but aren't they glorious? They were scrambling through lots of hedgerows.



The pink/orange seeds are from a spindle tree. Mother Nature obviously hasn't heard that those two colours aren't supposed to "go" together.

Nature's beauty

We walked around Hurst Green (just over the border in Sussex) yesterday.



The world is so lush and green right now!

I thought the highlight was going to be a patch of stunning wild orchids. I've left my finger in the shot so you can see their delicate size.



Later though, we saw a pair of buzzards (not that common down south) circling hig above and calling to each other. I did my best Ray Mears impression and called back to them, and I'm sure they answered. Husband not quite so convinced!



And later still - husband was in front and stopped dead, signalling to me. Sadly i thought he was telling me to stop - he actually wanted me to catch up! There in front of him were three little fox cubs playing in a clearing. By the time I got there I just saw the last one chasing his brothers. He barked at them to wait for him! We'd never heard a fox barking before.

I suppse we walked for 2 or 3 hours - didn't see a human soul in all that time. Bliss!

The Garden of England, my home.

In the first half hour of our walk today we passed:



hops (for beer making)



grape vines





cherries



plums...



oh, and we also picked up a geocoin in a cache nearby. A fruitful walk!

Happy Birthday to me - yesterday!

I'd had my pressie from Mr Nifty a while ago, the GPS so we could start geocaching. This card was from my oldest - isn't it perfect?



We drove to St Margaret's at Cliffe , near Dover. to find two geocaches. The first was near the lighthouse and is in memory of Yves Rossy who was the first person to fly solo across the Channel using a single jet-propelled wing - he landed right here!




We ate our picnic looking out to sea - it was too misty to see France, you need a clear day for that.




This is the view looking back - the lighthouse is midway on the horizon.


We then walked along the cliff and down to the sea briefly - saw a beekeeper colecting a swarm that was setting up home in the car park. I could have done with his protective gear last week!








Up again (149 steps!) to the next section of cliff to the War Memorial (visible on skyline in pic above) and on to the next cache.



The Memorial recognises the Dover Patrol's protection of the Channel during WW1. There is an identical memorial on the French Coast, and one in New York Harbour to commemorate the work of the US Navy in protecting the Channel.

Amazing what Geocaching can teach me!

Come for a walk with me?

Our countryside never tires me - step through the tree tunnel and who knows what will be the other side?



We were geocaching, this new little family had their work cut out just trying to keep up with mum!



See the naughty two at the back? (You can enlarge the pic by clicking on it)



They weren't looking too sure now. "You want us to go through there? But there are nettles!"

The bystanders held their breath and counted the babies in, counted the babies out. Mum looked very nonchalent, but I wouldn't want to have to keep track of 11 babies!




The stretch of water is the moat around Bodiam Castle.



Stunning, isn't it?



The ducklings stayed on the far side of the moat, away from the drawbridge which surprised us at first as there were several people throwing bread in to the adult ducks. Then we saw who else lives there...



I suspect these carp are big enough to take a duckling if they have a chance!

We walked on up the hill, stopping to take a final snap of what must be one of the most photographed views in the area.

GeoCaching...part 4!

www.geocaching.com

Yes I know, I'm sounding like a newly-quit exsmoker or a televangelist, aren't I? But it's SUCH FUN!

Today we found a biggie - a travelbug.

"What is a Groundspeak Travel Bug?
Simply put, a Groundspeak Travel Bug is a trackable tag that you attach to an item. This allows you to track your item on Geocaching.com. The item becomes a hitchhiker that is carried from cache to cache (or person to person) in the real world and you can follow its progress online."



The particular bug we found was in the form of a china goose with the tracking tag attached. When I looked up its "mission" online, apparently it wants to travel around Saudi Arabia. I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to help it with its mission, as I'm in the UK and don't even have a passport, let alone plans of exotic travel!

The item sitting next to the goose is a geocoin, another trackable item. We left that behind though, as there was a note in the log to say its owner wants to retrieve it.

Quite restores your faith in human nature, doesn't it?

Here's your chance to play "spot the meerkat"...he's in the middle of a woodfull of wood anemones.



We met a very friendly goat en route!