January 30th

A stunning sunrise on the morning of Monday 30th January

However the sky changed dramatically in the space of less than an hour

Fortunately despite the ominous looking clouds we didn't get any rain.

Monday mornings is when I take the groceries to our younger son and clean and tidy his flat (he has ASD so needs help)

Afterwards I went for a lovely walk along Sandown beach after visiting a couple of charity shops where I managed to get some bargain dog leads and a harness.  It is always hard to get nice small size leads and harnesses, especially the ones we use with the pups.

Sandown Pier

I went home for lunch.

After lunch I took Simon into Ventnor - I have to take one at a time at the moment as Peter still has some rather irritating behavioural issues - he is the epitome of a small yappy dog every time he sees another dog!  I've been taking them to the local Tea Room alternate days for months as she is very dog friendly there and it is a good place to socialize them.  Peter now doesn't take any notice of her dogs...but still has a lot to learn!  It is really frustrating as he is just so lovely in every other aspect.  Simon on the other hand is a delight to take out and loves all dogs and people.

The day finished quietly, with a lovely sunset...we don't get to see them here, they are just around the corner, but you can still see the glow across the sea.

A Week in Review 16th - 22nd January

Shock and horror a blog post!  I don't know why I haven't been blogging...I have tried several times over the last year, but things I want to say, I'm just not sure will go down well, so I have avoided blogging which is silly really as I have always blogged primarily for myself as a record of everyday life.  

So a very belated Happy New Year to anyone who is still following/reading my blog.  Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and all the best for the New Year.  I'm not even going to attempt to write about Christmas and the New Year here at the moment other than to say it was good, very good.  Instead I will focus on the current week.

Earlier on in the week we went down to our local beach for a walk along it.  I tried to capture the triangle of light in the distance, but it wasn't as stunning as it was in real life.

We had the beach to ourselves which was lovely.

We had a cuppa in our favourite Tea Room

Lovely decorated display, just changed over from Christmas.

Thursday we went to Ryde to see a Doll House display set up by a local resident and then afterwards we stopped at Quarr Abbey for some lunch.

Crows in the tree

It was a stunning afternoon with a lovely blue sky.

Castle Hotel in Ryde

You could see the spinnaker tower at Portsmouth in the distance down Ryde High Street.

On Saturday afternoon we went for a walk at Freshwater Bay.

Another stunning day.

These white rocks reminded me a bit of the thermal rocks in New Zealand - but certainly not thermal!

It was another beautiful stunning day.

Our garden

Clump of ice on a plant over the pond.

Walking: Coastal Path

After working hard in the garden Monday morning I decided to go for a walk along the coastal path in the afternoon.  It was overcast, but I was hopeful the rain would stay away.  Of course as was typical when I got to Steephill Cove the rain started, and I had to walk home an hour in the rain, to say I looked like a drenched rat was probably an understatement!  But it was a good walk and I enjoyed myself.  I dried off and lit the fire and soon warmed up.

Coastal erosion.  

One of the bays I walked down, that I hadn't been down to before.

Old machinery - for some kind of lift I wonder?

Walking along the beach, all to myself.

Water running down the bank.

I hadn't been down to Orchard Bay before either so went down.

The rocks were very slippery though so not easy to get down there once you left the wooden steps.

A house with a view for sure!  Not sure I'd want to live that close to the elements. 

Fossil?

Shells amongst the pebbles.

More fossils?

I'm pretty sure this was an ammonite - hasn't photographed especially well, but it certainly felt like one.

The old incinerator from the days of The Royal National Hospital.

Hop growing.

It will be interesting to see the difference later on in the year.

This was the last photo I took as by the time I got down to  Steephill Cove it had started to rain and I didn't want to get my camera out and get it wet.