Last week was manic to say the least and I am very relieved that I have the next week off at the start of the School holidays. We had booked to go camping a few months ago and we came very close to cancelling our trip a couple of weeks ago given the awful rainy summer we have had so far. However, last week we started hearing stories of warmer, sunnier skies and so this weekend has been an absolute testament to that and we are smiling (only a little bit smugly!) that we have a happy and mostly sunny week ahead for our camping trip.
Alice had a swimming leavers party to go to for Saturday afternoon and Andy was watching the Tour de France, so I decided to get on my bike to cycle along the new route they have created between Bexhill-on-Sea and Hastings. I had to stop and admire scenery and take photos of course.
I really do feel very blessed to live by the sea side and try to embrace it's beauty as much as I can. The air was so salty and yet fresh, it felt good to get out and have the wind through my hair.
Cycling is my "go to" exercise, I am not particularly sporty and don't believe in doing exercise you don't enjoy, but a lovely cycle always sorts out my head and when the sun has got his hat on, it's almost always my choice to cycle along the coast.
So many people were out and about enjoying the weather, swimming in the sea, eating ice-creams, having coffee in cafes, playing with their children on the shore, it really lifted me and truly felt like real summer time when living should be lighter, easy and breezy.
I do hope that wherever you are, the weather has been kind to you and that you have also had relaxing moments this weekend?
I bumped into a couple of my friends and joined them for a coffee whilst watching the sailing boats float by. It was unplanned and perfect.
Today, the sky was perfectly clear and we went down to the beach for a lunch time bbq with scrummy food and books to read and games to play. It really has felt like my week long holiday break has started in true style.
We went for a walk along our town's promenade past the de la warr pavilion which I thought was looking quite grand today.
Admired some of the pebble sea side plants and captured some shapes formed by the sometimes controversial modern shelters on the west parade.
It was just great to get my toes wet again and my goal this week is to have a good old paddle in the sea. We often camp close to home especially when we only book one week off work at a time. I don't fancy driving for 10 hours only for it to pour down and for us to camp in damp and wet conditions, it's happened too many times over the years, so we tend to stay in East Sussex and find that as soon as we have the tent up we could be anywhere in the world as long as that sun keeps shining :o)
What about you? Do you like camping? Have you got any plans this week to get away or are you just planning on stopping and enjoying the art of doing nothing? Well, you can bet your bottom dollar I will be. I also hope to catch up and comment as much as I can on all of your lovely blogs. Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings. I also hope to get some simple crochet done this week, maybe crochet over a beach pebble or two, we'll see.
Cheerio and happy week to you all
xox
Penelope
So very glad for you and all the other UK bloggers here in blogland that your summer is underway!
ReplyDeleteHave a great time camping Penelope....those photos you have posted show the English seaside at its best!
Enjoy!
Amanda :-)
I ... don't like camping. I wouldn't mind it if someone else did all of the preparing, cooking, cleaning, packing etc. I can put up a tent pretty quickly but other than that I don't really enjoy it. I don't like the sticky damp feeling and I don't like it when the tent tries to take off in the wind. The one redeeming feature is waking up and unzipping the tent to see a beautiful view, but that's not enough of a redeeming feature to make me want to go camping!
ReplyDeleteI know that makes me sound all boring!
We've had a beautiful weekend here, so much so that it has felt like a holiday. I'm not really mobile enough to go walking in any of the nice places but I have enjoyed the weather immensely and have even got 4 loads of washing done. 4 loads! Two of that was baby things, such a relief to get some of those done.
xxx
Have a wonderful week off Penelope,
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing better than camping when the sun shines....and nothing worse when it rains...lets hope the forecast is right.
Love your pictures....I've been bike riding today ....perfect sunny exercise :0)
Jacquie x
Dear Penelope, this post is truly delightful. I love your yellow and blue picture and I am giggling in the knowledge that we really hail from the same corner of the world; well, Tunbridge Wells is not that far, is it? I may already have bored you with my tales of living by the sea on the Normandy coast but I recall the sheer pleasure of our fisherman's cottage being cool when the summer sun was doing it's worst. There was always a breeze to make things more pleasant still by the sea. Cycling is my 'go-to' sport too. I am not a sporty person by any means but I do like to be active. My mother's day gift, a bicycle, has made me very happy this year.
ReplyDeleteI really hope you enjoy your camping holidays. I have just got my two eldest children back from their stay in England and it is wonderful to be all together again. We are getting real summer heat now and we head out at the end of the day all together with our puppy for a long walk and picnic in the vineyards. In a couple of weeks we shall be heading to the southern coast of Brittany where my parents-in-law live. We will spend time 'en famille' and then, when they leave on holiday, we shall take over their house and make the most of that stunning coastline.
Stephanie
ps I am concocting a little gift for you, Penny. Would you mind mailing me your address when you have a moment, please? There's no rush, obviously.
Have fun camping Penelope! Think you've pick the best week for it!
ReplyDeleteVictoria xx
Great pics. The best of Bexhill.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your camping - the weather is (should be) truly smashing most of the week. I wish you the jolliest of times. :)
Every time we drive past that caravan park at Normans Bay I say to hubby I wish we could go camping too - one day we will, if I have anything to do with it. I grew up with parents who loved it so it's in my blood, you could say.
I long to be on the beach and we plan to do so this week -although I am going to be busy sewing orders, and my back is too sore for lots of cavorting on the pebbles (even sitting on those stones is a no-no) but still, we'll make the time and take a folding chair for me to perch my bum on...have to make the most of the sunshine, don't we. Who knows if we'll get more this summer?
Your photographs are delightful, finally a proper taste of summer. Have a glorious, soul feeding, sunshiney week my friend :D
ReplyDeletePenelope I really hope the sun and lovely warmth we have had these past 2 days will see you through your holiday. I've done a fair bit of camping - as a Girl Guide and then as an adult Guider....I need my comfort these days so will no longer camp in a tent I can't comfortably stand up in, have room tospare for storage and easy dressing/undressing, and a COMFORTABLE BED of some description! I'm too old to sleep with only a sleeping bag and a yoga mat between me and the ground!!!
ReplyDeleteLovely photos. have a great time. Lx.
Look at those blue skies....just perfectly glorious! It's funny, we don't do the beach so much in the summer as they seem to be full to the gunnels with holidaymakers, the car parks are full and they cost a small fortune.....uncool I know! I do love the sea though and big skies too. I'm not much of a cycler although I try! I tell you when I get my head sorted, sometimes James takes the l/rover when we go out to the fields and I go on the quad with our farm collie on the back....I don't go fast (otherwise Ned would fall off!) but the wind in my hair and that sense of freedom just can't e beaten!
ReplyDeleteHave a great sunshiny week!