10.10.2011 messin about with boats

St Andrews beach, on a sunny day

Seems like for ever ago, but in fact it was only a couple of weeks ago that the weather was nice enough to sit out on the beach........

Usan, a derelict fishing station

I ended up here a couple of weeks ago. I knew about this place but had never actually managed to get here. I didn't know the actual history but from the look of it I would say it was deliberately demolished rather than deserted and let to become derelict. There is very little slate left on any of the roofs and there is a lot of building rubble and stone left lying in the small cove. I suspect it became unprofitable and this is the result. How sad.

Feeling a little blue

I've just found out another of my daughters is about to move away. This is the daughter with the two children I have spent most of the summer with. It all seems to be happening very quickly, she plans to actually leave next weekend. I know its for the best for her and the children but ................I will miss them. I took this picture one day while I was on the  the beach with the children

 

 

Kids at play

This wasn't a particularly sunny day but the kids seemed to enjoy it
Sighhhhhhh........ back to school tomorow

Day out to the beach.

Remenber what I said this morning ??
''It's stopped raining.... yipeeeeeee, off to beach with grandkids, taking sketch book and camera, at last, a day to enjoy........yipeeeeeeeeeee''
well here are the photos of the day, and a very nice day it was too. :-)

Pebbles from the Beach... (a blog in an album)

Untill 'they' get this problem with enlarging photos in blogs sorted.....maybe this is the best way to do things.
These are the stones I collected from the beach the other day. I poured water over them and as if by magic their colours, patterns, stripes and markings came alive. This is what they looked like when I found them in a rock pool, by the time I got them home they had dried and become dull and colourless, all it took to restore them to their natural glory was a little water. These pebbles are every where on the beach, walking the dog has become like a geology lesson, I would love to be able to name all the different rocks found here. I have been told our beach is a treasure trove full of semi precious stones hiding amongst the sea worn pebbles. When you see them sitting at the bottom of the rock pools they all look precious to me.
I am sooooo tired, the end of term is just a few days away. School's out for summer (as Alice said) next Wednesday. We finish at 12 after prizegiving and then head to the pub. We eat, drink, chill and drink some more. Every morning I wake up tired, I go to bed tired and I go to work tired, busy doesn't come close to the way it gets around here this time of year. OH next wednesday just can't come quick enough for me....................5 days and counting.............

The Weather is Wonderful, and still no camera !!

The weather here these last few days has been so hot it's sometimes difficult to remember we are actually on the North East Coast of Scotland overlooking the cold North Sea.

This weather is quite unusual for this area, it's a bit of a mini heat wave but nowhere near as hot as it has been in other places. I spent a whole hour one morning watching a Heron at the waters edge but unfortunatly........with only my mobile you can't see it.

I love the summer, I love the sound of the birds singing, the feel of the warm breeze on the skin, the sight of the grasses swaying and walking along the beach at low tide. There has been plenty of that these last few days and the only little blip on my happiness is my lack of a decent camera.

Even that I am getting used too, I’m learning to make do with my poor quality mobile phone and becoming very thankful for the camera that went every where with me over this last year. I have a good stock of decent shots that will take me forever to sort, edit and file, I’m trying to be very positive about this and be thankful for the year I spent with my camera rather than mourn the loss of it now.
I’ve started walking the cliffs again, I don’t go there in the winter, it can get quite dangerous in the bad weather but at the moment it's a wonderful place to be. Shear Red Sandstone cliffs dropping into a swirling foamy sea, all to the ever present din of the squawking sea gulls.
For the first time this year I’ve spent time on the beach with the grandchildren.

 I’ve walked along the cliff path counting the number of wild flowers in bloom,

 I’ve collected pebbles from the beach. They were picked out of rock pools and while wet, they had vivid colours, stripes and patterns.

 Once they dried out the colours dulled, but all it takes to bring back the colour is a quick splash of water.
I have my daughters dog for the week while she is in Spain and every day I've come home from work and walked the dog along the park overlooking the beach. Today it was so hot I stayed indoors untill almost 7pm but still  there was a heat haze over every thing. Then the haare  (sea mist) came in from the sea and swirled around over the  beach and fields like a rapidly moving fuzzy pale shadow.

 It is fascinating to watch and I tried to take a photo of it with my mobile phone, unfortunately you can’t see the full glory of the Haare with my little mobile.

 It is now well past midnight and the house is hot. My windows are all open but the air is still and heavy, soon I will have to try to ignore the heat and sleep. Work again tomorrow and I think it’s going to be just as hot tomorrow as it has been today.

ARBROATH HOLIDAY 1965

ARBROATH HOLIDAY 1965

I have just found a video clip on YouTube entitled Arbroath Holiday 1965. It’s fascinating, most people know Arbroath is where I live, I’ve shown loads of photos of this town and surrounding area over the last year or so and now I’ve found a film of the town as it was 45 years ago. I’ve been here 20 years now, some things have remained much the same and some things have changed. The real reason this film fascinates me so much is because it shows what the outdoor swimming pool was like. I have always wanted to see the outdoor pool. It was closed by the time I came to live here and now all that remains is part of the outside wall. The area behind that scruffy exterior wall is a night club now, the pool itself was filled in many years ago. I’m a great fan of the old fashioned outdoor swimming pool and find it very sad that so many of them are lost.
This was taken last yeatr so it's good to see some things don't change.


The things that have remained the same (with a little upgrading) are the paddling pool next to the outdoor swimming pool and Kerr’s Miniature railway. This is the little fire engine from Kerrs Miniature railway taken last year..............nice that it's still there.
This is the web site for Kerr's Miniature Railway
http://www.kmr.talktalk.net/

So………….have a look at my photos and then compare them to the same places on the video taken 45 years ago.
The paddling pool hasn't changed that much.


Film courtesy of Ian Mathewson YouTube.

This wall is all that remains of the outdoor pool of arbroath, watch the video to see what it used to be like. Another big difference between then and now is the number of fishing boats in the Harbour, it feels very sad to sit here looking at a harbour full of working fishing boats knowing they are almost all gone now.

Walk in the rain 22.06.08

I had just started out on a walk along the park, toward the harbour when suddenly there were dark clouds, rough seas and heavy rain.

Picnic on the beach, 28, 06, 08, Arbroath

Justin and Blair start the day in the paddling pool by Arbroath Sea front.

I took my two grandsons out for the day on sat 28th June. They went in the paddling pool for a couple of hours before lunch. We went along the sea front to the Kerrs miniature railway and then on to the beach. After a couple of hours building sandcastles and playing the sea we headed toward the play park. Finally we headed home on the road train. A great day was had by granny and the kids.

From Seaton Cliffs to Elliot Water 09.07.08

Before we get to the beach there are strange looking rocks at the foot of the cliff. it looks as if someone has poured moulted metal onto the beach and thrown huge pebbles into it.

This was a walk from Seaton Cliffs all the way along the beach to Elliot Water. Elliot water is where the town ends and the main road to Dundee starts. Once at Elliot water the tide was out and the birds were feeding.