SEATON SANDS, BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY 25 MAY 2020.

Beach Buoy had gone to bed after 1 am.
He wanted to catch the sunrise, so he set his alarm
 for 3-59 am.
The alarm woke him mid-dream
He was taking part in a T V quiz show.
He had been asked 
'Name something you would take to a picnic?'

The alarm woke him.

They left the house at 4-24am under a clear sky.
The street lights had already been turned off.
At least tomorrow's 5-20 am go to work alarm  will feel like a sleep in.
They passed The Golf Club's empty Car Park.
As they crossed the closed council car park, the sea came into view.
Two figures stood at the water's edge, stood behind a camera tripod; it was 4-39 am.

When they reached the Promenade Wall, Beach Buoy could see another figure walk the perimeter of the Little Tern site.
He sat in the sand, half way along the fenced site (On the outside.) waiting for the Sun to rise.
Beach Buoy counted another eight people along the water's edge, all waiting for the sun to appear.

The sun broke free of the horizon as Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed south.

A flock of birds headed north.
Once the sun was up, the man who had been sat at the Little Tern Site headed south, not far behind Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog.
The little dog doesn't like people behind him when walking,
seeming to be a  touch paranoid. 
Beach Buoy scooped up his little mate, they looked out to sea as the man passed.
The dog sniffed the air.

The sun headed for the only cloud in the sky.

Skylarks sang as the Little Terns seemed to follow Beach Buoy south. They dipped in and out of the water at will just a few feet from shore.
One can be seen above, just leaving the sea after a dive.
A Pheasant creaked from up in the dunes.

A Golden Sun glowed once more, it was soon turn to lemon.

Faded Sea Pottery.

Beach Buoy paused a while thanks to Stubborn Dog wanting to sniff a piece of driftwood.
He looked out to sea as he waited.
A Distant Seal swam north towards the headland.
To the south, The Sea Serpent twisted and turned on the smooth surface of the sea.
They went to the stack.
A fisherman sat to the south, about halfway along the length of the grey rocks; rod in hand.
A proper little Gnome from home.

They headed down to North Gare Corner.

They sat and watched the sea come in.
A dad and lad fishing combo climbed down from the pier and headed to join the Grey Rock fisherman.

The Blue Lagoon.

Eventually they headed back.
The dad and lad fisherman were heading back too, they over took ambling Beach Buoy.
The dad kept casting his line out as they walked the water's edge; bit of a lucky dip.
A lucky dip that ended up as an unlucky dip.

The tide was going out, leaving shingle strips behind.
As they were leaving the beach a dapper looking gent stepped onto the beach.
He looked a little out of place.
He wore a white peaked cap and a snazzy coat.
If anything he looked like a lost golfer from the nearby golf club.
As Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog walked form the council car park, a voice bellowed from the direction of the golf club.
'OY!'
'GET OFF THE GOLF COURSE!'
'GET OFF THE GOLF COURSE!'
It sounded like a lost beachcomber had walked onto the Golf Course?
Should Beach Buoy turn back and shout and the dapperly dressed gent?
'OY!'
'GET OFF THE BEACH.

BEACH BUOY

SEATON SANDS AND NORTH GARE BEACH, SUNDAY 24 MAY 2020.

Beach Buoy woke at 3-50am.
He checked the bedroom to see if Timmy Mallet was anywhere to be seen.
Beach Buoy was wide awake.
Beach Buoy wondered what time sunrise was.
He consulted his mobile phone;
Hartlepool Sunrise 4-44 am

Beach Buoy apologies for the gobbledegook  below.
It doesn't show when editing blog post.
It did flag up as line 10 error when it was first being written.
Looks like we are stuck with it?
Think of it as a Robert Thompson (Mouse man.) type of thing.
Beach Buoy could include it in all future posts?
Or maybe not? 



<10 chance="" i="" nbsp="" of="" recipitation="">He clambered out of bed and checked the sky.
It was cloudy as predicted.
'No need to rush' he thought as he headed downstairs.
He picked up the electric kettle and swayed it side to side to help gauge how much water was in it. 
Does anyone ever just look at the little float gauge on the back of the kettle?
'That'll do' he thought and switched the appliance on.
Its blue light glowed.
He made a cup of coffee and a travel mug type of thing was filled with coffee too, for later.

They left the house at 4-50am to be greeted by an orange glow to the east.
'Argghh' had he missed a sunrise over the horizon photograph?
Slight droplets of  water hung in the air.

He tried to quicken his pace, drawn by the glow, out over the sea, but Stubborn Dog was having none of it.
Like some out-of-Sync Tango it was
Slow slow slow slow slow.
Rather than dragging Stubborn Dog down to the sea he would rather be sat at the beach, side door of van open  looking out to the sea, cup in hand and dog by his side.

His fears were confirmed at 5-06am.
He stood on the promenade looking at the clear narrow band of sky that separated the the sea from the cloudy sky,
 the Little Tern nesting site below them.
The sun had already crossed the narrow gap and was hidden by the cloud covering.
So often it is the reverse, Beach Buoy will rush to the beach under clear skies only to see that the horizon is wearing a cloud hat, resulting in a hidden sunrise.  

They walked to the water's edge.

Sea Level.

The village of Seaton Carew to the North.

The Gares of the River Tees to the South.

The sun, showed briefly.

The bright sunlight lit the sandy beach, helping to make the clouds that hung over the dunes look even more dramatic. 

A rainbow appeared.

A seal popped up in the bay to look at at the rainbow.
In a flash both the Seal and the Rainbow were gone.
The shining sun  helped to show where diving birds were splashing into the water. Bright white cones of spray  spraying out into the air as they made contact.

The light was changing so much it was unclear if an umbrella or a parasol  would be the most beneficial?
The small droplets of rain had gone and the wind had dropped.   

He collected some ghost fishing gear at 5-44 am
He had a sip of  coffee from the travel mug as he looked out to sea.
Sunrise had been an hour earlier;
high tide just eleven minutes ago.

Sounds drifted from over the dunes;
the skylarks accompanied by the rumble of grass cutters on at the local links golf club.

They passed Seaton Carew 'Pier.'

5-59 am was Stack time.
It was also finish coffee time.
Stubborn Dog wondered if 'we' had remembered to bring biscuits?

Refreshed, Beach Buoy opted to carry on south , through the dunes.
A man in grey passed.
'Morning.'
Morning'
'You O.K.?'
Beach Buoy gave a thumbs up .

They carried on and removed some reinforcement that someone had decided to lay across the beaten track.

A few paths to choose from to access North Gare Beach
aka The Blue Lagoon.

The recent strong winds had altered the dunes.
Making some paths deeper and steeper than usual
Beach Buoy's first attempt to clear the mound. (The track to  the left.) ended in failure.
He came sliding down like a doomed contestant in a Japanese Game Show.
He looked up half-expecting to find someone dressed as a Japanese General waiting to roll a large ball at him as he tried to stand up.

They found an easier route and in doing so, qualified for round two of the game show.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog stood at the top of the sandy mound as Sand Martins swooped around them.
They were lovely to watch  but obtaining a decent photograph of one of the them proved to be more difficult.
Beach Buoy just had his mobile phone to take photographs on.
 The camera has quite.................... a delay.
So by the time the camera actually clicked.... to quote a Beatles Lyric.... this bird had flown.
A few random clicks into an empty sky and Beach Buoy managed to catch one in flight.

They headed down to The Blue Lagoon.
It was true to its name as the tide was still high.

Lots of driftwood edged the lagoon.

As Beach Buoy headed to the riverside a bird seemed to be trying to led him away, possibly from an unseen nest?
Beach Buoy thinks it was a Golden Plover?
He gave the worried bird space.

He came across a burnt-out bonfire with a melted tent mixed in with the unburnt but charred timbers.
It looked like they had had soft cheese and cola for supper judging by the finds nearby.
Beach Buoy collected some, as new tent pegs that were still in the sand where the tent had once been.
'They will come in handy even  if i never use them.' he thought, 
He walked to the River-edge.
The Old Rusting Buoy was half exposed by the out-going tide.
The other old Buoy, though fully clothed, double checked his zip.

The wind seemed to pick up as they headed back to the North Gare Beach?
Beach Buoy paused to take some notes.
When he had finished he noticed a tennis ball down at this feet.
As they crossed over the Pier a couple were walking down the path towards the Pier end.
Their friendly dog ran towards Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog.
"Barney!"
shouted the lady.
Stubborn Dog(On a Lead.)  granted her wish and went for the unsuspecting friendly dog., trying to have a barny.
All bark and no bite.
The confused cute dog ran off 
'Morning.' said the lady
'Morning.' answered Beach Buoy, with a wave of a hand thrown in free of charge.

Beach Buoy was saddened to find a disposable barbecue  down in North Gare Corner.
Tossers.


Back on the Beach,


Mari the friendly poodle came over for a cuddle.

Later the Chocolate Pudding Dog said hello too.

The  Village Church Bells rang for 8 am as they passed the Golf Club Entrance.

BEACH BUOY.                    

SEATON SANDS, SATURDAY, 23 MAY 2020.

They left the house around 5-51am.
It was breezy.
As they passed the Cricket Club one of the flag poles rang like a bell as the rope struck it over and over again.
The sound you hear hundred times over when down at a windy Marina as the the Yacht's ropes do the same on their masts.
The flagpole stood alone in a sea of green.
A sea of perfectly cut grass, just waiting for the sound of ball on bat.

They turned the corner to be met by a grim reaper look-a-like, hooded, but no scythe.
They crossed over the road, only to be met by a man blowing his nose as if he was playing a trombone.
They walked on the road; it felt less dangerous!

People-dodging over, they reached the beach at 6-06am.
It was nowhere near as windy as it had been on Friday night.
It was still blowy.
The tide was well in, but going out.

Little Terns seemed to be plucking breakfast from the sea at will.

They walked south by the water's edge.

Sea Pottery.

Escape....

Sculptured dunes; constantly changing art installations. 

Cast in Stones.
Not the work of Beach Buoy but he agreed.

Polyommatus Icarus.
Common Blue.
Struggling in the increasing strength of the wind.
It rested on some dune grass.
It was at the dune edge, next stop the sea.
Beach Buoy hoped the colourful little butterfly managed to stay on land.

Recent winds had damaged the driftwood shack from last week.

They headed back.

They stood and looked at Sea, Sky and Sun.
An out of breath jogger ran by; blowing out air as he passed.
 It sounded like he had never learnt how to whistle and was trying to, albeit unsuccessfully.

Beach Buoy rested on the Promenade Wall as another jogger passed.
Was that a whistle that he could hear?

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON CAREW PROMENADE, FRIDAY 22 05 2020.(TOO WINDY ON BEACH FOR STUBBORN DOG.)

It was around 7 pm.
There would be no beach walk tonight!
Stubborn Dog's wind speed ears flapped in the strong wind.
There would be too much low-flying sand.

Maybe Tomorrow.
They headed back.
As he walked back to the house, Beach Buoy was sure he had the correct decision.
The Leaf-laden trees that edged the road were inclined to agree.
 

BEACH BUOY.