SEATON SANDS 10 JUNE 2019.

Free Parking starts at 6-00 pm
Beach Buoy arrived 6-01 pm
Spots of rain arrived at 6-02pm
The tide was well out.
There was a wind from the north east.
Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed for the water's edge.
A couple with a waggy tailed, brown and white spaniel followed.
The dog seemed to using the tail as a propulsion system as it wagged up and down the length of the beach.
A ship sailed out of the River Tees.
It didn't look real!
It looked like a scale model of a large container ship.
Its proportions looked all wrong.

It was a grey evening.
Two horses and their riders trotted on the sands.

The sky was a right mucky mixture tonight.
Grey clouds.
Patches of hopeful Blue sky.
Mackerel Sky type clouds.
White fluffy clouds, low down behind the dunes that looked as if a snowy mountain range had just become visible.

Beach Buoy kept walking south.
A man appeared from the dunes near to the grey rocks.
A large dog was taking him for a walk!
The large dog was black but seemed to have four grey legs.
BOOTS!
BOOTS! thought Beach Buoy, "If that were my dog, it would be called......
BOOTS!"
Out in the Bay the Wind Turbines did cartwheels whilst facing the fresh wind.

Beach Buoy reached the grey rocks and clambered  up so far to a long patch of shingle.
There were no finds of any significance.
Another clamber and Beach Buoy had collected a large plastic tub with a metal handle ?
It made a perfect holder for his beach clean items.
He headed back, litter picking as he went.

The beach was deserted apart from a jogger heading Beach Buoys way.
His loneliness of the long distance runner was broken by an old man dragging a dog and carrying a tub of beach rubbish.


BEACH BUOY.




 

SEATON SANDS 09 JUNE 2019.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived in the Car Park at   6 am.
Someone over in the golf club were banging their shoes together , possibly to clean them?
The noise echoed around the quiet car park.
As Beach Buoy stepped out of the van he noticed rubbish in a  nearby parking bay.
The remnants of three kids meals bought from a fast food chain beginning with M.. It must have made them happy  after the meal to scatter their rubbish out of the windows?

There had been lots of rain recently, but the morning felt warm even though the sun was hidden behind a cloud for a short while.
They headed to the water's edge.
As hoped, the sun came out to play and they headed south.
Beach Buoy glanced back at the car park to a man head for dune cover with a dog as white and as large as a Polar Bear.......

It was #2minutebeachclean day today.
Beach Buoy found it a little ironic to find a different type of ripple in the sand.
It was beach cleaned...
A lone Oyster Catcher flew across towards the dunes and vocally decided to let those in earshot that it was exactly what it intended to do.
A regular cheap cheap as it flew.

A number of crows walked the strand-line.
Beach Buoy recalled how as a child his Father would tell him that seagulls were the sailors and fishermen from the past, perhaps these beach crows are beachcombers in a previous life?
One of them stood on a large piece of driftwood, it seemed to pose as a Cormorant would, drying its wings as it stood on a rock.
Maybe the crow was just enjoying the heat of the sun?

The blue sea sparkled and splashed as it hit the beach.
Beach Buoy continued south...

The sea blocked the beach at the grey rocks so they headed up to the dunes. (Keeping an eye out for Polar Bears.)
A skylark welcomed them to the dunes.

Someone had made a little bench from some rocks and a short scaffolding board.
It was clear that there had been a camp fire nearby.

Driftwood in the dunes.

Part of Beach Buoy's #2minutebeachclean
They are sometimes used a floats on fishing gear.

They headed back laden with Beach cleaned items....

Beach Buoy. 

SEATON SANDS 08 JUNE 2019

Beach Buoy had been to work, so no early morning visit.
It was 5-15pm when Beach Buoy arrived with two dogs.
It had poured down most of the day.
It was late afternoon now and the wind from the north just had a scattering of raindrops; not too bad really.
Beach Buoy was drawn to the north a little when he saw what he thought was Sammy the Seal.
It turned out to be Derek the Driftwood.

Beach Buoy veered South.
There were two family groups on the beach but at opposite ends.
Beach Buoy put two hoods up as much to be in his own space as to obtain protection from the precipitation.
Near the shore, flat waves seemed to sliding over one another like a pack of cards being made tidy after a bad shuffle.
Out at sea some waves curled their lip at the beach.

Beach Buoy approached some birds in the distance; Crows and Gulls. He intended to give them a wide berth and let them be. The Gulls turned chicken (If that is possible?) and flew off. The Crows just hopped and skipped a short distance, unfazed by the Beach Buoy troupe.

Beach Buoy and the dogs walked by the grey rocks via the beach. The sea would claim the beach route as its own shortly as the tide was coming in.
Beach Buoy stood watching sea hands hi-five the side of North Gare Pier then travel along it like some watery Mexican wave 

As they headed back the sun tried, but on the whole failed to show.
Beach BUoy's shadow made a fleeting appearance.

It is not a usual find round these parts, but Beach Buoy found two needles close together on the strand line.
It reminded Beach Buoy the excellent
The Wrecking Season...
The Wrecking Season Part 1.
The Wrecking Season Part 2.
It is a lovely watch and always comes to mind when Beach Buoy finds two odd but similar items nearby on the beach.
The oddest thing was that he found another two close by.
Three of them had insulin written on the side.

 

Beach Buoy headed back as the defiant Skylark whistled like the happiest bricklayer on the building site.
Beach Buoy.

SEATON SANDS 06 JUNE 2019.

It had been a hot sunny day... until the working day was done... The blue sky and Simpson white clouds turned grey.
The wind blew.
Rain fell and hail paid a visit.
Beach Buoy needed some van time.
He made tea and drove to the sea front to eat tea and let the weather make its mind up as to what it wanted to do for the rest of the evening.
It was around 6-30 pm.
Beach Buoy listened to Radio Two on the white radio that he bought to go with the van.
The bad weather moved out to sea.
The evening became brighter and brighter.

7-15pm
Beach time.
As he left the van in the car park a trucker stopping in the car park for the night walked to the rubbish bin and stashed his fish and chips packaging inside.
He returned to his truck for his cup and walked to promenade wall to have his cuppa with a view.
As Beach Buoy walked to the water's edge he could see a man with a guitar heading north with guitar.
He may have been playing the instrument ?
Beach Buoy couldn't hear it for the sound of the sea.
The music man walked into the distance with his guitar case on his back.
Off in the distance there was a group of people.
Beach Buoy would later discover that they were doing a beach clean.

It felt like a different season when compared with an hour earlier.
The weather had made a good decision

The sea had changed from tempest green to calm blue.
A lady; a stranger to the beach scene talked loudly into her phone, arguing as she went by. It just felt like she had come to the beach to have a good shouting match in relative privacy!
(She mentioned a seatbelt.) shhh

Beach Buoy left the grey rocks to the litter pickers and had a very slow walk back.

The light was fanatic.
The reflections looked smashing.

The sea filled up a gulley as it came in.

They continued on to the van.
Beach Buoy sat in the van for a few while.
A Jogger chased his shadow south along the promenade, not long afterwards the shadow was chasing the jogger back to the north.

Beach Buoy drove down towards Newburn Bridge and made a cuppa and sat and thought as a lobster cloud played ball above a sausage dog that was diving into the water

Beach Buoy.

SEATON SANDS 05 JUNE 2019.

Beach Buoy and two dogs arrived at 3-55pm.
After a faff at the van, the church bells were ringing for Four, as their feet hit the sand.
It was a muggy afternoon with a breeze from the west.
The tide was coming in.
Horse hoof prints led from the in-coming sea onto the beach as if a mythical creature; a different type of seahorse had chosen Seaton Carew to come ashore.
Nay lad!

Leaving or coming?
Start or end of a journey?
No, just tracks from the council tractor.
Beach Buoy likes them....
Infinity........

Down by the grey rocks the wind picked up in strength
The two dogs decided to use Beach Buoy as a maypole (in June.) as they play fought around Beach Buoy's legs on their leads.
Beach Buoy was weary tonight.
He was feeling old.
It felt like he had parked the van at Seaham and not Seaton Carew...
The Skylark did say hello but the Sand Martins were keeping a low profile.

It was the slowest of slow walks back on a quiet beach.


Beach Buoy.

SEATON SANDS 03 JUNE 2019.

It was 4-35pm
A strong wind blew from the west.
As Beach Buoy and Stubborn reached the water's edge, the Church bells rang for 4-45.
The tide had peaked around thirty minutes earlier.
It was as bright as a summer's day and as windy as a windy one.

The colours were crisp in the dazzling light.

As mentioned, the tide had not long turned, leaving a narrow strip of smooth wet sand beyond the rippled patterns of the windswept beach.

They headed south...

and further south.....
Little Terns chattered and flitted across the sea like skimming stones thrown by excited children on a day trip.

It was an odd sea tonight .
A dark angry blue sea, that didn't look angry excepting for its colour, in total contrast to the summer sky blue sky.
 Big fluffy clouds were randomly spaced around the bay.

Beach Buoy turned back just before the grey rocks.
An unseen Oyster Catcher as big as a football, had broke cover and moved south a little to avoid Beach Buoy.
Beach Buoy turned back North ... to avoid it.
It was a windy day and there would be plenty of tired  birds about.
Beach Buoy would let this one rest.
As they headed back Beach Buoy did some cloud watching, making out shapes as he went.
1. Masquerade Mask.
2. Pufferfish.
3. Some eyebrows. (Raised.) well they were in the sky.
4. A Laughing Duck.
5. A Stubborn Dog Cloud (by the time Beach Buoy had his phone ready to take a picture , it had turned into a Hammerhead shark.)

6. A slumbering Polar Bear.

7. A big white Scotty Dog that changed into an image similar to that on a front cover of the book The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer from many years ago.

You will know it  if you have seen it.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL, ST. MARY'S ISLAND, OLD HARTLEY AND BLYTH 02 JUNE 2019.

It was 6-15 am on a still and muggy morning.
Two local vocal lads were on the promenade.
One was resting on the wall, the other was standing on it.
By the time Beach Buoy had changed into his beach boots, the lads had climbed into their car with a vocal exhaust and scampered across the wet car park, splashing as they left.
The horizon was a pale peach in colour.
Beach Buoy headed towards it.
Apart form a figure down opposite the Village Green, the beach belonged to Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog.

The sea seemed to rolling in slow motion or perhaps it was Beach Buoy who was slow.
Over towards the River Tees an oddly stacked ship left port.

They headed south.
They rested on the dune edge, where a step had been formed by the sea.
Beach Bu0y had a sit and think.
Stubborn Dog had a sleep at his feet.
The Skylarks sang, the sand flies danced in time, like shrimps stranded on land in search of sea.
A Big Bumble Bee, zig-zagged in front of Beach Buoy then flew along the dune edge like a big fat full stop in search of a fitting sentence of note.
Beach Buoy stood up.
6-56 am.
The Beach was theirs entirely for a few minutes.
The 7 am club were bang on time.
In time their paths crossed and that big friendly poodle was back for more.
As they left the beach, a jogger headed south on a wet sand on the water's edge, dancing toe to toe with his reflection.
Back in the car park a Starling was having a whale of a time in a car park puddle.
The church bells rang at 7-45 as Beach Buoy did a boot swap.
 Stubborn Dog laid in his bed cleaning his paws.

11-45am
St Mary's Island.
The tide was out.
Rock poolers rock pooled.
Around the Island seals could be seen.
Signs asked people to stay clear and stay quiet.

It was overcast, but warm.
The sun was trying to shine through.
Then it was back to the van.
Kettle on.
Cuppa.
Lunch. 

After lunch it was a short drive to the small car park at Old Hartley.
It gave a lovely view of the Island.

Then it was off to Blyth........

Rest in Peace.


Beach Buoy.

SEATON SANDS 01 JUNE 2019.

The grains of sand

A silo of footprints and storms A keeper of laughter and tears Impressions made for an hour or two The sea wipes the slate clean Interest but no debt Scattered shells Beautiful but dead.

beach buoy.

The sun shone brightly onto the white vertical blinds in the bedroom.
It was early.
The partially opened blinds created shadows on the whiteness of each adjacent slat.
 The blind looked like a barcode.
Beach Buoy drove the short distance to the beach.
It was 5-55 am.

It was a still day.
There was a mackerel sky to the west and a milky sun to the east, hanging over the sea.
Beach Buoy changed in to beach boots at the van.
Someone in a grey sports car pulled up, they had music playing loudly.
They must have thought it was 6pm not 6 am?
A man with a flat cap was already  on the beach.
He had an elderly Jack Russel following him, but about 200 metres behind.

Beach Buoy hadn't reached the water's edge when the sound of the doughnut in the sports car was doing doughnuts in the car park.
Tyres screeching at 6-15 am...
it takes all sorts...

A beach regular in summer attire appeared on the beach ... you know who I mean?
The regular headed South at a much faster speed than Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog. 
Beach Buoy had set the limit switch to
 DAWDLE
Stubborn Dog was 
DEPUTY DAWDLE.

It had been a stressful week
so lungfuls of sea air were required.

Beach Buoy could feel a sit and think coming on...
He found a bum shaped rock (XL)
and sat and thought about stuff.

He sat with eyes closed with the dog at his feet
The dog slept. 
Beach Buoy looked up to see three Little Terns twisting and turning like a thin pencil sketch of seabirds.

They headed back after a good rest and the regular dog meet up with Mari the Poodle and Cloud Dog.
An earlier wind had provoked the grasses to draw partial circles in the sand.

BEACH BUOY,