Katia couldn't stop us!

This is not the normal scene on the Bay!

"Katia" stirred things up a bit.

Instead of a gentle whoosh of the tide...

...it was a ccccraaash!

Exciting...yes but it meant that the last weekend of the season was missing a few items on the programme.

So no Red Arrows

and no fireworks....

...too windy by far.

The potter had a go at showing off to the girls...

...but was no better than Knut at stopping the tide.

Driftwood one - potter nil!

So what to do?

Well the vintage cars still came from Bradford.

We always love seeing them and saying..."oh look there's your first car

 and there's one of my dad's

 and there's Sydney's"

They pile along the prom and line up with their owners proudly standing beside them.
We have been to Brighton often when the London to Brighton Vintage Car Rally is held and Morecambe beats it hands down.
Why?
Well you can walk right up to them, stroke the polished bonnets and might even  be lucky enough to get to sit inside one.
Brilliant!

But girls are not really that interested in vintage cars and so we move on...

No Morecambe weekend would now be complete without the ice cream van owned by the lovely Kate.

Restored by her own fair hands the van is now in demand all over the country.

Next weekend she could be at the London Fashion show at Claridges.

Outside of course!

Go Kate!

On with our yummy ices and "dis must be de place".

With money burning a hole in their pockets, where else should we go to, but the slot machines!

Bright lights....

...This is serious stuff.

"Don't make me lose my concentration"!

It's such a great feeling when you manage to get the coins to move and hear the clatter as they tipple into the cup below....and then you lose it all and you don't really care because it was such fun!

I left the potter and girls shoving coins into the slots...
..and went off to have a look at the Platform,
where The Vintage Village Hall was set up with a vintage tea room and stalls of all kinds of vintage things...
...I think the actual word is...old...
...but I loved it.

Tea and cake in pretty cups and plates, and loads of Aunt Helen type cakes with lashings of cream and strawberries and chocolate.

Oh and a glass of Guinness for the potter...just to keep the energies up for the grand girls!

I loved this stall as mum had one of these trollies which came out for visitors at posh suppers.

And I bought some 1950's type glasses with colour on them...something a few years ago I would have turned my nose up at.!

Turned up...that's Jack Sparrow, as charming as ever...he gets everywhere these days!
Think I saw him at the sandcastle weekend too!

Here's a another turnup for the books...

...nine-year-old girl admiring the 1950's net slip....grandmother describes the difficulties of sitting down with said garment, especially on the bus and the nasty pattern left on the back of the legs after sitting down!

But now the rain is pelting down ...
...so we run for the house and get soaking wet...more "Katia"!

Fire lit and Harry Potter on the screen with damp clothes drying on the radiators...

Fish and chips from Atkinson's.

snuggled up...

..with blankets...

...and the legs stretched out....

another perfect Morecambe day!

The Bore.

What a good name !
It certainly isn't boring if you are there as it happens.
Most people in England know of the Avon Bore.
But there is a Bore in south Cumbria on the River Kent .
We often go to Arnside, on the south bank of the river,

We have a cuppa in the little wooden tea rooms along the bank and up a hill to the left.
Then sit and wait and hope, like children listening for sleigh bells on Christmas Eve.

 If our timing is right, we will hear the "bore" as the tide streams in past the town at a narrow part of the river. It sounds like a train coming closer...really loud... and the first time is so uncanny as to make you think that the train is coming up the river! 
Sadly we were out of luck, but the tea was worth it and the piece of almond and lemon cake almost made up for the disappointment.

Today we took the bikes and peddled down to the Mersey, about a mile as the crow flies.

Not many crows there ...mainly seagulls and other water fowl!
We sat at the wooden tables, gazing out over the river and ate sandwiches...they don't serve food...and drank  Guinness.

Suddenly...there was a roar coming  from the west.
A Bore!
I couldn't believe my ears and I jumped up knocking over drinks and crisps !

From being a trickle of water in the river, it very quickly filled up to the level of the rushes and sedges on the opposite side to us.

I've lived around here for 40 years and I never knew that we had our own local Mersey Bore! 
Well that's not completely true...actually I've known quite a few...but none as exciting as this one!

A Poem for Thursday.

the bolt

came out of a clear blue sky
one minute
drinking guinness
watching gulls slowly rising
from the river
as the tide returned.

cut grass and cylists
and a Ferry view.

then

somehow we knew
as she crossed to the window
wound down to take
the unexpected heat.

parked cars and parents
and the green of the playing field.

loss

this like the loss of the Angles.
no good screaming down
dream corridors
after a departing soul.

bacon, eggs and tomato
and the presentation's the thing.

now

a knowing look
and again
Castor and Pollux had all the answers.

Click your heels together
and Kansas is home.

This is my dear friend Dorothy working at the Oaks Cafe.

Sweet memories.

.

Under my Nose!

Sometimes the best things are right there under our noses.

This is the view of the river Mersey when drinking "ones" rose' wine at the Ferry Tavern  not far from the Potters House.
Well actuallly the potter has a Guinness!

It's a favourite spot for walkers and bikers and dogs.
Lots of history has gone into the making of the Ferry...obviously once upon a time there was a ferryman.... .....but I've heard that the owner of the distant shore will not allow any landings.

Shame I say!

When the river floods the tavern gets wet! Sometimes the water reaches quite high up the walls.

I have heard that this was the spot where the Romans crossed over after leaving Chester to travel north.
Some early pottery is exhibited in the local museum.

At the back of the inn, parallel to the river, is one of the earliest canals built for the industrial revolution in England.

When we first arrived in the area we often biked down to the Sankey canal with the kids on the back of the bikes.

But in those days it was dirty and smelly.Clogged up with rubbish and discarded metal whatevers.

Now shoals of fish swim in the clear water, while swans and ducks inhabit the reeds along the edges.

 Boats are moored ......

.....and a boatyard rings with the sound of energetic boaty people!

We will be back more regularly...sure......and not only for the Guinness!

A Poem for Thursday

the bolt

came out of a clear blue sky
one minute
drinking guinness
watching gulls slowly rising
from the river
as the tide returned.

cut grass and cylists
and a Ferry view.

then

somehow we knew
as she crossed to the window
wound down to take
the unexpected heat.

parked cars and parents
and the green of the playing field.

loss

this like the loss of the Angles.
no good screaming down
dream corridors
after a departing soul.

bacon, eggs and tomato
and the presentation's the thing.

now

a knowing look
and again
Castor and Pollux had all the answers.

Click you heels together
and Kansas is home.

This is my dear friend Dorothy working at the Oaks Cafe.

Sweet memories. 

.

Kitaj Exhibition in Kendal

I'm inspired. I always am after seeing an exhibition.

This one was at the Abbott Hall Gallery in Kendal.

                          

Showing the work of Kitaj.

So after the show we made our way back down the road to the Bay

and stopped off at The Midland for a drink.

The sky was heavy with purple/blue clouds and the water was stunning.

So I got inspired and made a quicky sketch and wet it with a spot of my Guinness!

Cheers!

Sweet Memories

I had such a good weekend up in the house in Morecambe.

The bay was at it's most glamorous......

.......that's Morecambe Bay for anyone new to my ramblings.

I said to the potter, that it was a watercolour day.

The lake district mountains in the distance looked as if the painter had turned them upside down and let the wash of colour settle in the top of the hills and the valleys were lost in a sweet mist.

Eric was his usual smiling self.

I never go past him but he is surrounded by happy people raising their left leg!

We sat outside at the Midland Hotel one evening.

The day was still warm,

and we drank our Guinness and watched the sun go down.

Old friends from Co. Down came by

so we sat in the lounge at the house and drank tea

and put the world gently to rights.

The fire was lit in the big hearth

and being old friends

we all but fell asleep.

Sheep graze on the salt marshes around the Bay.

Red Bank Farm have opened a little eaterie there.

 And they sell their home grown and home cooked Lamb Henry

with heaps of fluffy mash and petit pois and yummy gravy.

And then all that is left to do is have a walk along the salt marshes,

while happy dogs romp

 and kites are flown.

And travel back down the M6 for another week's work.