Summer At Last

We headed off to Seaton Carew in the campervan and parked (early gets the front row in the car park) on the sea front for the two days of the heatwave that we got in the north-east of England. Normally, visitors can be counted easily if they all stand still long enough, but on Saturday the beach was awash with people. So many tiny ones dipping their feet into the sea for the first time! The group on the left had been out to a lobster pot (somewhere they wouldn't tell us) in their inflatable and had come back with half a dozen fine specimens to barbecue. There has been a lot of work done all summer, on the seawall. It started as a refurbishment of the terrace and the steps, but it seems now that there is some undermining of the pathway behind the wall by the drainage and this has caused serious problems.

In at least four places the footpath has caved in completely.

Large boulders are being emplaced by huge earth moving equipment. I hope it is successful and that they are able to save the seawall and path. The waves that hit this structure during storms and spring tides are really enormous and forceful and I'm just hoping that they haven't opened a can of worms.

Our very small crab apple tree produces glorious blossom and very attractive golden, cherry-sized apples. I wasn't sure if they had much oomph as a fruit so last year I let them all drop. They made a bit of a mess so this year we picked them and made a dozen jars of crab apple jelly. Guess what you are getting for xmas if you live nearby?
We had walked our favourite blackberry patch for the last few berries of the year and they made an amazing difference to the colour of the first batch. The pure crab apples produced a golden coloured jelly with a very slight peachy tinge.

Just finished dealing with the last couple of auction purchases. Shall post them soon as I have photographed them. They have pleased us both immensely. Now waiting for the shepherds pie to bake: the left overs from a breast of lamb roast from last night. A tasty and cheap cut and we shall add it to our short list.

Never having been a great success at baking cakes etc. I watched the finals of the bake-off on telly last night with awe. What amazing resilience you have to have to be a baker and a competitor all at the same time. Fabulous results. Congrats to all participants.

Cheers Gillian