More spring flowers

The first cherry blossoms are out!






And daffodils are in full bloom everywhere.






Seaford Head, seen from Newhaven's Castle Hill.

Robin

The sea was silver today.



While the puppy played, I took photos of some song birds. The robins were the bravest ones to stay near enough for me to take a photo, unlike all the other species that flew away immediately when they saw that there was a hyper puppy around.

It's windy

Gale-force winds, apparently. Should be calming down by the afternoon. I went to see the view from Castle Hill this morning while it was still windy and high tide.

And the sea is still beautiful

We hadn't been by the sea for two days. Before going to Brighton this evening, we went for a little walk on Castle Hill, and as soon as I saw the sea from there I felt very happy and calm. I love the sea. I love living by the sea!



These are just quick, low quality snaps with the pocket camera.



Late in the evening we went for a walk by the beach and took some long exposure shots while Z played on the pebbles, occasionally knocking one of our tripod legs... I was hoping to get some moonlit shots, but the lights by the seafront were much more brighter than the light from the full moon, so we ended up getting this incandescent light rather than a cool moonlight in our shots. Must get further away from any artificial lights next time!

Calla Lily

I bought some Calla Lilies today. To tell you the truth, I didn't get great photos of them... I'll try again in the next few days when they have opened up a little more.






A few shots from our afternoon walk.

Cook book dinner no. 2

There were quite a few paragliders on Castle Hill today even though it was fairly bad weather.









In the evening Miles cooked this marvellous dinner from a cook book I bought him the other week (I have the best ideas sometimes!). It was lamb, which I don't usually like much, but Miles cooked it so well it was very tasty even for me. (I'll post the name of the dish later after I have checked it)

Castle Hill

This is another love note about the sea. I don't think I can ever get enough of its beauty.



We went to Castle Hill on two occasions today. First thing in the morning I ended up jogging all the way to the top of a hillock near Peacehaven, and back. In the afternoon we only walked half the distance and I didn't jog at all because I had sore hips from the run this morning! (I also jogged to Piddinghoe and back two days ago). But the light was marvellous in the afternoon. I can't get over the fact that the light is so different by the sea every day.






To the west of the fields we met a man and a dog, and while we walked back towards Castle Hill with him, he told me that he does volunteer work at the Newhaven Coastguard a couple of days a week. So he is one of the very friendly men I sometimes see waving at us from the watchtower (you'll see a photo of watchtower at the end of this old post from July).



I love the kind of light that you get when you have dark clouds in the background and evening sun lighting something in front, so I asked Zebedee to pose for me for this photo.

Call for playmates

The scenes that I have to put up with while walking the dog...



Zebedee hasn't met any playful dogs in a couple of days, so I called Sheila today to find out what time she is going to walk Poppy, and we agreed to meet up at Castle Hill. Val came out, too, with her two poodles. Great fun was had by all doggies, especially Zebedee by the looks of things, as he was constantly giving Poppy kisses while she patiently let him - until she got fed up with the puppy hovering around her mouth and licking it whenever he could, and went to keep an eye on the rabbits.

Here they all are spoiled by Val and her treats.



When the others left, we went back on top of the hill with Zeb, looked out at the sea and let out a long, happy sigh.

Malling Down

A revisit to Malling Down, one of the places we visited on our Sussex Summer Safari back in June.







There is a dewpond, and it even has a name!





Another snap I happened to take of Zebedee and later noticed the tooth...



Look at it - it's huge! The molar at the back looks ridiculously big for the little puppy's mouth. His head needs to grow to keep up with the rest of his body... and teeth.



In the evening we went for another hour's walk at Castle Hill.

Chaffinch

Last time I saw a little bird (Stonechat) during our walk I didn't have my zoom lens with me, but today I did. This is a Chaffinch (I believe, from looking through my British Birds book).



It was another hot and sunny day. Made me want to be on this yacht I saw heading towards the open sea.



Later in the day - just before sunset - we went back to Castle Hill for a little walk. I loved the sea and the sky, as usual. Very subtle, but beautiful.



And let's finish the day with the opposite of subtle. This is the Newhaven Coastguard watchtower. Drama added with Dynamic Photo HDR.

Pheasant at Castle Hill

Weird! Never expected to see a pheasant couple on top of coastal cliffs. First I saw the male...



... and when I walked on, suddenly a female pheasant rushed off from the long grasses, making it look like she ran away from her nest. Which made me walk away quickly and let her get back to the spot (where her nest may be). Anyway, very odd place for a pheasant to nest, I think!

The walk was lovely as usual... I'm surrounded by beauty.



The obligatory puppy photo from the walk:



...and a couple of butterflies - a Small White, or a Large White (not sure which).



...and a Gatekeeper, a ubiquitous butterfly, at least in these areas.