For the Solstice Today

Posted on December 21, 2020 by crispina kemp

As the sun rises and paints the world gold [CK]

I’ll leave it to Damh the Bard to deliver the message: On Midwinter’s Day

 

 

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Sunday Picture Post: Woodland, Cliffs and Safe Haven

Posted on December 20, 2020 by crispina kemp

Continuing last week’s Sunday Picture Post. On 2nd December (which now seems an age ago) we walked from Lowestoft to Gorleston via Gunton Warren, Corton Woods, Hopton Cliffs and Gorleston Beach. We pick up that walk at Corton Woods…

…and at once we’re greeted by a pond. Lilies grow here. But for now, it’s green with pondweed

2nd Dec 2020

Early December the autumnal trees offer an eye-fest

2nd Dec 2020

2nd Dec 2020

But not all is bright. Dark eternal holly grows here… and white-barked birch

2nd Dec 2020

2nd Dec 2020

2nd Dec 2020

Alas to leave the woods. But we hear the call of the sea.

Corton Cliffs. No beach-walking now until Gorleston seen here in the misty distance. And yes, that is the wreck I used for CCC109

2nd Dec 2020

I used to be scared of heights; I could not have stood here and taken this photo. But I wanted to show you have vulnerable this cliff edge. This isn’t rock, this is compacted sand, (not sandstone)

2nd Dec 2020

Looking down, looking back, a beach inaccessible by foot…

2nd Dec 2020

… and looking ahead, we see the old sea defences. We used to walk atop that when we walked from Gorleston to Lowestoft. Ha, no doing that now!

2nd Dec 2020

Hopton Cliffs looking back. I don’t know how far that walkway goes, and I don’t know if there’s a way back up at the end. But it looks mighty wet, most off-putting. BTW this is close to low tide

2nd Dec 2020

Hopton Beach. Imported granite blocks now provide protection and divide the sandy beach into bays. The sun continues to peep out from the clouds in a creamy-white light

2nd Dec 2020

Hopton Cliffs looking toward Gorleston. This is where we’d usually regain the beach (and clamber over those rocks). But today there’s so much spray in the air, good sense said to stay up top. But the path takes us away from the sea. Don’t fret, we’ll soon be back, and it’ll be like we’ve entered another world…

2nd Dec 2020

Gorleston Beach and a pool left by the tide. Great for kids to paddle in but today only the gulls care to brave the misty weather. And that red-topped post? That’s all that remains of one of the many groynes that used troop up this beach… swallowed one and all by the sand.

2nd Dec 2020

If you see the movie Yesterday, you’ll see people crowded along here. No, didn’t happen, that’s movie magic. Signage in big white letters (not really visible here) warns of Danger Keep Off. Want to know why? Look behind it…

2nd Dec 2020

Low tide. Sea not at turbulent.

2nd Dec 2020

And finally a close-up of a turnstone!

2nd Dec 2020

The Highland Knight, a regular visitor here, is now leaving port. We wait and watch it pass

2nd Dec 2020

2nd Dec 2020

as does this young Herring Gull

2nd Dec 2020

So sad, our walk is done. I hope you enjoyed the sights, and understand better how our coasts are ever-changing

Next week’s walk… let me take you northward from Great Yarmouth. And we’ll start an hour before sunrise

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Please, Come Play with Me

Posted on December 19, 2020 by crispina kemp

Seal at Caister beach: 17 Dec 2020

There’s a seal colony further up the coast from me. Sometimes we see their dark heads bobbing in Breydon Water, or at the harbour’s mouth. But it’s unusual to get a good view. Yet this little fella wanted to play with me, inviting me to join him in the sea. I took loads of photos. Very difficult to decide which to use. So… I’m giving you two

Fun and Games, another title achieved in Maria’s Antonia’s #2020picoftheweek

Seal lost in the surf: 17 Dec 2020

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CCC110: Santa’s New App

Posted on December 17, 2020 by crispina kemp

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #110

Me: So, what d’you think?

Ruddy:

Me: It’s a selfie

Ruddy:

Me: My profile photo

Ruddy:

Me: For the dating app

Ruddy:

Me: You know, the one Santa’s set up

Ruddy: [Dating app! Those elves… Wouldn’t catch us reindeer being so vain. Now, where’d I put that nose-polish?]

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Crimson’s Creative Challenge #110

Posted on December 16, 2020 by crispina kemp

CCC#110

Welcome to my weekly challenge—open to all—just for FUN, FUN, FUN

Here’s how it works:

Every Wednesday I post a photo (this week it’s that one above.)
You respond with something CREATIVE

Here are some suggestions:

  • An answering photo
  • A cartoon
  • A joke
  • A caption
  • An anecdote
  • A short story (flash fiction)
  • A poem
  • A newly minted proverb, adage or saying
  • An essay
  • A song—the lyrics or the performance

You have plenty of scope and only two criteria:

  • Your creative offering is indeed yours
  • Your writing is kept to 150 words or less

If you post a link in the comments section of this post I’ll be able to find it
If you include Crimson’s Creative Challenge as a heading, WP Search will find it (theory)
by ‘Searching’ in the WP Reader (fingers crossed)

Here’s wishing you inspirational explosions. And FUN

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge, Photos | Tagged , | 39 Comments

Tuesday Treat

Posted on December 15, 2020 by crispina kemp

December 2nd, we walked from Lowestoft via Gunton Warren, Corton Woods, and Hopton Cliffs to Gorleston (where we watched a ship leave port). Here are some of the flowers and foliage. Variety diminishes as the year slides into winter. But there are yet some surprises.

The stunning foliage of Rosa rugosa that colonises the dunes

2 Dec 2020

Gorse, up close and personal. Okay for you, you’re not getting prickled!

2 Dec 2020

Even before winter’s here, new buds appear

2 Dec 2020

Giving us hope of Life renewed

2 Dec 2020

You expect a Tuesday Treat without fungi? It’s the yellow version of the Turkeytail (apt at this season)

2 Dec 2020

Not a wild plant and neither native. But I couldn’t resist taking the photo

2 Dec 2020

And roses in a garden in December, not sheltered but by the sea. That surprised me

2 Dec 2020

And to acknowledge the season… folks around here have excellent humour. Study it closely; it’s cleverly done.

2 Dec 2020

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Today I am Editing

Posted on December 14, 2020 by crispina kemp

13 Dec 2020

Looked out the window
Pink streak in the sky, sun not yet risen
Best get the shoes on, but to bridge or to beach?
I’ve time enough, I’ll go down to the sea

13 Dec 2020

Great photos I took of the sky turning from grey
To amethyst, ruby and sapphire
Of the sea lapping a golden beach

13 Dec 2020

But something niggled
Oh yes, I’d forgotten
Today I am editing

66 words written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Niggle

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Sunday Picture Post: Sunrise Over Gunton Warren

Posted on December 13, 2020 by crispina kemp

Wrap up warm, we’re heading down the coast to Lowestoft and Gunton Warren.

But first I need to join my daughter, which means crossing the bridge. The sun is no place near to rising yet.

06:35 on Haven Bridge: 2 Dec 2020

Lowestoft, England’s most easterly point. A good place to see the sunrise. But it’s hidden behind a bank of cloud

2 Dec 2020

The tide is high. But then the tide is always high here. Sometime during the past 20 years, the beach disappeared.

2 Dec 2020

That was worth glancing back for: The sun bursts through the cloud

2 Dec 2020

Waves break… like Mannanon MacLyr’s white horses racing along the crests

2 Dec 2020

Stunning. You have to stop and watch

2 Dec 2020

With the tide ebbing the birds flock in. Turnstones. Alas, at the furthest reach of my zoom. I took 20 photos, this was the best.

Turnstones: 2 Dec 2020

And now to the bracken-covered cliff…

2 Dec 2020

And the little copses, mostly holm oak

2 Dec 2020

Looking over the sun-gilded dunes

2 Dec 2020

Looking down… which makes a change from looking up

2 Dec 2020

Imagine you didn’t know the scale of this. What would come to mind? With me, it’s the palaeolithic dwellings in cliff overhangs (I took the photo from a path I was climbing up)

2 Dec 2020

Sometimes we need no reason for the photo but the beauty of lines

2 Dec 2020

One final look down

2 Dec 2020

I wanted to include the entire walk in this one post. But so many photos, so varied terrain. And with weather unsettled, I can’t be certain of another long walk any time soon. So I’m saving the photos from the rest of this walk till next week. We’ll start at Corton Woods with all the autumnal colour that implies.

Hope you enjoyed it. See Tuesday Treat for flowers and foliage

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To Babylon…

Posted on December 12, 2020 by crispina kemp

By Candlelight: 10 Dec 20202

How many miles to Babylon?

Three score miles and ten

Can I get there by candlelight?

Yes, you can get there by candlelight
You can get there and back again

[Old English Nursery Rhyme]

By Candle Light, another title achieved in Maria’s Antonia’s #2020picoftheweek

 

 

Posted in Photos, Poems (Some Silly) | Tagged , , | 20 Comments

CCC109: The Glint of Gold

Posted on December 10, 2020 by crispina kemp

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #109

“Hey, Dad, take a look here,” Young Dicken said, standing dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.

“You get back from there,” his father said. “We’re here on holiday, I don’t want you dead.”

“But, Dad…”

His father edged closer, peered over. “Crikey. That’s got to be worth a shot.”

“Better than all those photos of birds,” Dickens said.

His father zoomed in with his camera… and drew back. He blinked and leaned over the cliff edge again… and took special care to focus. Then he phoned his office.

“Yea, it’s me, Detective Inspector Ridgens. Yes, I know I’m on holiday but… you know that jewel heist a few years back, getaway car never discovered? I think I’ve just found it. Am I sure? Oh yes.”

There was no mistaking the glint of gold in that sand.

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #109

 

 

Posted in Crimson's Creative Challenge, Mostly Micro, Photos | Tagged , , , | 27 Comments