Every so often I find myself pining for the sea something terrible. Yes, every so often I do need to get me a Sea Fix, and it's a very strong need. An Urge even. I've been feeling the pull of the sea throughout most of this year, and have tried on numerous occasions to plan a weekend jaunt to the coast with the Attic family. But the family doesn't suffer from the same kind of withdrawal symptoms that I do, and they don't feel The Urge like I do. They moan about the one-hour-and-twenty-minutes it takes us to drive to the sea from here. They moan loudly, and so I give in with a shrug of my shoulders and a slightly heavy heart.
But....I do happen to be married to a very lovely, thoughtful man. The kind of man who arranges a day off work and decides he will use that precious day to whisk his wife to the coast for her Sea Fix. Kind of a day-late Mother's Day treat he said. Sweet Man ♥ So yesterday morning bright and early, I was leaping around with excitement making up a picnic, assembling picnic rug, cool bag, boots, bucket and spade. Preparing for our jaunt to the sea. And after depositing the Little People at school, we set off to drive upwards and to the left (North West?), heading for the quaint little village of Heysham.
It's almost exactly three years ago since we were here last, you may even remember it? It hasn't changed one jot. It's a very quirky, quiet (oh so quiet) place, hardly a soul about. No traffic, the roads are practically deserted. We park our car as we did last time, on a quiet residential road quite high above the sea below. It's cold, bright and blustery, quite a perfect day to be beside the sea I think.
We walk briskly down the path to reach the promenade. I am not walking exactly, I am half running and half skipping. J is laughing at my visible excitement, I cannot contain the pure pleasure of simply being beside the sea. Of seeing it, hearing it, smelling it. The air smells wonderful. Sharp and salty and fresh and full of Goodness.
Of course we do not have the Little People with us, but oh we do indeed have our Little B! He is wearing his yellow wellington boots and seems to be picking up on my excitement, he is chatty and points and exclaims a lot. We take him into this little sandy, windswept play area and he enjoys lots of climbing and sliding. But my feet are itching to get down onto the sands, and soon enough we head to the beach.
The tide moves in and out very quickly here, it's famous for it. There was hardly any visible beach when we arrived, yet within half an hour, all this gorgeous ripply sand has appeared as if by magic. Marvellous! Just right for a spot of running, jumping, throwing and shell gathering.
Little B is new to the idea of beach combing, having never done it before, so I teach him the art. I help him to look for pretty shells which we rinse clean in the little sea water pools. He examines them closely, then slings them in the bucket. So far so good. But then I turn around and find he is throwing them all out of the bucket. No no! We need to collect them! Keep them IN the bucket! But he is intent on throwing them out, one by one, out they go until his bucket is empty. Ok, begin again. "More" he says. Pick up, rinse in water, put in bucket. Collect about eight, then they all get thrown out. I give up trying to thwart him and just enjoy watching him instead, he is delighted with the whole process obviously.
I can't really do much beach combing myself cos I am having to supervise the Little fella. He is stomping in pools of sea water, splashing water all up his trousers and into his boots. He is tripping and stumbling over slippery rocks, he is investigating great piles of stinky seaweed. But oh my, he is having fun! I take a few snaps of him doing his thing, and I gaze up and down the deserted beach. Bliss. I am full of sea-bliss.
I am also starting to get hungry, as being by the sea always makes me feel ravenous. Always. So we choose a place to rest up for our picnic....see in the above pic, on the far right hand side, there are three benches on the sea wall there near the red life belt? We choose the middle bench and chow down. Brown bread sandwiches wrapped in tin foil, fruit, crisps, slabs of lemon drizzle cake, chocolate and a mug of steaming hot tea. The view makes it taste divine.
After lunch we take a little wander through the village, and I indulge in some blatant Housey Appreciation. I LOVE looking at houses, love examining the details.
LOve the cobbled pathways everywhere. I also fell madly in love with that sweet little coloured glass lantern, and I confess I had some Bad Thoughts about grabbing it and running away with it. Naughty, naughty.
We end up by the little village green and I remember these lovely benches from our visit before. I wish we had pretty benches like this in my town, with a picturesque landscape to rest ones back against.
We continue meandering, along Main Street, past a closed up bric-a-brac shop, a closed up cafe and a closed up diner, up the road and back to the hilltop where the car is parked. The view looks different to when we first arrived, less sea and more seaweedy sand. But still beautiful. I breathe deeply and inhale the air one last time before we head for home.
What a fabulous day. We return with sand in our boots, and some fabulous memories. Oh, and one solitary rock which is the result of Little B's beach combing activities. He refused to throw that one away, stuffed it hastily in his little coat pocket to bring home. A reminder of a day well spent.
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I ALWAYS get that urgent feeling of must-be-near-the-sea-soon in early summer. It sucks that we literally live in the place furthest from the coast in England. It has to be a proper planned trip, not just a quick nip down to the beach or a day trip. We all still go shell collecting and have certain other things we MUST do if we're on the beach, like making a sand castle and paddling in the sea. And we must eat chips. I love it and want to go so badly now! Looks like a lovely day out. :)
Posted by: Alice | March 20, 2012 at 09:55 PM
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh
Sand in the boots!
I love your pictures!
Posted by: delf | March 20, 2012 at 09:56 PM
Oh, the sea. Yes, in the days BC ('before children'), I was a maritime lawyer. I miss the boats and the ocean. It's timelessness, and yet ever-changing wildness. I KNOW that one day I must live in a cottage on a headland overlooking the ocean. It is a visceral need-type thing with me, too.
Glad you had a lovely day, and yay for Little B's beach-combing, that's hilarious!
Posted by: Sasha | March 20, 2012 at 10:04 PM
Lovely photos! What a marvelous time you had and such a wonderful Mister to take you there.
Posted by: Louise | March 20, 2012 at 10:12 PM
What a lovely day! and what a kind husband you have too.
Will your outing give you ideas for a seaside inspired project?
Fleur xx
Posted by: Fleur Cotton | March 20, 2012 at 10:13 PM
I have the 'need to be near the sea feeling' - a lot. I wish we lived near the sea really, but unless we have some sort of major windfall I don't think it's going to happen!!
We take niblet off to the coast when we can, usually to Crosby beach, as it's probably the closest nice beach & niblet thinks my photos of Anthony Gormley's sculptures look like gingerbread men!!
Posted by: Helen | March 20, 2012 at 10:25 PM
Ah, so cute that one little stone. That made me chuckle. We are lucky to live close to the sea. I think I would miss it if I couldn't just have a quick jaunt down there when I felt like it. I've been wondering if you would be interested in my last blog post, which was about a visit to the seaside. We went to see the yarnbombing at Saltburn. The knitted olympics have caused quite a stir in these parts! Maybe you have heard about it already? If not, pop over and have a look.
Posted by: Rachael Iddon | March 20, 2012 at 10:28 PM
Looks great! Those surprise days are just the best.
I could never live too far inland!
Ellie
x
Posted by: Jelly Jam | March 20, 2012 at 10:29 PM
Sounds like a perfect day Lucy, I feel as if I have been there with you :)
Posted by: Linda Solaiman | March 20, 2012 at 10:35 PM
Beautiful photos. I love the little houses, very cottage-y. Would love to see some family photos. What are your kids names?
Posted by: Ailsa | March 20, 2012 at 10:36 PM
I always forget quite how much I love the sea until I visit it!
Posted by: RainStorm | March 20, 2012 at 10:45 PM
Sounds like a perfect day. One little stone and a whole lot of memories from it.
Posted by: Trudy McLauchlan | March 20, 2012 at 10:48 PM
A day trip to the sea is a perfect thing. Do you know the Alfie & Annie Rose story about 'Bonting'? Alfie finds a stone that he keeps but is distraught when he takes it to the beach and loses it. If you don't know it, it is in a collection by Shirley Hughes called 'Out and About with Alfie & Annie Rose' (I think that is right - it has been a while). Think you (& little B) would really like it if you don't know it. Lovely post x
Posted by: Karen | March 20, 2012 at 10:49 PM
I can almost smell the salt - lovely!
Posted by: Truly Myrtle | March 20, 2012 at 10:51 PM
I can totally relate! I have seafaring blood in me and love the ocean. We have 5 days reserved for our "caravan" in an ocean front park near the end of April for my birthday! I can't wait! I'm so glad you had the day trip to recharge your sea dreams. I put photos of 4 of my grandkids on my blog if you want to see them. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
Posted by: Teresa Kasner | March 20, 2012 at 10:51 PM
I have been desperate to go to the sea and my family like yours have been reluctant to come with me. SO glad that you got to go and have such a lovely day with your husband and your gorgeous boy.
Posted by: Deco Cat | March 20, 2012 at 10:53 PM
I too start to crave being near the water and am feeling it now. I love lakes, rivers, streams. Any water will do :)
Posted by: Colletta | March 20, 2012 at 10:53 PM
We are right in the middle, well away from the sea.In Holland we lived a couple of bus stops from the sea, I loved it.Miss it very much...one day I'll get back beside the sea- it was so nice when the wind brought the smell of it inland.
Posted by: Kate | March 20, 2012 at 10:59 PM
It sound like an incredible mother's day! Oh I dream to see the sea once again. That one looks amazing.
Posted by: verónica | March 20, 2012 at 10:59 PM
Oh, those little people will long for those family trips to the sea when they are older.. but yes that is quite the trek for them! At least it is for fun!! Thank you for sharing the pics! Beautiful post!
Posted by: Cindy aka Yarndevil | March 20, 2012 at 11:08 PM
Oh how wonderful for you and J, and yes even littel B!! I am envious of the day well spent. It sounds like you had such a lovely time together, even if you didn't get the full beachcombing part accomplished. There's always the next time! ;-)
Enjoy your evening!
Posted by: Jillian_R | March 20, 2012 at 11:16 PM
i'm not a beach/sea person. however if i lived only an hour and 20 min away we'd take our kids to the beach quite often! i can't believe anyone would complain about that short of a drive!
btw-found your blog thru pinterst which i'm sure many ppl have and i quite enjoy it. mostly for the crochet. but also your other posts are quite interesting as well.
Posted by: Donna | March 20, 2012 at 11:17 PM
no swimming??
Posted by: jen | March 20, 2012 at 11:28 PM
Lovely photos! Living in central Canada, I only get a sea fix every few years. Thanks for taking me with you on your day trip. ;-)
Posted by: diana | March 20, 2012 at 11:47 PM
How lovely. I dream of camping the way you dream about the sea. I love spending time in the woods, close to the water to hear the waves crashing in. I am determined to take my 3 granddaughters for a week. Probably not this summer. 5 yr old Mia, still isn't ready. I haven't been able to go for 7 years because of my Great Danes. It isn't easy to find a dog sitter for 2 Danes & 2 Yorkies, not to mention my 2 birds and 5 turtles. All my dogs are VERY senior and don't do well camping anymore.
Back to you, I am glad you had a wonderful day.
Let me just tell you, I am SO addicted to your hexagon "squares", your Happy Flower, and your bird. I haven't picked up my knitting needles since I discovered your blog. All I do now is crochet. Your projects are so Happy.
Posted by: barb yerke | March 20, 2012 at 11:53 PM