Fifth Week Gone.........

 So following on from my last post and a little late due to an extremely slow internet connection here's what we got up to last Thursday .
It was a surprise trip to meet a couple of very special Blog friends one who knew I was coming and another who didn't.
The boys and I jumped on a couple of trains and went to Alnmouth which is on the Northumbrian Coast and somewhere that we've never been before.

 We weren't due to meet Tess until 4pm ish so that left us a few hours to explore . Walking down the high street admiring the bunting flapping around in the churchyard and the cute old buildings.
Then suddenly I spotted a little cobbled street with rows of hollyhocks so we had to take a quick detour but look what we found at the end of it.

The most amazing view over the golf course and the beach in the distance ..... wow, it was breathtaking.

The boys were so excited and couldn't wait to get down there. Yes, we do live close to a beach but it's nothing like this one . The tide was so far out we could hardly see the water and there were loads of shells and sand dunes to run inbetween.

Whilst they were paddling and digging holes there were a couple of rain showers and I thought we were going to have to pack up and leave but they soon blew over.

 

 Whilst we were tucking into some very sandy sandwiches the Sea King helicopter flew by with the crew hanging out of the door waving at everyone . Now that was 'way cool' according to Gabe.

When we met up with Tess and her son the boys were in proper hyper mood. It's quite odd meeting up with someone you've never seen before , luckily she recognised Milo so it wasn't a case of talking to random strangers.
Tess took us to Alnwick Gardens so we had a wander around and also a quick look at the castle where some of Harry Potter was filmed.

At 6pm we all went up to Barter Books where we had another identifying job to do looking for the lovely Thimbleanna . That didn't take much doing either just spotting the lady with the extra big camera .

 

Because I'm totally rubbish I forgot to take any photo's of the three of us . I think we were all just swept up in the moment but I have to say that the boys and I had an absolutely smashing day and we loved meeting up with a couple of truly lovely friends. Thank you to both of you.

River Walk...

 Deciding to make the most of the first of my two days off this week I dragged the boys away from their games for a walk along the river. Starting at this side of the bridge it was very green and there were loads of thistle seeds just about ready to fly on their merry way.
It has also just occurred to me that when we come down this way we always turn left and follow the Three Rivers Cycle route towards the sea and never right , hmmmm, note to self must fix that.

Walking up towards the National Glass Centre, we had to pass the metal tree so at this point we decided to stop for a doughnut break. Well, the boys had doughnuts, I'm not that fond of them myself.
I think I may have mentioned it before but the metal tree is a sculpture that shows the metamorphosis of a shipyard crane into a tree to represent all of the shipyards that used to be along this part of the river.

Then on to the Red House which the boys love. The Red House shows the interior of an apparently ruined house, including furniture and personal belongings and is carved from red sandstone. In the photo's below you can see the coal fire and mantlepiece with a clock in the middle. There are piles of plates with an old range cooker and my favourite which is the coat hanging up behind the door.

Walking on past the Port of Sunderland on the other side of the river you can see the lighthouse which we recently walked to far out in the distance. The Sunderland Canoe club were out in the Marina dodging in and out of the moored boats which had names like Priscilla and Optimus. This of course led to Gabe doing his impression of the Transformers Optimus Prime!

Now this strange looking thing is called the North Dock Tufa. It is a small dome shaped petrified well with stalagmites and stalactites. It was discovered back in 1992 behind some old huts when they were building the Marina and it is known as the best of its kind in the North East of England. In 1995 it was noted as a regionally important geological site and it's still growing and getting heavier.

Then around to the other side of the marina where there are a few steel cormorants made from girders, they actually show a cormorant taking flight but I've only managed to get two of them . Funnily enough we did stop here for a little while to watch a cormorant catching fish .

 A quick look back to where we had came from then round the corner passing a couple of fisherman and onto the little beach between the piers. The tide was way way out today and there were a few men digging in the wet sand for sandworms for fishing bait.

Weather wise it was a bit of an odd day, sunny one minute, cloudy with threats of rain the next but still very warm and humid. Surprisingly not so many people about either so we just about had the place to ourselves so there was quite a bit of treasure hunting amongst all the piles of driftwood which has been washed up recently.

Oh , and a bit of posing for our Summer photo . I always like to take a few black and whites every year just as a reminder and it shows just how much the boys have grown. They look so big in these and I can't decide which one I like the best?

  Work tomorrow and while I'm there I'll be thinking about what we can get up to on Thursday.

 Hope you all had a lovely day too.