Suffolk Walk: Shingle Street beach --- Full Moon

 8 & 9th/ October/'22

Lagoon & the cottage

Full moon, super low tide, mild temperature and sunny, we decided to go to Shingle Street beach for moon watching ( and dips of course) this weekend. We timed for low tide for our dip. It was truly magical. 😍

Super low tide due to partly the full moon, it created the lagoon by the shore again. Long, calming waves, in & out to the lagoon. Changed the landscape again. It was very 'hilly' up and down... desert shingle beach...so huge, and panoramic. Only Shingle street can create view like this. 

On Saturday, it was very calm, no much wind, so surface of the lagoon was very still. As the sun started setting, the light changed and I could see the clouds above on the lagoon. Sky was blue, light pink and misty grey purple over the sea holizen. It was soooo beautiful. 

Then about 6:30pm, the moon started rising over the sea holizen. It came out pinkish colour, then orange then golden colour. 

It was a bit cloudy and windy than saturday, loads of kite surfers were at the beach...nearly 20 of them, and one of vans stayed overnight from saturday. We could smell they were cooking dinner from miles away on Saturday night, being friendly, tried to have a conversation going, but maybe they didn't hear us ( or concentrating cooking in their van), we were ignored🤣.

Can you see the Jupiter?

We saw a lady came for the moon on saturday evening, who came again this evening. She had her friends, enjoying cuppa, chat and watching the full moon. They live locally, and they love watching full moon every month together 🥰 . 

We dipped in the sea and lagoon on both afternoon. Dipped, got changed, warmed up in our car then went back out for the full moon. It was lovely evenings, never saw sunset and full moon rising at the same time. I thought we must come here more often for sunrise, solstice, equinox, sunset, full moon rise, new moon rise etc...dip in the sea! 

Two moon watchers under the full moon

There are from tonight. 

We also drove into Sutton heath, former RAF base ( now called 23 parachute regiment, they changed the sign!), we wanted to see what's inside ( nice houses, and wide roads...), hadn't been inside for ages. As we drove in, we saw a community store! Then we saw a little roundabout, then...two army officers ( one had a big gun) standing at a reception like building. As we drove past, I waved at them, they waved me back. What were they guarding? Well, they thought I wasn't a terrorist ( thank god! 🤗 ), otherwise I would've got shot. 😅 Very curious, I wonder what is inside 🤔. Rendlesham forest next to it, so they might have an alien, or cloning alien DNA, and creating some civilization? Or ...? What do you think? 😻

On our way back from Shingle street in dark, we saw a little animal strolling across the road, I said: " it's a possum!!!" it wasn't 😆. It was a baby muntjac with mama muntjac looking for night snack getting into someone's garden. It was night like that when we often saw small herd of deer by the forest. Hope I can see them again soon.

What a wonderful weekend. I am a bit tired now, bed soon. Under the full moon....😌 

Suffolk Walk: Shingle street beach - Orford

 2/10/2022

We went out to Orford after our dip in Shingle Street on Saturday, I hadn’t been there for ages. Initially when I saw the castle, I really thought they were making the castle into apartments😅 It does look like that doesn’t it. Then saw a drawing of what it looked like years ago when it was in hay day. I spent a few minutes looking around imagining how people used to live. Shingle street beach looked different again, the sea pushed shingles from both sides, now becoming one huge mound-like on the shore. We dipped into the lagoon, ooo, how did those algae appear again? Nothing in summer! Then wondered, maybe algae and sea plants like chilly water….

Have you been to Orford NT? I haven’t been there yet. Hopefully we’ll visit next weekend. Someone on youtube once did a documentary about Orford Ness, and recorded some EVPs ( for ghost hunting😅 ). I doubt I will encounter some sprit people there🤔 . Anyway, today’s walk in this afternoon, we popped down to Chillesford church, off B1083, Shottisham. Heard some fossils of shells were found, so we drove there and had a look. There’s a huge ditch next the church ( cute church☺️ ). Below is what we found on edge of the ditch, and lots of old shells on the ground too. The church looked like standing on a mound. My imagination tickled, maybe perhaps, it was built on a mound, (mound) made by Anglo- Saxons😍. After that, we popped into Rendlesham forest for a little walk on Biking track into Suffolk Wild Trust footpath. I attached MT bike track below, if you would like to check it out for a weekend activity😁. This is the track, a pair of buzzard tried to kidnap me to their nest. So, you may find buzzards circling above you waiting for you to get injured….😅

https://www.forestryengland.uk/rendlesham-forest/cycling-and-mountain-biking-trails-rendlesham-forest

 Photo above is flowers in a vase in the church. How the light came through, it looked like it had a light inside the vase. It looked very pretty and magic. Lovely church. And, If you are member of a camper club ( can'r remember which one....) you are able to stay a night! What a spot to spend a night...

Suffolk Walk: Shingle street beach ( again...)

24/07/22

 Lovely day at Shingle street beach today AND y'day. Sunshine, and not too hot, with some breeze. Spent all day, dip in and out of the sea. We love going there especially on low tide. Because that's when magic appears. 😍 

My teacher said; “ vacation is location” it’s in my head, so he tells us. But….I want to go somewhere! We popped into Shingle street beach for two days, It was like holiday, spent all day at the beach on both day. It was quiet y’day, but today! It was like Piccadilly Circus there! 🤣 Never seen so many people. It’s getting popular! It is a lovely magical beach, everyone seemed to having fun. And it was low tide around lunch time. Dip in and out of sea and the lagoon, playing with their paddle boards, and lots of kite surfers. Cars were parked up along the road, thinking, wow, some kite surfers walked a bit with their kits! I always fancied learning to kite surf. 

As soon as I said to Marcus, he went:” You would bump into people wouldn’t you” 🤓 So, that means: No driving ( road) = No kayaking ( river) = No kite surfing ( sea), What can I try? I did paddle board and body board ( floating with it 🤣 ), which I did well with. Maybe I just need to stick with that. Oh, yes, I can cycle 🚴‍♀️ ! Although I did make a double decker bus stop a couple of times when I was in London yeas ago…Oh, sorry, that was when I was on my Vespa 🛵 🤣

I am sure you are safe drivers, riders, cyclists, and surfers.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention, there was full of beautiful samphires in one of lagoons ( which dried out a bit, full of algae too.) I never seen so much and looked lovely, so I picked some, and had them for our dinner. I sauteed a bit, salt & pepper, vegan butter/merg, squeezed lemon juice at the end. it was lovely. I remember one of SOHO restaurants I used to work, we used to serve pan roasted cod, creamy mash ( really tasty), and sauteed samphire. It was lovely, simple but using the best ingredients, no need to add much. 😍 

By the way, last time we were in Shingle street beach, there were thick vegetation and some algae on the lagoon, they weren’t there today. I wonder what’s happened to it. Does anyone know? Those vegetation either someone cleared or naturally disappeared? 🧐 Mmmm, mystery. 

Suffolk walk: Bluebell walk in Blakenham Woodland garden & Shingle Street Beach

 

24/04/2022

I couldn't wait to visit this garden again, such a magic garden. And for bluebells! When we popped down to Captain's wood the other day, bluebells weren't fully out yet. Needed a bit more, perhaps, they will be ready within a 3-4 days? Still, it was beautiful walk in Captain's wood. 

We got ready early, aimed for 10am at the garden, but we got a bit lost and detoured on our way to Little Blakenham where the garden is. It was gorgeous day, sun was out and perfect for bluebell walk ( well, anytime, anyweather is perfect for bluebells apart from rain.... 😅 ) People who work there are very friendly, and the lady of the house wasn't around that day. Maybe she was busy... I said to Marcus, " I am having the hot chocolate ( from Tosier) after my walk!" something to look forward to 😆 , to a perfect hot chocolate😍

We started walking, I could see bluebells already through the gate. There were impressive blossom trees, oh my goodness, they were gorgeous. They reminded me of home in Japan, I still to this day, I love blossoms. Can't get enough of them. 

Pink one, light pink one, white one, mixture of both colours....We, Japanese are really crazy about our cherry blossoms. 

Anyway, as we walked deep into the garden, started seeing more and more bluebells and variety of flowers and trees with colours. So many in one place, yet feels very wild and rustic. We felt whoever created & look after the garden knew how trees and flowers work together with human touch, working with nature and let nature do its own thing. 

There was extra bluebell wood opened, where normally closed. When we popped in there, it reminded me Hillhouse wood in west Bergholt in Essex ( https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/woods/hillhouse-wood/ ), sea of bluebells in small space, so many, really intense, it was just like that. Scent from bluebells was so relaxing. I was so pleased we visited the garden. 

At the moment, it's open daily. £5 for admission fee, and goes to Maggies!

After our little walk ( we walked everywhere!) we went to say hello to horses. They were from local horse sanctuary. I asked the horsey guy " I am not sure if they are same horses as last time" he told me they were. then I carried on, " they were grumpy last time🤣 " He informed me they were a bit more happier now as they have a bit more space with grass to eat on. Phew, but they were still a bit grumpy, a bit like grumpy old man in a pub drinking beer at the counter. Well, we all have personalities don't we. 

Then I finally had my chocolate fix, bought a few chocolate bars and hot chocolate. I told the chef I don't eat any other chocolate now. Their chocolate is the best. All different cacao beans from different country. Oh my goodness, one I bought that day, I ate a bit last night, flavour came out and very fruity! I defo recommend their chocolate. ( https://tosier.co.uk/ ) 

Feeling echo of the hot chocolate, and a bit euphoric, we were off to Shingle street beach for a dip. It was a bit windy, but once in the water, it didn't matter so much. The water felt warmer than even last week. Didn't cold or chilly at all. Reminded of us summer days. The sea was a bit wavy and lagoons on the shore weren't quite there, so we stayed in the main lagoons in the middle of shingle desart.

I don't normally do length, but I did two! Yay! Took me a while , whilst Marcus swimming up and down. I like floating and watching sky.

It was very calming, I just watched airplanes above me thinking how huge sky was and kites  ( from kite surfers) against the blue sky was very relaxing. I could stay all day.....

Eventually, we came out from water, so happy that I went in. Water shingle street in lagoon felt a bit more saltier somehow, smelt more seaweedy. Water was clear and green. Not brown! 🤣

It's getting warmer here now in Suffolk coast, hope this continues to summer. Looking forward to more sunny weekends like this. 

In a few weeks time, we are having our retreat in Leiston abbey, fingers crossed for good weather!

Suffolk Walk: Shingle street Beach

 

We often pop down to Shingle street each these days.  Just can't get enough of it. It is a beautiful and amazing beach, shingles there makes me feel I was on desert. This magical beach creates lagoons on low tide on the shore however changes every time. 

There are a few lagoons on shingles before get to the beach from the carpark. We used to love swimming in the lagoons. We used to see ladies from local swimming club came and had some dips. I haven't seen them these days. maybe time and days are different from when we go....We sometimes go there during the week or often on the weekend on low tide. 

It was in March, we went there again on low tide. Two lagoons on the shore, this magic shore  creates wonderful space to dip. The waves were very calm, quietly in and out over the lagoons. 

Low tide was about the sunset time when we went. It was just magical, I was floating in the sea, the moon in front of me, the sun was behind me, setting over Bawdsey and Felixstowe. 

Water was ( still is) chilly, but I love feeling the chilly water on my bear skin... Since I got my shorty ( 2mm) I now always wear my shorty. ( and gloves and boots😆 ) 

I never thought of going into the chilly North sea until a few years ago. When I was recovering from my treatment and surgery ( 2020, before I was diagnosed my cancer spread) , that summer, it was quite warm, really enjoyed being outdoor, and quiet lockdown beach. 

2021 summer, I begun swimming ( more like paddling) again in the sea, really enjoyed, just like previous year. Me and Marcus thought, maybe we cold push till November...then, December...then....ended up being in the water until now. I am sure may people do that too, cold water swimming, something about it, very addictive. we now go to the beach for dip about 2-3 times a week, if weather is ok, and waves aren't too bad. 

Anyway, If you are near by, try Shingle street beach on low tide, magic happens on the beach.  Even the lagoon (  one with water on the shingle), changes. I remember one year, it was still connected to the beach , when the tide came in, water flow in from the beach. Quite mesmerising to watch. Now this lagoon is completely cut off from the beach, created a wall between. 

Often kite surfers flowing and jumping on the surface of the sea, just watching it makes me feel really calm. 

I definitely recommend the beach  for summer or anytime for walks or cold water swimming on lagoons. 

Might see you there! 

Suffolk Walk: Shingle Street Beach

 

Hello from shingle street beach

It feels like finally we have arrived summer, it's the hottest day ( so they say) this year today ( 18/07/2021)🏝😄I just finished my gardening in our patio, sweating like no one's business😂Maybe I should've done it when it was cooling down, and practiced patience a bit more...🧐 But, hey, we need to make the most of this summer days, before we know it, it's winter again...So, on Friday, first day of this heat wave in Suffolk, U.K, we went to Shingle street beach. One of our favorite beach and spending time in beautiful wonders of nature. 

Tide was out, not many people around, very peaceful. it was a bit cloudy, sun came out every now and then. and when it was out, it was warm. Water in the natural pool there was ok, not as warm as a few month ago 😂even I could swim in it. It felt so good swimming in the sea water, felt like headache, stress and fatigue were melting away. Wonderful water therapy. Nature knows how to heal. 

Here're some photos from Friday's outing. 🧡

Always amazes me to find variety of vegetations on these shingle beaches are. So beautiful. I will upload some photos from  Thorpness too later. 😍I feel so blessed living in Suffolk. We need to protect these wonderful coast line for future generations.