What happened to November?

This month has rushed past at breakneck speed and I seem to have missed it. The month started well with a visit to Dorset but then deteriorated as I succumbed to a cold and flu.  Unfortunately my immune system hadn't had chance to recover following covid so I'm not surprised. Just about everyone I interact with seems to be, or has been unwell. I even lost interest in sewing or reading and I'm completely out of touch with the blogs I follow. Anyway I need to stop moaning about the problems and tell you what I have managed to do over the last few weeks.

John and I took a weekend away to Dorset the last weekend of October. The weekend was much needed since October had seen the start of new student groups and all the extra work that entails. We had picked Dorset as our destination as it isn't too long a journey from home and we hadn't visited the area for a good number of years. We stayed in a smart bed and breakfast In Swanage, which is a small seaside town. We drove down on Friday evening and by the time we arrived it was dark. We settled into our room and  quickly checked out the information about places to eat. We wanted fish and chips and we wanted to eat them on the beach. We were lucky that it wasn't raining and was also warm so having found the best place in town for fish and chips we found a place facing the sea and ate our meal watching the tide coming in. Some folks were doing the same and others were taking their dogs for an evening stroll. There were few visible stars and little light pollution looking this way. The visible lights were from further round the bay.

Looking the other way you could see the lights from the town. I preferred the other view.

As we walked along the beach there was a lot of evidence of grand sand castles that had been created by children who were on a half term holiday that week.

After a tasty breakfast which included scrambled egg and salmon we set out towards Poole. We had visited here once before, many years ago, when a friend got married. Back in history Poole became an important port with the introduction of the wool trade. In the 18th century Poole was one of Britain's busiest ports. In the second world war it was one of the main starting points for the Normandy landings. It has a large natural harbour and a commercial port. We enjoyed walking along the quay and watching the boats. By this point we had walked away from the area with coffee shops and people so it was much quieter.

We had a quick look round the town but one shopping centre is very much like another and so after coffee and some food we headed back to the car. There was a nature reserve we wanted to visit which has a couple of trails we could follow.  To walk, watch some birds and enjoy being together was very pleasant after the hustle and bustle of work. There were pigs and sheep on the reserve and they were fun to watch. This little group of pigs were having a great time foraging

The holly was pretty with its bright red berries.

I loved the colour of this one, sorry I can't remember the name.

There were also a lot of rose hips. I can remember being given rose hip syrup as a child, I suppose that was to ensure we had enough vitamins.

I didn't get any pictures of the birds as they were all too far away. John has his scope we him so we enjoyed watching them from a distance. As we walked back towards the the car park we looked over the fields to see the sheep grazing.

Before we left we enjoyed a cup of tea at the café and browsed the shop. I bought a couple of little bits for Christmas. Back at the car park I noticed these fungi

and this one was very big

It was evening as we drove back to Swanage and as I parked the car this was the sky.

Red sky at night, shepherds delight', so we were hopeful that the following day would be sunny as we were going to visit Corfe castle. We walked into town and enjoyed a tasty burger in a pub restaurant before an early night. I'll tell you about Corfe tomorrow as our evening meal is now cooked and I'm very hungry. 

Take care

Lyndsey