More to Dorset than meets the eye!

Spring is here! On the sunny road to Swanage, daffodils were in bloom today. A good time to go the seaside. Few holiday makers and the going was easy.

We didn't actually stop at Swanage. Went on to Durlston Castle which is only just up the road and stands on Durlston Head, here in the foreground while Swanage is on the larger of the two bays beyond.
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We always meet people with "saved" dogs: here are the latest, another whippet/greyhound named Treacle and his mate Sam. Don't know much about their owner, other than he comes orignally from Abingdon and he is a volunteer dolphin searcher: note the binoculars. This is what he often finds off the headland; but not while we were there!














This is the castle. Doesn't look like Warwick, but then nothing does round here.







 A very pleasant place to wander through with great sea views and other delights including the Seventh Wave Cafe, Bar and Restaurant.
Sorry about the quality of the picture: you will have to take my word the the sea is through the railings.
   

 



Very thoughtful people here; even have sprung chairs for the birds to sit on!  The two in there when I took this picture were too busy to sit down



You may walk down to the giant globe. Another problem photograph: sea must always be level in pictures, otherwise it will drain away, in this case to the left.  

Must be the fault of these fellers who were building it in 1877.











After all this walking about the weather began to change. And so we began to wend our way homewards, but not before we had our picture taken to remind us of a great day out.

Want to see more?
Go to Flotsam & Jetsam Lal Hitchcock website. Read about her in the Marshwood Vale Magazine 01.05.2011 on the www.marshwoodvale.com website - really interesting.
See great picures on www.benosbornephotography.co.uk. Ben was Shell Wildlife Photographer of the year in 2007.

Might go in for that myself now I have got the sea straight!

There's Markovic - and there's Mitrovic!

Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre yesterday evening to the Johann Stauss Viennese Gala.
Die Fledermaus Overture, Delirium Waltz, Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, The Blue Danube and much more.

Thought you would like a picture of the lights, as we were nearer to them than the floor!

"Get the rest of the Band in" said Conductor Aleksandar Markovic from Belgrade: "Phil's here, and you know he doesn't like us hanging about".

Searched for a better picture and came up with this Aleksandar Mitrovic who plays for Newcastle United: no wonder Watford knocked them out of the FA Cup yesterday!
Can you imagine manager Steve McClaren saying: "Get me Markovic! I hear he's very good up front organsing the players!"

You can tell from his expression he is wondering why Markovic is running about in white tie and tails with a white stick. Then again, I did wonder at Mitrovic's knowledge of Strauss when I copied and posted the following link!

 YouTube  Bottle Musicians in Sweden playing I'm Walking on Sunshine.

What Rain?

A year on and the sun is still shining on the Rec where we walked last January and today.


Had I known it always shines up here I would have come every day!






 Not much has changed.
Still got the same clothes!









And as the man in the picture said, there are still walkers who take their dogs for a walk and dogs taking their walkers for a walk. He reckons that two thirds of all dogs here are adopted "rescued" dogs, the majority of which seem to be of the whippet/greyhound variety.

This is the great benefit of walking round here; dogs by the dozen and much stopping with consequential talk, mainly about the attributes of the various breeds; although I was accosted by a 73 year old man today who wanted to know if my limping with a walking stick was the result of knee trouble and who had recently had a new knee in a private hospital in Southampton although they also do National Health operations and it is worth getting it done while you are fit enough to recover quickly and was out with two dogs walking like Usain Bolt. Come to think of it he was walking like Usain Bolt too!

Believe it or not, people walk along here on their way to and from the shops because that's how they get their shopping. Can you imagine carrying two pints of milk, half a dozen eggs, two duck breasts and a bag of potatoes in the pouring rain along here.
But I forgot; it doesn't rain here.