The rapeseed fields are in full bloom, here in East Anglia, and they are absolutely beautiful! (This product is used primarily to produce vegetable oil and bio-diesel, from what I've read.)
This is near Prickwillow, looking toward Soham…you can see one of the local windmills sticking up in the background near the center of this picture.
Even though these flowers make almost half our family's eyes itch and induce sneezing, I love them and asked if anyone minded if we took some family pictures with them. Everyone agreed and was a good sport. :)
Emily took this one of Scott and me
I set up the tripod and took this one using the timer on the camera. When the sun hits these flowers, they are such a bright (almost fluorescent) yellow that it hurts your eyes. I'm still learning how to mess around with all the settings on my camera, so the colors/lighting isn't quite right…but it's close. :)
A nice one of just the kids (Collin is still in "fight-all-the-badguys" mode, apparently) :)
We did a silly one first, actually, to get some of the wiggles out…I LOVE it!
This field was on the other side of the road with some winter wheat (I believe) in the foreground. It gives you an idea of the dramatic color contrasts.
I edited this one (and the one below) to try to get the flowers to look brighter. They're closer, but the sky wasn't quite that blue in reality, haha! It's still a pretty picture…and probably the closest to how it actually looked to the naked eye. I guess there are some parts of the States that have these fields, but I'd never seen them until we came here. They are incredible, and one of the cheeriest sights of spring (in my opinion.)
A couple of weeks ago (?), some ducklings hatched in our next door neighbors' (landlord's) yard. We watched from the windows above the fence for those first days when they were just tiny balls of fluff...10 of them.
First sighting, a couple of weeks ago (Actually, I really can't remember when it was that we first saw them.)
For the last few days, we haven't seen them, but we've heard the mama quacking her head off all over the neighborhood. (She has a very distinctive quack.) We've been partial to these because, well, not to be crass...but I think we saw the event that led to their being. *Ahem*
Anyway, today we saw the mama across the street, but she only had 3 ducklings with her. They are bigger now, but I can't help but wonder what happened to the other seven. :( Then, a few minutes later, I heard panicked peeping from our backyard. Two of the ducklings had gotten under our fence and couldn't find the hole again, and the mother wouldn't leave the 3rd duckling alone to come and get them...she just quacked in distress. (How refreshing: even duck mothers yell at their kids! Haha!)
Anyway, one of the giant pigeons that's nested in our trees walked around in the yard near them...I've seen this consistently, even on the other side of the fence...or maybe the pigeon is just hungry and looking for food. Definite possibility given its massive size. (It's close to the size of the mother duck!)
Anyway, I soaked some bread crumbs in water and tossed them out on our patio to see if they'd come nearer, and this is what happened:
The ducklings have grown, too!
You can hear them peeping and the mama quacking on the other side of the fence (in our front yard) if you listen. :)
Just before this, they were both close enough that I probably could've touched them if I'd tried. (But I didn't.)
Yesterday, we set out with some friends for Beachy Head, which is between Eastbourne and Selsey (both of which, on a clear day, you can see from the top of Beachy Head.)
The weather looked pretty nice before we set out, and the forecast had temperatures in the low 60's (ºF) and mostly sunny, with about a 20% chance of rain. After living in England for eight months, we've learned that any chance (or no chance) of rain, means you should be prepared for rain! I did NOT realize, however, that a forecast could be off by like 20 degrees! That's right, it was COLD, y'all, and rained almost the whole time we were there...and "misted" the rest of the time. And for the brief times it wasn't actually raining, the wind was about enough to knock a body over! Yeah, it was not the most enjoyable weather for a trip to the beach, and it wasn't too conducive for sight-seeing, but we still had a really good time. This is largely due to the fact that our friends are such a joy and that their preparedness helped compensate for my ineptitude in packing appropriate gear for our day. They had extra coats and blankets that made it possible for us to still get out and make the most of our time. :)
Most of the day's pictures were taken out the window of the van as we drove, so they're not super great, but they're enough to still give you an idea of the sights.
This was a really cool, really HIGH bridge across the Thames, kind of east of London, I guess. The cables were pretty nifty looking.
Our first visit to toll booths in England. I just liked the sign...especially the picture on the far right, which I assume is for one of those change buckets that you just toss coins into.
So, beware.
After three hours in the car, we finally arrived and beautiful, scenic Beachy Head. Just look how lovely the weather was! ;) (Note the dripping sarcasm, haha!)
After eating our picnic lunch in the car, the clouds and rain did start to lift...or actually blow away. The wind was insane! But this was our view across the fields (filled with sheep and new little lambs) of a lighthouse. This is zoomed all the way in on my camera and then cropped and blown up, haha! I really was still very pretty, even through the cold mist.
More of the view across the the fields
That lighthouse (from the blown up picture above) is on the hilltop on the left, and on the right, you can make out one of the white chalk cliffs with the ocean in the background.
Left to Right: Maggy, Emily, Katie, Katy
The girls walked with Scott and me up to the top of Beachy Head to see the scenery.
There were some lookout benches up there. In one direction, you can see that lighthouse again and that cliff...
The other way, you can see the ocean, and (I think) part of the city of Eastbourne, where it juts out a little. (Eastbourne isn't pictured here.) The ocean is pretty from this point because you can see all the varying colors depending on the depth of the water.
Scott and the girls running to keep warm
The girls huddling to keep warm
Psalm 93:4
The plaque reads: "Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty! Ps. 93:4
God is always greater than all our troubles."
Looking down from atop a cliff. Eeeek! That'll give you the willies! No fences, and the cliffs (as I mentioned) are chalk...and crumbly. I didn't dare get any closer than this, and even though you can't really tell in this picture, I wasn't all THAT near the edge and was on a spot that was built up and very solid. (In other words, don't worry, Mom and Dad. I was very, very careful.)
And it was worth the peek...I spotted this cool lighthouse down on the beach! The tide was mostly out, so you could see all the rocks it's built on...but I've since googled other images where it is completely surrounded by water.
Haha! It almost worked... ;)
Down on the beach at low tide, looking at the Seven Sisters, one of the seven natural wonders of the UK. AMAZING, but I'm sure it's even better on a nice, clear day. I hear that this location is actually even nicer than the famed cliffs of Dover because, since they are protected and not allowed to naturally erode, they are growing more green vegetation and aren't as white. Haven't been to Dover yet, though, so I can't say from personal experience.
The girls down splashing in the ocean. Brrrr! (This was right before a big wave came in and filled Katy's wellies up with water. Fabulous.
I probably saw at least 30 (live) starfish. Pretty cool! It's hard to tell, but the two fellas above were in a pool...they're under about 5 inches of water.
Ian, Emily, and Katie B. found another one...Emily picked this one up to examine all it's little suckers on the bottom.
The girls with the Seven Sisters behind.
Grateful for these girls and their friendship ♥
Another starfish and some sea anemones
Despite the weather, it was still worth the three hour drive to see. We'll definitely go back!
Eastbourne. It's tough to tell through the mist, but it's a pretty good-sized city. Neat to see it from so high...in fact, Beachy Head is the highest Chalk sea cliff in all of Great Britain, at 503 ft. (It's also, apparently, England's most famous suicide location. Sad.)
We had originally hoped to walk up to that lighthouse (the first one I mentioned, not the red and white one on the beach), but the weather was just too much...mostly due to the wind! Instead, we just headed back. But I kept taking pictures along the way...
How would you like to live in Uckfield?? :)
About 40 minutes into the drive, the sun started coming out and the temperature climbed. Figures.
It was beautiful the whole way back!
I had to take a picture of this sign in real life. This is the one I missed on my driving test when we first got here. For the record, it means "motorway ends."
It still makes me smile to myself to call lines "queues." :)
Going back, we didn't cross that super high suspension bridge. Instead, we went through a tunnel under the river.
Light at the end of the tunnel ;)
LOOK HOW GREEN!!!
Those yellow flowers are rapeseed fields. This isn't a very good picture, but parts of the drive were just amazing, the contrast between the brilliant yellow and lush green, often divided by darker green hedges in clean lines. I couldn't get any good pictures as we drove, unfortunately.
And, of course, by the time we got back, the weather was beautiful again! Sunshine, warmth, just a few clouds, light breeze...ahhh. Look how pretty it is just off the roadway!
We really had a good time, even though it was cold and wet. It was totally worth the day, and more so because we got to spend time with some sweet friends. Thank you, "B" family for everything!!!
