Beachcombing

Catching up with this Blip - I very rarely leave a day unclipped, but last night I was too tired to think of doing it on my phone, and my #2 granddaughter is sleeping in the study - on a very different day from this lovely afternoon sunshine. I don't think I've ever taken a photo on this beach, let alone blipped one, but our current car-less state meant that we were confined to very local outings yesterday and took ourselves, and the girls, down to Dunoon's West Bay. When their uncle Neil was a toddler, I used to bring him here; I'd sit on the edge of the promenade, feet dangling, while he played with the pebbles (it's not really a sandy beach) and other toddlers whose mothers were doing the same as I was.

On this occasion the girls took up beach combing, entirely unprompted, and were unexpectedly delighted by the pieces of sea glass that they picked up. I had to explain how it got like that, and point out the difference between the smooth beauty of the worn glass and the relatively jagged shininess of newer litter - in itself an interesting concept. We also discovered a mummified frog on the tarmac of the promenade, which merited considered inspection.

It was a surprisingly soothing and satisfying afternoon, in fact, with old-fashioned and unprompted joys bubbling to the surface for these children brought up on tablets, phones and foreign travel. 

Oh - and I made shortbread animals with my own mother's recipe and cutters!