Behind the beach

Not the wonderful beach of two days ago, but the rough and frankly rather messy bit of sand at the mouth of the Ardyne Burn, the turning point for a great many of the walks we take when we lack the energy to go further afield.

I often start such walks in a spirit of 'needs must' - the need to get out and walk without the enthusiasm that I would prefer to feel - but when I'm walking among such profusion of yellows as the shore here sprouts I can't help cheering up. And I was amazed the other day when one of my Australian visitors exclaimed at the profusion of "foreign" smells she experienced on this bit of coast - the smells of hay, clover, wild mustard and seaweed.