Spindrift.

Spin·drift (spndrft) n.
Windblown sea spray. Also called spoondrift.
[Variant of Scots spenedrift : spene (variant of obsolete spoon, to run before the wind) + drift.]

Crazy-big waves at the breakwater today, and foam everywhere. M and I woke to rain battering the windows, so we spent the morning poring over flats in Norway with a cafetiere of coffee for M and a pot of tea for me. Later, we played Scrabble (I won by 5 points; M is a little sore over it) on the rug in front of the fire. A lovely lazy way to spend a wet Sunday morning.

M offered to take me out for lunch in town, so we drove to the Braided Fig where I had a very unusual but tasty falafel and onion bhaji burger with mango chutney - I'll have to try making that at home, it was lovely. After lunch, we dodged the puddles to walk to Slaters and get M a nice new shirt. He has an important meeting tomorrow... I don't want to jinx it now, but please, please keep everything crossed for us!

Yesterday M was called out on the lifeboat in huge seas to rescue a man who was swept from Stonehaven's harbour wall. The lifeboat stood down as a helicopter crew winched him aboard; sadly he died later. M though the waves would still be big today, so we swung past the house for my camera and stood at a very safe distance to take some photos. The sheer magnitude of the waves is not translated in this picture - the spindrift was reaching 100 ft to the sky easily and the wind had whipped up foam into dashing chunks, flying from the sea like tiny white birds.

I took over 150 photos (digital today, I don't think the Pentax would have stood the cold and the driving rain) and, freezing, retreated back to the car for the coffee M had brought with us. All in all, we were only there about 40 minutes, but it was amazing.

On our way home we stopped off at the shops for the weekly groceries and a DVD, and have spent the evening watching Pacific Rim in front of the fire. Lovely weekend, despite the weather.