Impromptu lunch on the beach

Monday’s  weather was fine and sunny. My friend and I had our day out in Sidmouth, looking around the shops and having coffee. Shortly before going back to the car, we headed up to the seafront. Lots of people enjoying the lovely weather, but we had to scoot back to the car before our ticket ran out.

Yesterday it was nice again, so rather than go straight home after an appointment this morning, I decided to drive to Budleigh Salterton. It was nearing lunchtime, so I thought I would have a short walk and something to eat on the beach. 

I sauntered along the promenade, taking in the view...

Part of the promenade has beach huts on one side and a very high bank, with vegetation, on the other side. The plants are very striking...

but it’s the rest of the bank which intrigues me. Apart from the natural erosion, birds must surely have responsible for some of this, but I’ve never seen them pecking away at the minerals in the soil.....

The beach huts have all been erected now for the summer.....

The owners have to take them down in the autumn, otherwise they’d get wrecked by the weather. I’ve always wanted a beach hut plot here and I looked in to it once. There was a 10 year waiting list! 

I stopped off at the kiosk at the end and ordered a crab sandwich. There were some quirky little touches by the kiosk....

My number was called, my sandwich collected and I picked a spot on the beach to settle down...

My lunch was delicious! The seagull must haves thought so too, as he tried 3 times to creep up behind me and swoop down, pesky thing! Sitting there, listening to the gentle sound of the waves was so relaxing, I almost forgot about the housework waiting to be done at home! With my appetite sated, I resumed my wander to the end of the beach, where the Otter estuary meets the sea. The tide was out, so there wasn’t a lot of wildlife about, but it was beautiful none the less....

Eventually it was time to go home, but I felt very lucky to be able to take time out of my day and just have lunch on a beach! 

Hope you enjoyed my little interlude, cheerio for now, Ann x