Of Trips To The #Beach, Sights And Sounds Of The #Ocean, #Summer Weather, The #Storm That Stopped Us Photographing The #BloodMoon, And #Mars

(The photo above is an ocean view, taken while we were sat on the beach on July 25th 2018).

Other than the photo above, I also have a short video for you today, for the benifit of anyone who enjoys the sights and sounds of the ocean. It was taken a few weeks ago - on July 16th 2018 - while we were enjoying some time on the beach during one of the many sunny - and hot - days we had during this Summer.










By the way, the sort of grating noise you can hear is Lilie playing with, and digging in, the stones on the beach. She loves playing with the pebbles, and does so every time we're hanging out on the beach. I think it's just the fact they move... She'll play with just about anything if it moves near her. Sometimes I think she's part cat.

She's entertaining when we go paddle in the ocean too. She wants to play with it, because she loves playing with water (even baths are fine by her, until shampoo gets involved) - plus, it's moving - so starts trying to play with it. Then a wave will come towards her, and the fact the water is chasing her will make her nervous enough that she starts thinking about turning tail to run. But she never gets far, and never can resist going right back again after taking only a few steps. Well, bounds more like, since Lilie genrally hops and bounces about rather than actually walking. She's usually too full of energy to do something as calm as walk.

Anyway, we've had a lot of trips to the beach this Summer, because the breeze coming off the ocean, along with paddling in the cool water, makes the incredibly hot weather a tiny bit easier to deal with, and with how hot it's been throughout most of this Summer, every little helps.

There have been times though when we've considered going out - to the beach, or elsewhere - but decided against it because it's just WAY too hot - like those days when it got up to 28 degrees C (88 F) - because I'll brave temperatures up to a point, but have my limits, and also had to think of Lilie. There have also been times when we've braved temperatures just within the heat range we're prepared to risk, only to cut the trip short because it was just too hot to stay out there for long. There have also been a couple of days when it was just too wet to go sit on the beach, though very few of those have happened this Summer. I can count the number of days it's rained in the past six weeks or so on one hand, even with the most recent storm lasting three nights.

Going to the beach is a good way for me to get some exercise, and Lilie to get a decent walk at the same time, since I enjoy trips to the beach, so I'd happily hang out on the beach even more than we have been if the weather would co-operate, and Lilie's always happy to go for walks wherever we want to take her (seriously... This dog even thinks vet trips are fun outings).

Weather permitting, I've been making a point to go out at least a couple of times a week. Sometimes having picnics on the beach, sometimes having lunch at one of the cafes along the seafront, sometimes taking that route to get to local events we want to check out - well, we did that twice anyhow - and sometimes just going for a bit of a walk before heading home.

Anyway, I had hoped to also have a nice photo of the Blood Moon over the ocean for you. Unfortunately, the night of what I'm told was, "The longest Lunar Eclipse so far in the 21st century," is also the night a much needed storm arrived in our area. A storm that was actually meant to arrive the previous night.

I was torn between being pleased the storm had arrived - since I like storms, and we'd had only one day where it wasn't hot and dry for several weeks at that point - and being disappointed that it had arrived when it did. After all, if it had stayed away for one more night, we might have managed to get a photo of the Blood Moon.

Still, I was glad for the storm, because it took the edge off the heat, which I was extremely relieved about, because I wasn't coping too well with the hot temperatures we were having at that point. Plus, I was getting worried about the chinchillas, since Mollie and Maizie deal with hot weather even worse than I do (which is saying something). None of us had any issues beyond being cranky and uncomfortable during the hot weather though, which is a good thing. Joshua and Lilie were even able to still find enough energy to play during those hot days. I don't know how they did it!

Before anyone comments on the fact other places have had it hotter... Yeah, I know they have. But that doesn't make any difference to my ability to tolerate the heat, nor the ability of the chinchillas to do so. It would have been OK if we had air conditioning. We don't. Just fans. On really hot days, fans are not enough to stop us being uncomfortably hot. Just saying.

Anyway, the storm stuck around for that entire weekend, and temperatures were cooler for several days afterwards. Mostly around 20 degrees C (72 F) - give or take a couple of degrees either way. Cool enough to be comfortable for me, but warm enough to still be considered warm Summer days over here. It got hot again this past Friday though. It got to 27 degrees C (86 F) for sure, but felt warmer. Thankfully it waited until we were home from that day's lunch on the beach before it did that. I wouldn't have liked to have Lilie out on the beach with it that hot. Actually, I wouldn't want to brave the beach in that heat myself, to be honest.

Anyway, I did think about sorting some photos or something during the storm, so you could have ocean photos from nice weather and bad weather. But it never got beyond thinking about it. Mostly I was just busy enjoying it. As I said, I like storms. Maybe next time? I'm sure there will be plenty of next times, especially once we get in to late Autumn.

Also, Mars is quite close to Earth right now. Or was, since I can't remember off hand how long it was for,so can't be sure it still will be by the time this goes live. Either way, we checked when I know for sure it was last week, but it wasn't clear enough to even be sure that was what we were seeing, let alone be worth taking a photo of. One of the space/astronomy things I follow - I forget which one - said it was the closest it has been for ages, and won't be as close again until something like 2035. I guess you could only see it well if you had a telescope though, which we don't. Never mind.

Let's make up for it with a couple more beach photos, this time from yesterday (August 6th). Here you go...