Breaking Waves

6.4C with sunny sunshine all day long. Northerly breeze, light to moderate.

Maeve the Deerhound, Apothecary7, and I wish you all a Happy New Year !

Maeve the Deerhound wanted to go out for her early walk at 6.20am today ... so it could be that I am in for a spell of early rising. On a day like today I wouldn't complain. A slightly frosty start with cool clear air, some breeze, a few clouds, and bright sunshine.

In town at the old quay the small CalMac ferry Loch Ranza has been joined in the harbour by our summer ferry the MV Isle of Arran which is at the new quay by the linkspan. I presume on its way back to the Ardrossan to Brodick (Arran) route after being on the Oban to Craignure (Mull) route while the MV Isle of Mull was having its annual dry dock visit. The Arran gave two or three blasts on the ships horn to bring in the New Year.

Mid morning we went the ten miles or so South to Southend then followed the road round to Dunaverty beach where we stopped briefly to watch the waves roll in and break with the spray blowing back off their tops before going round by Kiel to Carskey Bay where we had a wander with Maeve from one end of the beach to the other and back. Outside the caves at Kiel we stopped the car briefly to look at a Buzzard perched on a rock right next to the road.

We could see the Antrim coast very clearly, and there were a few gulls and Cormorants to be seen on and above the water, but today the real treats were the clarity of the air and the spectacular nature of the waves. The contrast from the weather and the light at Westport yesterday was quite amazing.

The sea was a bright array of blues and greens. It wasn't rough but the waves were rolling into the bay and rising into clear green translucent lace patterned curls before the spray started to blow off the tops and they broke in curves of splashing white foam with cracks and crashes of percussive sound. The resulting foamy white water was rushing up the beach and racing round the curvature of the shoreline as if chasing the preceding wave along the length of the beach.

Maeve was off her lead and pottering about and stopping here and there as she followed us along. There was one person on the beach when we arrived and two or three more by the time we came back along. At Kiel there were two or three seals just offshore.

On the way to Southend we had checked the farm stand for Little Farm and there were two boxes of eggs for sale. I bought a box, cash in the honesty jar.

Later Apothecary7 was making a rag rug.

Afternoon music ... BBC Radio 2

E-PL5 f/11 1/500 sec. ISO-200 42mm

Extra: Carskey Bay on New Year's Day !