A beautiful grey day

Today was our first day of the holiday all together as a family - which meant celebratory cookies for breakfast (I amended this reliable recipe into fat double chocolate orange cookies), a lazy morning of watching Ben and Holly and Duckula; followed by a bracing promenade walk in the wind and drizzle. Today is the official first day of the British summer, meteorologically speaking.

Meanwhile, in Blighty:

Today's lacklustre weather aside, I am in complete awe of this stretch of coastline. It's such an odd contrast to the city on whose edge it sits that I feel I could just as well be in the coastal countryside of my youth.  Much of the vegetation was ripped back to the roots in the storms a few winters back; it's bounced back twice as bushy and strong since then thankfully. This end of the prom sustained far less storm damage than the bathing beaches further west, all thanks to this vegetated shingle habitat.

We stopped at a cafe for a warm drink, before heading back home via the newly revamped local charity shop. The eldest boy picked up his first Famous Five book which seems a fitting read for a bracing day like today.

We spent the rest of the afternoon colouring, reading and staying out of the rain. Hopefully the weather will take a turn for the better later this week.