Minsmere nature reserve - I went by car so did not get this view

Saturday - Lorna goes to Minsmere. Typically I found more geology than birds - on the beach and near the entrance (bottom right of picture). Needless to say - drank a lot of tea and was exhausted when I got back.

the City from London Liverpool Street station entrance

Thursday: The combination of old and new caught my eye. Had lunch with Rhoda and then wandered round a market and some shops. Bought lots of thermals and drank specialist oolong tea.

Work party

Tuesdays - the winter work party at the sailing club meets every week - much activity to keep the club huse, pontoons, boat yard etc in good order. My role here - looking after a club boat, doing clearups in the boat yard (with bonfire) and painting things. That is the work. There is also the party - tea and coffee -  this week we  had lunch as well. Perhaps not surprising that I was washed out in the afternoon.

The sea at Thorpness - powerful waves

Went there yesterday and walked the beach and went rowing on the meare.

Went there today to take pictures of some rocks in the cliffs.

Bright sunshine, warmer wind today and rather a lot of tea and food in the meare cafe.

Thorpness meare - a man-made lake

Another fine place - rowing boats for hire, with loos and tea room all within a few meters of each other. The car park and beach not far away.

I have now taken the anti-coagulent for some weeks and assume it has done the trick as I am no longer breathless. But I don't feel as well as I did before the clots developed. It maybe that it won't get any better or it maybe that a bit more rehabilitation is needed. Either way - one way ahead is to have little treats - today's was to go to Aldburgh and investigate Thorpness (after a regular gym session). Helped by bright sunshine and thick clothes against the cold wind.

Sunday on Lookfar

It is more untidy than the words 'grossing out' imply. I spent most of the day, after going to the gym, here in the sun. I did take the large headsail off and replace it with a smaller one - eventually.

Fossil shells in a bit of Red Crag from Sutton Knoll

The picture does not relate to this post - except that I am trying to get my head round some geology for a meeting of the U3A geology group on Monday.

The side-effect of the flu jab seems to have worn off.

The tide was right and the sun was out all day - and there was a decent wind. So I motored upwind and uptide - turned round and sailed back with minimal effort using just the furling genoa. The tide is a bit late tomorrow so I may not repeat this. I have got spoiled by sailing so much in warmth and sunshine.

It is supposed to be autumn - and in some ways it is. But most of the trees still have their leaves apart from horse chestnuts that shrivelled in the dry weather earlier in the year and have now let their leaves go.

Signs of autumn in the way I live as well - start of the working party at the sailing club - regular meetings of the geology group. I have spent a bit of time writing the introduction (with lots of pictures) for the next meeting.This is a screen shot of a graph of extinctions - I don't find this the most interesting thing about the permo-triassic period although this is a nice graph.

Wednesday - a flu jab. I have felt off colour since then and I only figured out that it might be due to a side-effect of the jab. So am off to bed. Intend to resist the autumn tomorrow by having a short sail on the river - in sunshine.

Sciadopitys verticillata. Sole member of the family Sciadopityaceae and genus Sciadopitys, a living fossil with no close relatives. These grew in Suffolk in Pliocene times - about 3 million years ago.

This is one of many trees planted in Rockhall Wood, Sutton - the plantation is of species that are known to have grown in Suffolk in Pliocene times.

Saturday - visited this wood and also outcrops of Corralline Crag and Red Crag at Sutton Knoll - so geology is starting up again with the usual bitterly cold wind experienced 'in the field'. Still re-habillitating inspite of said  wind and standing around for too long and getting tired.

The tidal mill pond to the tidemill. The plan seems to be to pump out the mud to deepen it so that it can be used again to grind grain - as part of the renovation of the tidemill. It seems to be a very slow business.

The weather is getting cloudy and windy. It is low tide during the day - so no sailing this week. Back to normal life.
The Plan is to do more writing, do more geology and go the gym for short workouts most days - and some boating when the tide and weather are right - as well as the usual domestic stuff, visiting beaches and keeping in touch with people. We will see - - -  the recent summer weather was good for physical and mental rehabilitation but - - .

The river - and the river wall - looking downstream at low water with the sailing club to the right. (Taken before the good weather  - thus the clouds!)

Yesterday - another day in the sun on the river. This time we left the boat on the sailing club pontoons overnight and went as soon as the tide was in enough to cover the gravel bank and float us off.

With a light wind we went downstream against the current with the motor on, had lunch and goose winged back with the tide. The river full of boats taking advantage of the hot weather.

And today - doing nothing much in the sun ashore.