Autumn Visit to Lulworth Cove in Dorset

As the autumn is in full swing, my mammalian brain tells me that I need to slow down, wrap up and just be still and restful for a moment. Unfortunately, my job description tells me otherwise and so as the autumn progressed and the days started getting shorter, colder and darker I became more sad, uninspired and exhausted. Riding this wave of seasonal affective disorder or whatever it is wasn't taking me anywhere nice. 

So it was a great relief when half term holiday came and we could finally get away for a few days on our long planned minibreak in Lulworth Cove, Dorset. We stayed in a nautically decorated room in a small local inn, with the view of the sea, even though lingering leftovers of storm Brian might have spoiled it a bit with a cover of thick dark clouds and persistent wind.

Lulworth Cove 

We walked on the beach and the hills in the wind and the cold, looked for fossils in the cliffs and beach combed. We picked up many cuttlefish bones, mermaids' purses and strange flotsam and jetsam and saw Protuguese man o' war jellyfish for the first time. We ate fried English breakfasts and snacked on cream teas and spent many hours in our toasty little room reading books with cups of tea at hand whilst it rained outside. I started knitting a new blanket (more about it later in a separate post), breathed the salty air that smelled of seaweed and felt very relaxed and happy and most of all thankful that we finally had some special time together after all the long hours of work we have both been putting in in the last few months.

Durdle Door limestone arch 

Cuttlefish bones of all sizes were everywhere.

A notice warning visitors about the jellyfish.

Soon enough we found one on the beach.
The colours were striking.

Man O' War Beach

Summer Full of Turtles

Hello again. As you may have noticed, I was not around much this summer. The reason behind this awkward silence is the fact that I was gone for most of the summer, volunteering for Archelon,the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece which works incredibly hard to protect loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) and their nesting and foraging sites all around Greece. Great part of this work is done by an everchanging team of international volunteers. Ever since my acceptance just before Christmas, I have been getting ready for the trip on which I will have to work hands on with turtles, one of my favourite animals. 

So at the beginning of August, as I stood in the security line at Gatwick airport, clutching my boarding pass, I could not stop myself from thinking -what the hell are you doing? I imagined having to work with many young, fit and beautiful gap year people who will put me to shame and I will become forever known as “that older lady who thought she could do it”, but instead found a nice small group of people roughly my age who were equally or even more enthusiastic about marine conservation than I was.

Loggerhead turtle just before release

From the fear of saying something scientifically inaccurate I will refrain from writing elaborate posts on loggerhead turtles, but I can say that those two weeks were a dream come true and an adventure to be remembered for the rest of my life. The photo above is a quick snapshot of a newly tagged and measured turtle just before it was released back into the sea. There really wasn't enough time to take arty pictures (but if you want to see some underwater ones, check out professional photos of sea turtles by Kostas Papafitsoros. I have been following his work for quite some time now).

Overall, the slaps, bruises and scratches were totally worth it and knowing that I have put my little bit into helping preserve this beautiful animal and the habitat it shares with so many other species fills me with content. Sadly, there are still many places where people disrespect rules that are in place to protect them and keep on carelessly endangering them by fast driving or even feeding them in front of tourists for money which can become fatal to them later. We even saw some turtle feeding tours advertised last year on out honeymoon in Zakynthos, which is a marine park! Unortunately the tourists that do go on these tours go because they like turtles and do not know how devastating the impact of it can be. Some examples of turtles and humans clashing (in some cases literally so) can be seen in the sea turtle rescue centre in Athens (below) which is open to visitors.

Loggerhead turtle at the rescue centre in Athens

As life changing as the experience was, it was also eye-opening. It made me realise that no matter how much I dream about it, I couldn't do conservation work full time. I am not the right type for it and I lack the enthusiasm and passion for data that you need to be a scientist. And also, I really and truly love teaching, bringing the science to the masses and helping them love and care for the world we live in. I like being comfy and cosy and organised in my classroom, having certain level of independence in how I do things and working with young people. It was nice to have some confirmation, now almost in my thirties, that I chose my career path well. 

I don't think I will volunteer again but I will always remember the sounds of loggerheads coming up for breath when the sea was calm and the boat engine was off.

Shark Week Biscuits and Visit to the Aquarium

A while ago you could have seen a picture of my very messy kitchen worktop (below) on my Facebook page. It wasn't my intention to make Linzer biscuits in shape of little sharks straight away. I was baking birthday treats for someone else when the idea occured to me - and since it was Shark Week and I had some cookie cutters from the Natural History Museum shop, I gave it a go.

After baking (I promise to publish the recipe here soon) and cooling I joined them together with jam and decorated them with melted milk chocolate. So here they are. I guess they resemble blacktip reef sharks best, what do you think?

Later in the week I also had to visit London, which gave me the perfect excuse to check out the Sea Life. I sat in front of the massive tank for good twenty minutes, just watching these majestic creatures swim past me and then more time reading all the labels and displays, trying to soak up as much information as I could.

I know some things that happen during Shark Week have been criticised because they are controversial and don't have much to do with the original purpose of it - education and conservation of these beautiful marine predators. It is sad. However, I prefer to focus on the original message, thatour planet is a balanced system, full of magnificent creatures that need to be protected. We cannot protect them without understanding them and education is the first step towards gaining this understanding.

Little Houses under the Castle

Stara Lubovna castle

This is a very late post about our August trip to Slovakia, which I took with my man. My parents took us to many places, as they wanted to introduce the nice bits of the country to the foreigner :) We saw this open air museum on the same day as we rafted down the Dunajec river on the border between Slovakia and Poland. The open air museum lies right under the Stara Lubovna castle, which overlooks it from the hill.

The little houses were brought from different parts of the republic, so they looked different on the outside and even more different on the inside.

Some had gardens and there were really nicely arranged flowers in the windows. If you like finding those little details, you would be thrilled here.

The houses were also decorated for certain big life events that the people celebrated in very traditional ways, such as birth of a new member of the family, weddings or deaths and pre-funeral preparations.

Our Wonderful White Slovakian Christmas

This year's Christmas was a very special one, because it was our first Christmas as a married couple. Yes, we got married and there wasn't enough time to blog about it, because things have just been crazy since then. So we took a week off for Christmas and went to spend it in Slovakia with my family. However, wanting to have some privacy as well, we booked a room in a little place in the town centre. Sleeping in, going out for dinners, talking about everything and nothing, taking long walks in the snow, building miniature snowmen and coming back to our room with red faces, being thankful for the warmth and calm. I love spending time with my husband.

The whle town was wonderfully decorated with massive hanging snowflakes along the Main Street.

The Immaculata (our baroque plague column) had new golden plates added to it and as always the Christmas tree was the dominant decoration of the town. The State Theatre (the picture on the right) was not decorated but the old-fashioned lights gave it a very eerie look.

I could look at the lights for ever. Especially when it was snowing. It reminds me of watching the snowflakes dance in the light of the horribly ugly street lamp in our street which I could see from my bed when I was little. I would just lie down and watch the snow fall until I fell asleep.

Water in all fountains has been replaced by lights and at the Singing Fountain in front of St Elisabeth Cathedral there was an exhibition of ice sculptures. My favourites this year were Anna from Frozen and massive "visit kosice" in front of the fountain.

The trees were decorated as well. Simply magical :) And the next day we took the same walk, except in daylight.

Isle of Wight Adventure

It was shortly before October half term that we got an offer to stay in a little seaside apartment on the Isle of Wight owned by one of our family members. We eagerly accepter and, hoping for good weather, we embarked on our first Isle of Wight adventure. We took a ferry from Portsmouth to Ryde and from there took a three-mile walk along the beach with our backpacks, stopping for a warming cup of tea at Dell Café near Appley Tower as it was really really cold.

It remained cold, windy and overcast for most of our stay but I felt that it only reinforced the small seaside town atmosphere that Seaview has. Having grown up in a landlocked country and dreaming of the sea, I still find it absolutely fascinating that there are places like this, where people just casually lean their boats against the fence.. 

However, we were also lucky. On the day that we have planned another 2.3 miles long walk to St Helen's (this time without the backpacks), the weather has cleared and in spite of it being October, it felt like summer. We walked along and explored the Priory Bay, which is surrounded by Priory Woods owned by National Trust.

From the shade of the forest the water looked beautifully dark blue, with mysterious shades of trees dipping into the waves.

At St Helen's we had a look at the Old St Helen's Church on the Duver and had lunch at the seafront at Baywatch on the Beach where I tried a crab for the first time.

My evenings were filed with beachcombing back in Seaview, getting really cold but enjoying the solitude and the wonderful views. As the sun set, the blue gave way to reddish and orange and at low tide the coast looked like some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland. I could have walked in the wet sand and peek into rock pools until it was too dark to see, when I would have to pace back to the cottage and get in half frozen but insanely happy, with a soaked canvas bag full of cuttlefish bones and shells.

One of the most interesting beach finds has been this piece of crab exoskeleton that I found in St Helen's. Completely dry, bleached by the sun, with one leg still attached. It was so thin and fragile and breakable that I left it there for someone else to find and take home.

What I took, however, were quite large quantities of cuttlefish bones, as my snails just love the ones I brought from Devon in summer. They were hiding in all sorts of places and on an almost shell-less beach, hunting for cuttlefish bones was my main form of entertainment.

It was also entertaining for my fiancé as he saw me get soaked by an unexpectedly big wave about two seconds after I took this picture.

Sea life aside, one of the most amazing creatures we saw was the red squirrel. They seemed to be quite abundant on the island. Every time I see one, I cannot believe how tiny they are compared to the North American grey squirrels that jump around our garden. No wonder they didn't stand a chance in competition against them.

I love these holidays where we just relax; walk, talk, cook, eat and read books. They bring a bit of calm into our busy lives. I hope we can return to the island soon for some more adventures.

Our Day at Surrey County Show

Bank holiday Monday has been the day when Stoke Park in Guildford hosted the Surrey County Show. The only one I have been to so far was Devon County Show back in 2005 and I was totally thrilled, so I was really excited to go to a similar event in a different county.

The venue itself was quite well organised and full of tents, shops, rings and arenas. One of the first ones I wandered into was the pygmy goat tent. Being there really reminded me of working with goats at the petting zoo. The smell of hay and straw, the intelligent looks of the goats as they quietly munch on their hay and the overall calm atmosphere really made me feel like being on a farm. 

Apart from the cheese that was on site for tasting, there were also angora goats from "New Forest Mohair", fleece of which is dyed spun into lovely yarns. I adored their cute little display of all stages of the yarn making process and of course the real goat and her cute kid. There were several weaving stands at the show as well and many lady weavers were very nice and talkative. For example, the Women's Institute weavers have explained the difference between 1 ply and 2 ply wool and how they are made.

My next trip was to the poultry tent. I do like the idea of having a little flock of hens one day, just like my family had at our cottage when I was little, so seeing all the varied breeds of chickens just really got me daydreaming.

Even more thrilling was the egg competition! I actually got to see some real judging - a thing that I have only seen on TV until now. The variety of eggs was stunning: white, brown, blue, green and sort of a cappuccino-coloured. All were carefully examined by judges in white cloaks, then cracked and examined again until they were sure which one deserves the prize the most. I would really like to know the judging criteria for eggs.

Overall, in spite of the cold, wind and constant threat of rain it was a very successful day. There was hog roast, cups of hot tea and coffee that warmed us up and many show events that kept us busy until it was time to go home.

Holiday by the Sea

September is here and nearly over and now comes the time to reminisce about the sunny summer days by the sea. This year we once again visited Combe Martin, my fiance's  family's favourite holiday spot since before he was born.

Combe Martin has a special meaning to us all. I have only been there twice, but I will never forget it as a place where we got engaged. It has two beaches and is full of wonderful views. I know one day I will want to bring my children there.

The rocky coast has given me a lot of opportunities for beachcombing. I found a lot of stuff and came home with a lovely little collection of crab exoskeletons, mostly carapaces. Limpets, anemones and periwinkles were everywhere. I was mostly on a lookout for cuttlefish bones for my snails, which were so abundant last year, but I only managed to find a single little broken piece during the whole week. I also happened to de-tangle about twenty metres of fishing line with a hook on end from seaweeed. I had to pry it from underneath two limpets who decided to camp on it for the day, but I felt good about doing my bit of beach cleaning.

One thing I really love bout holidays is the food. No thinking about what is healthy or feeling bad about eating out too much, it is a holiday, so let's enjoy it. On the evenings that we cooked and ate in, we all ate together and had a great time. My little obsession at the time were steak and ale pies, but we also ate a lot of scampi and chips, cakes, cream teas and we even tried an 'animal bread' from a local bakery.

A lot of our time was spent by collectively looking after my niece. Everything was played with. Even an empty box from green tea was turned into a ery cruel gecko storing unit (I am still looking for the person who did it.)

There was a lot of craftiness, too! On a trip to Ilfracombe, we discovered a tiny fabric shop. As soon as we saw it, we knew we HAD TO go in. It was called 'Two Green Monkeys' and was full of most beautiful fabric. Lucky for us, there were massive discounts, unlucky for everyone, it was in its last week. The owner continues to sell handmade bunting and quilts, but no more fabric. I feel lucky that I could buy some of it before she closed.

Another crafty shop was Knit Moor right in the Combe Martin town centre. I treated myself to horrendous amount of yarn and some very cute stitch markers (now finally will the octohug arms be evenly spread around the body!)

We also went for ice-cream every day after dinner, played board games and tried surfing for the first time (neither of us managed to stand up on the board, but I was happy with half kneeling, half standing before falling off).

How was your holiday? Did you have a good time?