Clearing Our Heads at Jackie's Beach

 

20th February 2024 - Jackie's Beach, South Tyneside

On Monday the 19th of February Mr H and I did a first in our relationship - we went to a gig! We met in 2018 so we didn't have much time to attend events or do many normal 'couple things' before the pandemic hit. After we did Disneyland Paris in October for our belated Honeymoon/4th Wedding Anniversary/my 33rd Birthday, I wanted to make sure February was a fun month for Mr H's 33rd!

It just so happened that the 3 events we had booked ended up being within a week of each other! Sandwiched between The Circus of Horrors on the 16th and (what ended up being a gigantic failure) Aladdin on the 22nd, we went to see Bowling for Soup on the 19th! 

To make it a proper date night, we went to Hard Rock Cafe Newcastle for something to eat and drink before heading to the gig and it was all awesome. A truly fantastic night, but very late for us.

So the next day, after an evening indoors, we went to the beach to breathe in lots of fresh air and to allow me to put my feet in the sea, grounding myself after being around people! It's difficult to explain just how much that simple act can help with all of my autistic overwhelm etc.

Anyway, here are a handful of photos I took while we were there!

It was a great day for birding with deceits of Lapwing, a huge herd of Curlew who flew overhead and landed on the field, Cormorant, Black-Backed Gull, Rock Doves and what I think was a fleeting view of the Ringed Plover congregation!
We found a strange wooden wheel, which I reckon could have been an old fishing net weight (feel free to correct me as that is literally just a guess) and I collected a handful of stones I found beautiful before taking a photo of them together and leaving them behind. While walking along the beach there was also a strange stone with a question penned on it. I do not agree with fishing so it got turned over and hidden ha. 
A big and very welcome surprise was that Finn's Labyrinth seems to be no more! Almost every trace of it has been dismantled which is fantastic for the Ringed Plover and all of the other wildlife. Of course, there are still some signs that it was there and as always too much plastic tat but it's all a step in the right direction which is fantastic. Let' see how it affects this year's Ringed Plover project...!