Sunday 2 March 2008

Leigh-on-Sea - A Different View

I started uploaded these photographs at 3.30 am Friday morning
We had gale force winds all night and it was very noisy and I just could not sleep.
Usually if I cannot sleep I get up and read but I have not been able to get Page Elements up for weeks now so was curious to know if blogging in the middle of the night would make any difference - it did not
So I decided to upload photos and do some visiting instead
Not a good move as when I went back to bed at 4.30 am my mind was so active I did not sleep for the rest of the night
Last Tuesday we drove out to the Estuary and visited our friends again at Leigh-on-Sea
We usually like to walk along the waters edge before settling down to their wonderful hospitality
This time though the wind was strong and very cold and although we don't mind walking in the cold wind I would rather not when we are not dressed for it
Instead we walked through some of the town which is at the top of the cliffs so I have some different photos to show





Daffodils in bloom in spite of the wind and the cold
Our weather is so changeable - a few days earlier I was gardening in short sleeves






Looking back into the sun
What a difference it makes to the picture


We have left the cliff top and are walking into the town





From here on we will be looking in shop windows and in some of them I will be showing you both sides of the street at once through some amazing reflections in the windows
In order to see the shop windows and the reflections I would suggest double clicking to get fullscreen photos










Radley bags







































The following pics show a shop of the most unusual kind
It is an ironmongers and it stocks so many different items that there is nowhere left to walk inside the shop
Come inside
Do double click to really get the picture







I really like this town as it has so many different kind of independent shops
Very unusual these days
I have only shown you a few
One of my favourites is the independent health food shop
They have such an amazing choice of herb teas
An advantage or disadvantage of this walk, depending on how you look at it is the number of charity/thrift shops
Today I bought 6 videos for next to nothing
Everybody seems to only want DVD's but we have both
I am going to further my education on the American West
I bought Pacific Frontiers, The American West, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Yellowstone
plus the musical Chicago

21 comments:

Frantic Home Cook said...

Barbara,

I recently discovered your blog and am thrilled with the little tastes of England that you send our way. Having always wanted to visit but not able to afford to, this is the next best thing.

We had an exchange student here for a week from "Frinton-on-Sea". I have to say that I think you can make any city better just by tacking "on-Sea" to it's name.

Jeanne said...

I love all of your photographs
and love all that you share.
Love and smiles.
Happy Sunday
Love Jeanne

Needled Mom said...

It looks like a wonderful town. The photos are incredible and very artistic. I would love to know if the ironmonger knows where each item is inside the shop. Yikes!!!

Merisi said...

I love this photo essay, starting from the village pictures with the clouds to the various shop windows. Aren't those shop windows like canvass, ready to reflect what's going on outside the window?
We had a very stormy weekend, Emma was especially bad yesterday, causing a lot of damage, four people lossed their lives.

Given55 said...

What beautiful pictures. You make me feel like I'm there.

Anonymous said...

what a wonderful range of photos. So much to look at I think I'll have to go back and take a second look! Nel xx

Paula said...

What a lovely tour of that town. Lots of good shopping to do. The daffodils on the hill are gorgeous.
It does look windy and cold.

Vee said...

You must've been very busy uploading all of those photos and what great ones they are.

That last shop was incredibly full. I've seen some crowded shops...the hardware here in my own hometown for one...but nothing like that!

I enjoyed seeing the "double" picture and looked for you. All I found of you today, though, was your shadow.

The flowers are scrumptious. Hope that the weather evens up so they'll thrive and do well.

Barbara, I so want to thank you for your comment on my blog today. I hope you don't mind that I've added it to my quote book. You said it all so well and in a way that is easily understood. Blessings to you, too!

Kim S in SC said...

Hey Barbara! I love all the pictures in the past two posts! I'm like many of your readers, I'm enjoying traveling without the flight across the sea. Thank you so much for bringing your visits to us by way of your blog. BTW: I couldn't help but think of Jesus as I looked at the shepherd feeding his lambs in your previous post. Thank you!

Teresa said...

Sometimes a little serendipity is good. This is one example. If you had your regular walk you would not have been where you were on this days walk. How beautiful from the cliff. The reflections in the picture are really nice to look at. And, I like the two green Radley bags, a lot! The yellow one would be smart for spring and summer. I drink a good bit of herbal tea. I would be interested in the selecitons you see at the health food shoppe you mentioned.

Hope good sleep has returned to you.
Teresa

Betty said...

Barbara,
I thoroughly enjoyed my walk with you and the window shopping was so enjoyable......

How in the world does the Iron Monger take inventory?

Thanks for visiting with me and the Potter boys.....Betty

a woman who is said...

Oh that was a lot of fun to see. I love the art gallery, especially the first picture!

Stop by my blog and sign up for my First Year Anniversary Celebration drawing and a special surprise just for you.
Make My Day Award

I have really enjoyed your blog this year.

ellen b. said...

What a fun excursion I had here. That last shop you showed is so amazingly cluttered. What fun! I would love to walk through the charity/thrift shops (my favorite)
Blessings...

Barbara said...

This was a lovely window shopping tour with you, Barbara. Thank you! And the "special shop" with everything-you-can-imagine (we call it here "aunt Emma shop") is a relict of older times which we can find on the country...but seldom.

Susan said...

Loved seeing the pictures of the shops. How interesting!!!!
Susan

Barbara Jacksier said...

Thanks for the tour. I've been working so hard it felt like a vacation.

Independent shops are disappearing even in the smallest town in America. It's a crying shame. If everyone went out of their way to deal with mom and pop shops this wouldn't happen.
So much for my soap box speech.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

I feel like I've gone walking down the streets of shops right along with you....some very interesting items. That ironmonger's is unbelievable - how does anyone find anything? When you said it was an ironmonger's (not a term we use here in the US), I had visions of all sorts of wrought iron items, but I see that is not the case....

Thanks for the tour!

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

PS: Your videos sound interesting...have you ever been to the Grand Canyon? It's breathtaking...!

Willow said...

I enjoyed my walk with you. The reflection photos were a great way to get 'two-for-one' pictures!

And one of the shop windows had an American flag displayed!

Linda said...

What a neat looking village. I love the names that the villages have in England. I don't think they ever tack on such things as on sea or on some river's name. It is charming to us Americans.

Knitting Mania said...

Wow, I felt like I went shopping today, loved the window with the purses in them, very nice.

Great pics, thanks for sharing...