the new sea wall at camber sands.....in which I discover a plentiful supply of textures for my photography

sea wall © caroline fraser 2016

The new sea wall at camber Sands is almost finished.

Men in orange are putting finishing touches to the railings so that dogs and people don't fall off.

A building project costing millions of pounds is almost done.

Rocks from Norway are settled into their new home.

I have 1999 photos documenting the building process ready to make into the movie, the book and the t-shirt.

sea wall camber sands © caroline fraser

 Cyclists have space to ride alongside the dog walkers and the kite surfers.

sea wall camber sands © caroline fraser

Cones are few and far between.

Shiny new life rings are taking their place.

And a wrapped blue thing  awaits unveiling.

sea wall camber sands © caroline fraser

Children have a new place to play.

sea wall camber sands © caroline fraser

Grown ups have a new place to hide.

Charlie Rock is long gone, and his rocks are all tidy behind the wall.

charlie rock © caroline fraser

charlie's rocks

The surveyors have finished their calculations.

And the numbered pieces are all slotted into place.

The joins are joined.

The car park is large and fully equipped.

disabled parking

and footprints are preserved for posterity.

Helpful signs are up

And sculptures adorn the view across the marsh.

The concrete is smooth and tempting.

Textures and markings catch my eye ; they will be useful for composite images, but also as a record of how it all looks before wind, rain and sand take their toll.

The seagulls will also do their bit.

This wall could keep me busy for ever.

I mustn't let it keep me from the beach....

The view from the other side is quite stunning.

Camber Sands

Invasion of the supermouse - in which I get a little disturbed by the presence of mice in my house.

there's a mouse in the house

We had mice.

Rock moving, tampon arranging mice.

The downstairs loo was a no go area as far as I was concerned.

Not only did they find tampons that had long disappeared from the bottom of the cupboard under the sink, below the floorboards, and turn them into a nest, but also they moved rocks ( basically the floor of my home) from in the cupboard, under the floor, to out of the cupboard, into the smallest room of the house.

They moved rocks.

We put down luxurious blue food.

They moved more rocks.

They ate more food.

They carried on moving rocks and eating food for 2 weeks.

I opened the door of the cupboard under the sink to see if they had gone.

Large, fat, supersized mouse gazed out at me from the top of the tampon pile.

I screamed and ran. Mouse probably ate more food and wondered what on earth was wrong.

They were supposed to die ( yes I know, it is cruel to kill animals, but I can't live with mice and that's the end of the matter). Humane traps are all very well, but you have to drive them to the local woods and let them out far, far away. Otherwise they just come back home and move more rocks.

I have caused a mouse to freeeze in the middle of the kitchen floor on a previous occasions, so loud and high pitched was my scream.

I don't do mice or snakes.

Other half (OH) doesn't do wasps.

Luckily we can help each other out in this respect. He caught the mouse that was stunned to inaction on the kitchen floor in  saucepan and returned it to the garden.

I opened  the window and let out the wasp that was causing OH to freak out in the study.



The mice appear to have gone, thanks to the rodent control man who has  different blue food.

He was very keen to show me photos on his phone of various pests that he has controlled.

Cockroaches featured highly.

I can cope perfectly well with those. They are just insects. I have prior experience of those in hospitals and bed and breakfasts that I have stayed in. They phase me not one bit.

OH thought it would be very amusing to put larger rocks down in the loo as a joke.

What he didn't bank on was my being so shocked to see large rocks on the floor that I actually convinced myself that it was a large mouse sitting on a rock, and screamed louder than ever before.




I need to get my own back.

SUGGESTIONS ON A POSTCARD PLEASE

You will be my friend forever.

Streaming on the intergalactic superhighway

 Dungneness sunset

OH ( other half)  has decided that we need a broadband upgrade.

Doctor Who keeps stalling during intergalactic transfers

And  footballs keeps getting stuck between the player's boot and the goal………

Daughter in Canada freezes mid sentence on Skype. Not always a pretty sight; strange contortions held until the cogs get whirring again.

It is time to embrace the super highway he says.

I have to admit to having shown little enthusiasm for this change, despite being the 'early adopter' of technology in our relationship.

Status quo versus internet black hole as everything goes pear shaped and we are left with nothing but a land-line is my preferred option.

I am quite happy with what we have now. The thought of losing contact with my friends in The Arcanum or not being able to back up or upload  my photos are my main concerns . OH is not a technical prodigy; his expertise lies elsewhere, in the land of real people.

So when the new internet box arrived through the post, my heart sank and I decided to head south, to Camber Sands, in order to be absent throughout the period of teeth gnashing and mild to moderate swearing.

Down there there is no internet ( at least where we stay), so I have to read books and work on my images of rocks on the beach .

So this morning, I got up early to be down on the beach at low tide, to see how the rocks are doing. Men in high vis clothing and cranes were in action early. They looked picturesque on the bank. Photogenic even.

I switched on my camera. 'low battery'

This is becoming a habit, and is one of the perils of trying to escape suburbia. I always leave something behind. 

I framed my first photo, and the camera died. So I am going to have to share some old images of the works, taken when the workmen had all gone home.

 After a short walk in the early morning soft and gentle sunlight I headed off to my studio to prepare for the 'Feast of Delights'.

My 'delights' are boxed sets of cards and small framed images that might do for Aunty Mabel's or Uncle Bernie's christmas presents. I am an expert on making white boxes, and find it very therapeutic after the travails of worrying about my internet connection and a very unwell family member.

Camber Collection © Caroline Fraser

Light on Water cards © Caroline Fraser

As I sat making boxes OH rang me. He was busy setting up super fast broadband.

'I need your password to BT ' quothe he.

'It is in my book of passwords' I replied, and advised him where to find it.

He duly found my notebook of passwords and read what he could of my incredibly tidy handwriting.

I realised what was written and told him what the encrypted note said.

'that's a really stupid word' was his response.

'well it works fine for me'……..( and anyway, it was meant to be a secret , thought I)

'And how was I supposed to know that from what was written?'

'you weren't…………passwords are meant to be secret……..a book of passwords that anyone could read would not really be a very good idea……….' 

(Even I know that………)

Anyway reader, the really good news is that we now have new wifi that works, which is  huge relief.

Later that day I asked OH if it is faster and fulfilling his wildest dreams.

' I guess it does…..' he replied.

 I quote verbatim here.

Not really the response I was expecting. 

'I'll only really know when I try streaming…..'


What could I say?

Nada.

But I was so relieved that we remain connected that I went into Rye to buy cakes and took them over to Dungeness for a cup of tea and watched the sun go down with gentle folk who are lucky enough to work and live in the land of big skies.

tea and smoked garlic at the Dungeness Smokehouse

Roll on the next episode of Dr Who. Then we ( OH)  will really be riding the intergalactic superhighway.

An Indian Summer at Camber Sands

saturday evening

There are a lot of people in Germany reading this blog; they seem to be interested in what goes on at Pontins. I know they love to visit Camber, and who can blame them. The beach is something special for those who live in a land locked country.

camber sands, September 2014

Walking on the beach last night as the sun set, and again this morning at low tide I felt very lucky.

My other half is enjoying the daffodils in Sydney, Australia, so I am living it up and eating lots of fish while he eats lots of meat down under.

each to his own.......

As the sun set there was an extraordinary calm sea.

the ship that carries the rocks

Of course I didn't go anywhere near the big rocks down at Jury's Gap that are being used to build the sea defences, and nor did this man and his children

nowhere near the rocks

or this dog and his owners.

a little bit near the rocks

I just enjoyed the setting sun, and the incredible stillness.

This morning was equally calm and still. An Indian summer in every sense.


The beach spotlessly clean.

the litter pickers do a great job

So it was surprising that the Sunday peace for many people in Camber today was completely destroyed by the voice of one man, who could be heard right down on the water's edge.

Pontins was having a '24 hour party'. And it seems that the whole of Camber was expected to listen to the compere.


I drove to Rye for some peace and quiet.

There was a rock concert on the salt marsh, and about 200 men in leathers on bikes at the harbour.

Must be the weather..........

I gave in and went for a run.

Indian Summer at Camber Sands 

don't touch those rocks............

Norway, Camber Sands

The sea defences are under reconstruction from Jury's Gap to The Suttons at Camber Sands.

For two years rocks from Norway will be brought ashore by boat and built into the sea wall.

Men in orange jackets are guarding the rocks closely. Health and Safety prevails.


It is a long walk up the beach to see the rocks at present, and only a few people have strayed that far from the  Kit Kat cafe and the bratwurst bar to take a peek at the works.

If you get too close, a man will shout and wave at you, and tell you to go away.

man in yellow jacket watching me watching him

There are several piles of stones, and the workers are always working, so tactics would be needed if you wanted to get closer.

Decoys would be required. False identities assumed.

For the man in the red hat will be very upset if you get near his rocks. They are dangerous.

'can't you see the sign? it says no entry'

The 'no entry' sign is in the car park, completely invisible to those who arrive on foot, strolling along the seashore. I don't envy him his job, for it will get harder and harder as the works move nearer the populated end of the sea wall.

rocks and a power station. 

Some naughty people walked right past the diggers before they were spotted.

works

Obviously I stayed well away.

And will continue to do so.