Beach Huts, Blooms and Barons

What a glorious weekend we've just had.

The sun shone and we made the most of it.

On Friday G had taken S to Salisbury to spend a couple of days with Grandma and Auntie D and so with S away and T busy volunteering at his charity shop G and I were free to go day tripping.

A plan was made and by 9.30 we were off on the train to Bournemouth.

The walk from Bournemouth station into town isn't, initially, the most picturesque, although the row of shops and businesses along Holdenhurst Road do have an air of faded grandeur about them.

Plus I was keen to starting using the new camera G had given me for my birthday so the first photo of the day is the last shop in the row. 

We wandered into and through the town taking a more meandering route towards the seafront

which is how we happened upon this beautiful mosaic on the corner of a road by the church above. On this site there once stood a guest house by the name of 'Muriel'. The mosaic is from an art work by Aubrey Beardsley who was once a resident at Muriel having been sent to the coast for his health.

We haven't been to Bournemouth for a while and it so it was the first time we've seen the zip wire. The launch tower is on the pier and you land of the beach zipping across the water, the view must be fabulous as you travel across.

On of the highlights of the day for me was seeing the Cath Kidston beach huts. I had seen them on Instagram and you can read more about them here. I was hoping we would be able to go and see them for real and now I have! These 3 weren't being used 

but the cloud and fish ones were so I thought it would be more polite to take a sideways on snap of the group of them.

As polka dots are such a favourite of mine I was so pleased this one was free as I was able to pose for a photo and have a CK beach hut all of my own for a very short while.

From Bournemouth we strolled along the front heading towards Boscombe and there were more beach huts. 
Would you prefer yours to be green

or blue

or a shade of purple?

I particularly liked this bluebell one.

G and I had expected the beach to have been packed out with holiday makers but whole sections of it were completely empty.
It was a perfect walk.

We were ready for lunch by then having walked up a bit of an appetite and stopped for something to eat before heading up into town through the Chine Gardens.
As G's brother lives in Boscombe he sent P a text to see if he was free and the 3 of us met a short time later for a cuppa and a chat.

To round off our day G went to visit the vinyl shop in Boscombe and whilst he did that I went to Oxfam and came out laden with some great finds. Then it was off to Pokesdown station where we were waved off by this bikini clad blonde.

G reckoned we had walked about 5 miles or over the course of the Saturday. 
Sunday was a little more sedate.
We had to go and collect S and as there was another music event in the park we all met up in Lizzy Gardens for a picnic lunch and listened to jazz and swing.

For the first time this summer we were plagued with wasps and to escape them I took my camera off with me for a short wander.

When I returned everyone was looking at this little fellow who had fallen out of the tree we were all gathered under and which was perfectly camouflaged on one of Grandma's picnic cushions.

As previously mentioned Salisbury is home to a Baron trail this summer and walking around discovering them is what kept S, Auntie D and Grandma entertained on Saturday. They found them all that day bar 3, so yesterday they went and found the final one in town which they had missed. The other two are a little way out of town but we hope to see them later on in September when all 25 are going to be displayed together by the Cathedral.

Auntie D has taken S's photo by each one and so I felt it was only right I had mine taken with one of them too.