By the sea

Hello! It's been a while but I wanted to drop by to mark the end of 2015 and to wish you all a Happy New Year!

On the last day of the month I'd usually be sharing Scavenger Hunt photos. However, as I've not managed to collect them all this time, I thought I'd share some photos from a walk earlier this week instead.

We had a lovely, quiet Christmas with family and friends and, thankfully, survived all the gales and rain with only some minor flooding at the bottom of the garden. My heart goes out to all those who were so badly affected.

With blue skies forecast for once, I headed out to Lytham to meet up with an old friend. It's a pretty, genteel little town at the mouth of the river Ribble, only a few miles south of the bright, brash lights of Blackpool.

Streets of lovely (and pricey) houses.

And lots of places to wine and dine. We lunched at Ego to gather our energies for a walk north along the coast to St Anne's.

First a stroll through Lowther Gardens to see the Shrimper, dressed in traditional 19th century costume.

Plus the ubiquitous wicker statue - there seems to be one in every public space these days.

Then, back to the shoreline, following the curve of the estuary to where it opens out into the Irish Sea.

There were lots of wading birds along the shoreline.

My identification of waders has always been a bit ropey but I think these are Turnstones. I could hear lots of piping out on the mud flats and will definitely be taking my binoculars next time.

This is looking across the mouth of the estuary towards the coast leading down to Southport.

On the other side, a glimpse of the White Church, otherwise known as the Fairhaven United Reform Church. It opened in 1912 and its Byzantine style was the result of a competition to design a 'distinctive architectural feature'.

Less striking but still interesting, is Station Cafe Bar which is in an old railway carriage. A coffee and mince pie to warm ourselves before the walk back to Lytham.

Journeys end. The light fades so quickly this time of year and the windmill was already lit up by the time we returned. There's a free museum in the windmill which is open during the summer months: Chickpea and I will definitely back to explore. Lytham is a lovely little town and made even better by the chance to catch up with an old friend.

Well, that's it for another year. I'll be back, probably at the weekend, with a crafting project.

A very, very happy New Year to you all. xxx