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Saturday 26 March 2016

Mary MoHo goes to the seaside

She has a name at last and I will explain all that at the end of this post. These pictures are from a day out at the coast nearly two weeks ago. We haven't got Mary out again since then but I see better weather coming soon so we might get to camp soon - but in the meantime a day out and a picnic by the sea is a good enough compromise.


This time we filled up with enough water to get the boiler going and check that the hot water runs (it does), but as we can't get near the house with it we couldn't use the new clean hose for water so K had to fill by hand as you can see!


One thing I can't get over is because you are sitting so much higher up than in a car, and being a van it has a huge windscreen, you get a much clearer view of the countryside and I am appreciating it so much more. The sky seems so huge too and it's going to be good for getting snaps whilst on the move. So long as we keep the windscreen clean, and no, splatted bugs is not my idea of fun insect photography!


We headed up to the stretch of coast between Cancale and St Malo, but sadly for some unknown reason the coastal road was closed halfway along with no explanation, so the beach I had planned to go to had to be changed. We ended up parking in a layby on the cliff top along with about five other motorhomes to have our picnic, but we did at least have a view of the sea. Afterwards we walked a bit along coastal paths and saw that we were really close to Pointe du Grouin where I find all sorts of interesting wild flowers and butterflies in summer.


Looking over at the semaphore station on Pointe du Grouin.


This coastal path is the GR34 - one of the Grande Randonee walks in France - this one goes the entire way around the Brittany coast.




Blackthorn was just beginning to flower.


Picnic time, so nice in comfort and warmth!






As we fancied a walk on a beach we headed for our favourite spot at Port Mer. The tide was out a really long way and we had a great time wandering on the beach. The few restaurants here looked closed but it is hard to tell because it was mid afternoon by this time and of course nobody is sitting outside in winter, so they could be open for lunch. Indoors.




It pays to check out that lone seagull you often see - as in this case it wasn't, it was a Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)! Not an uncommon sight these days, both in winter and summer.



These were so distant it was only because K heard their cries that we even noticed them - Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) on the beach. I haven't seen any in Brittany before.



I was nearly falling over trying to get down and take photos whilst squatting - could have done with waterproof kneely pads! Then I'm like an old lady struggling to get back up again!


But what are we taking photos of in the next two images?



These strange things!


They were totally fascinating and there were loads of them around the low tide area. When we came home I found out that they are Common Whelk egg cases! Here's some brief information from Arkive - more info about them on their page here. Whelks are of course edible and one of the things you will find in a Plateau de Fruits de Mer over here - but personally I think they are gross as I don't eat snails, whether from the land or the sea - though I have tried them. Never again!

"The sexes are separate; breeding takes place from October to May, and the eggs are attached to rocks, shells and stones in protective capsules. Each capsule contains as many as 1000 eggs, and the capsules of several females are grouped together in large masses of over 2000 (2). Only a few of these eggs will develop; most eggs are used as a source of food by the growing embryos (3). There is no free-swimming larval stage (4), instead, crawling young emerge from the capsules after several months (3). Empty egg masses frequently wash up on beaches, and are often mistaken for sponges (2). They are known as 'sea wash balls' because they were once used to wash with (3)."



On the walk back up the hill to the car park I saw these amazing summer flowers, still going strong in this sheltered spot where frosts are rare!


Then it was time for tea and cake in the warmth and comfort of the Marymobile. :-)

So, how did she get named? Well it seems you have to give everything a name these days, including your stoma (mine doesn't!). But I was starting to find it a bit irritating calling it 'it', 'the van', 'the MoHo' and felt we needed something a bit more interesting but easy to say. We'd played around a bit with names and I really wanted something to honour my late in-laws, as it was their inheritance which paid for it (yes I know I said I was going to buy it from the money I'm supposed to be receiving from my uncle but god knows when that is going to arrive, and by the time the lawyer has taken off his £130 an hour fee there will probably be nothing left!).

I liked The AlfandMaryMobile but that was too much of a mouthful, and K kept calling it the Winnebago. So we joked about the Mary Bago (as her name wasn't Winnie) and eventually settled on Mary for short. K was brought up on caravanning holidays around the British Isles with his brother and parents and I know they would have been thrilled to know that we had bought something like this with their money. In fact my brother and sister in law are talking about getting one too! I wonder what they will call theirs? :-)

The Wrinklies, as we used to call them, on their 70th wedding anniversary in November 2012. I'm so glad we were there for it.



Thanks very much, Alf and Mary. I miss you. xx

20 comments:

  1. I don't pick up on all your blogs, but sure glad to pick up this one - love the wrinklies and the name for the Moho

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    1. Hello Stoupaduck, thank you for commenting and glad you enjoyed it! :-)

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  2. You have definitely caught the bug now Mandy.
    A lovely way to enjoy the countryside.

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  3. Good to see you out on the road. Ours is called a sort of Chinese name . . .
    Lump Sum

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    1. That's an interesting name - Velly Big Lump Sum I'd say. ;-)

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  4. What a wonderful day out and a great way to try out Mary MoHo. I really like the name and your reasons behind it. I am sure they would be so pleased for you both.

    Love the egg-cases and now you've made me want to go to the sea :) Britanny looks so beautiful too.

    Hope you are having a lovely Easter.

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    1. Thanks RR. Hoping to go camping properly next week so keep watching the weather forecast! We never go to the coast in winter but it was great so we will make sure we do so more in future (just not when it's really freezing!).

      We were amazed by the egg cases and hadn't a clue at the time - I know so little about marine life I had never thought about how shells reproduce.

      Hope you had a lovely Easter - we didn't do anything special and I even kept away from chocolate!!

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  5. Looks like a lovely day out, beautiful blue skies and a nice warm place for lunch. I have to ask, what is that on your plates with the salad?
    Fascinating those whelk egg cases, bleurgh to whelks though!
    Lovely name for the motorhome and nice pics of your in laws, I remember seeing them before on GOGs I suppose.

    Philippa xx

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    1. But Philippa! You eat raw oysters! So how come a nice cooked whelk is bleugh? Haha (they ARE cooked, aren't they?)

      What we were eating was savoury courgette cake out of the freezer - it was a hurried put together picnic as we had been out the previous day.

      I posted those photos here, shows how long I've been blogging now! xx

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  6. Glad you are both out having a good time, so nice to be by the sea..
    Amanda xx

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    1. Thanks Amanda - hope to get out next week - proper camping! :-) xx

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  7. Hello Mandy. Some lovely photos of a beautiful place to visit. That is interesting about the whelks and the egg cases - I wish I knew more about the things you can find on the seashore. I do love the last photos, too.

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    1. Hi Wendy, thanks for popping over and commenting! I too wish I knew more - I have learned loads about wildlife and insects but know practically nothing about marine life. Still that makes it exciting when we do visit the coast - lots of new things to explore. :-)

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  8. Love the name for your camper and great photos of a lovely day out. Thanks for sharing.xx

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    1. Thanks so much Deb - we are loading her up with a lot of stuff this weekend and itching to get out camping but the weather forecast keeps changing. We are not going camping in the rain! :-) xx

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  9. What a great road trip you had! Gorgeous scenery! I'm so glad you are enjoying touring around in your little home away from home. Your in-laws look like they were a wonderful happy couple. So sweet that you named your camper after your MIL. It's not very common for people here to name their RVs, and we've never named ours (something to think on though!).
    Wendy

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    1. Thanks Wendy. I hadn't realised you didn't name your RVs - I wonder where this daftness came from. I know some people name their cars but it's not very common. Fun though! I have loads more photos from our recent trips so I have got to get them organised..... :-)

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