Swans Return.

I caught sight of the two local swans and their five cygnets yesterday morning and, eventually, they came close enough for a photo.  The cygnets must be almost fully grown now; it was so good to see them and to know that, this year, they survived.

The picture shows a close-up of one of the cygnets off Hythe foreshore, Southampton Water, Hampshire, at 09:21 on Monday 29th October 2012.

To see photos of the entire family group, click on the link below and visit my picture blog:-

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/34631600105/the-local-swans-and-their-five-cygnets-off-hythe

To read more about the Hythe swans, click on the links below to my previous blogs dated Tuesday 19th June 2012 and Sunday 24th June 2012:-

http://susanvale.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/swans.html

http://susanvale.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/swanupmanship.html

Sail The World - Lord Nelson.

It's been a lovely damp and drizzly week in Hythe, full of mist and fog, high tides and low skies.  It was the same at the weekend, but on Sunday the fog lifted and the mist cleared in time for me to see the Tall Ship Lord Nelson readying herself to leave Southampton and sail round the world.  She's a wonderful looking ship, crewed with a mix of able-bodied and disabled people, and the next time we see her in Southampton it will be October 2014!  God willing.  It will be an awesome feat and the 10 legs of her voyage are breathtaking; the first being 55 days from Southampton to Rio de Janeiro (see below for a link to Sail The World and the rest of the Lord Nelson itinerary).

The pictures show the Tall Ship Lord Nelson leaving the Port of Southampton, Hampshire, at 12:34 on Sunday 21st October 2012 (Trafalgar Day); a wide shot with a water-spraying tug escort, and a close-up, five sheets to the wind, as she passes the Itchen Bridge.

Click on the link below to read more about Sail The World, STS Lord Nelson and the Jubilee Sailing Trust:-

http://www.jst.org.uk/sail-the-world.aspx

To read more about Trafalgar Day, click on the link below:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalgar_Day