Beach and swimming

I went down to the beach with my kids today. It was pretty crowded, though not as busy as it will get in August. Thankfully my kids are happy with going late in the day - partly for avoiding the strongest sun rays and partly since its much nicer when there aren't a million people spread over the sand like ants.

I wasn't sure about swimming due to my shoulder but i ended up swimming out to call back my son and his friend who were out further than i was happy with.

I don't think they realised how far out they were since the sea bed drops and rises again -so they felt they were within their depth. Anyway, i felt happier with them somewhat closer to shore. My shoulder wasn't too happy though.

This plant is rock samphire- it used to be eaten as a vegetable centruries ago but went out of fashion for some reason. It grows all over the place near the sea here, but in Britain it tends to be found only on cliffs. In fact when it was a popular delicacy people in Britain used to climb down cliffs to pick the shoots - a pretty risky business.
Shakespeare even talks about samphire pickers in King Lear

"Half-way down Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!" Shakespeare, King Lear.
I had to look this quote up - i'm not someone with a vast knowledge od Shakespeare.

This is a mediterranean pine tree- I was taking photos of the bark for use as paper textures and when i looked up it reminded me of one of Georgia O'Keefe's paintings the Lawrence tree.The resin smell was really strong since it has been so hot- very incense-ish and wonderful. I really like pine resin.
Near the pine , there are some flower beds and i was quite captivated by the intense colours. I thought the pictures would be good to look at in winter since these flowers really seem to say summer and heat, to me at least.




I have a notion that the large yellow flowers might be called black eyed susans. They were stunning anyway - almost glowing in the shade under the trees.

I took the picture below later in the day - its a half ruined sandcastle with the Old Town of Antibes and the castle [Chateau Grimaldi] in the background. I carefully avoided getting people on the beach in the frame and missed the swimmer.






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