Duttons and Dogs

Duttons for Buttons in Harrogate and their display window homage to the bicycle and the Tour which was about to race into the town. Kate Davies Designs calls the Dutton shops the spiritual home of the button on her blog here and the place to find that elusive button to make up a set here.  This family business have three haberdashery shops within a small area of Yorkshire, some of their stock can be browsed on-line here but as they have more than 12,000 designs in stock it is the tip of the iceberg.  Watched Pirates of the Caribbean? I'll pay more attention to the buttons rather than Johnny Depp next time as I read on their site that Duttons were the people who supplied the buttons for the costumes.

The companion cat was a popular choice for last week's ABC Wednesday contributors so of course we can't leave out the companion for this week's letter and

this 'cute as a button' little dog being taken for a walk along the Millom Embankment with the Lakeland fells in the distance.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at D here

On the Edge of X

In mathematics the letter X denotes an unknown quantity.  In nature this X is also a bit unknown as it  is in a place that is neither sea or land, the salt marsh.  Continually changing it is a rich salt tolerant biology feeds birds, mammals and amphibians.

But what have I noticed here, footsteps in the mud

Sheep crossing? The sheep like to munch on the saltmarsh although this little group with two keeping a wary eye on me are on the embankment. (Their compatriots can just be seen near the horizon).     Also just seen in the distance further down the embankment is a place to take your ease.

The seat, now with the tide covering the salt marsh behind it. Unusually for the UK where you can nearly guarantee wherever you stop on the coast there will be someone gazing out to sea whatever the weather, this seat faces in the entirely different direction.  Either because of the contrariness of the local settlement of Millom (its name of Norse origin means 'between' as it sits between two rivers and the tide)

Black Combe

or perhaps the view of the hills is thought to be more restful. The Millom Embankment was built to protects both this low lying farmland

and the railway that wends its way up the coast.  Northern Rail paint some of their trains with views from the north of England, the area they cover.   I'm a bit too far away for this to be very detailed. The embankment where I stand is also part of a long distance walk, the Cumbria Coastal Way.  The train is the ideal alternative way to do it in chunks as linear walks (except at its very northern end when the train track bends away).

The perfect journey for sea lovers. The water laps the embankment. If you have noticed the difference in colour  of the sea grass, the first three photographs were taken in February, the others last November when rain had nourished the grass. This winter and late spring was one of attrition for the wildlife so on the February walk there were a few remains but this one took my eye:

Did the duck fall from the sky or did it become entangled in the hedge?  It was a sad sight but although dead at least in winter there were no flies buzzing around and only the effects of xeransis (the drying of tissues).

An entry to ABC Wednesday - a journeys through the alphabet that has reached X

Exit

I liked the effect of the light on the station steps as clouds started to gather. Perhaps a Gothic effect as we exit to where?  Well actually the small town of Millom, but who knows in an alternative universe there might be something else waiting on the other side.

The Thursday Theme meme prompt this week is.... Stairs.

Attic View

It was the yellow lichen on this house which first caught my eye, and then of course, those windows under the dormer. Although the other windows of this house see only fields, from these two the view would be of the sea. Where, as the tide was on the turn, might have been where the flock of birds I caught unintentionally in the photo were heading.

Mary the Teach is the hostess of the midweek meme  Window Views and Doors Too.

Into Each Life A Little Rain Must Fall.

We've had rather a lot of rain recently.  Sunday was like a sparkling jewel set in the middle of a grey stone.

Today I discovered when sloshing through a flood to my car that suede shoes are remarkable waterproof.

Embankment

A walk on the Millom tidal embankment is enjoyable on a gloriously hot summer's day. Only a zephyr of a wind rustled the grass. A contrast to the last time we walked this way when a cooling wind howled across the estuary.
As we turned to return through the lanes there was a large clump of what I think are Himalayan Balsam, or Poor Man's Orchid, under the trees. These were the only two in flower, the rest looked as though they were waiting for July.