East Sussex Walks: Seaford Head to Cuckmere Haven Beach

I absolutely love going for a long walk and exploring new places and to my mind, there is nowhere better to do this than by the sea. I've posted many times about walking the cliffs at Beachy Head, Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters but this was the first time I have walked the cliffs in the opposite direction starting at Seaford Head and walking to the Cuckmere Valley. It really is beautiful and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Drive to Seaford and you can park on the seafront and plenty of it is free for up to 12 hours, so that's great news! Definitely take some time to enjoy walking along the prom and in low season you'll hardly see anyone. They have the classic pastel-coloured beach huts and lots of nice little beach hut cafes as you wander along. We've had coffee at Martello's Coffee before and they have plenty of seating on a deck right on the beach. But my favourite is Frankie's cafe where you can get a slice of homemade cake and a toastie for a very reasonable price. 

Walk down the seafront towards Splash Point. You can fail to notice the enormous white cliff face there, so you'll know you're heading in the right direction. In parts, there is quite an incline to climb up onto the clifftop and I wouldn't say I'm the most proficient hill walker, but I managed fine.  So just make sure you have on good shoes and wear a backpack, rather than a handbag like I did. Turn back to look over Seaford as you head up as it is a really nice view and not too spoilt. You see the gold course at the start of this walk and I can't say I'd fancy golfing on the cliff.

A Day in the Life of Archie, the Golden Lab

I've got something a little different for you today. I'm pleased to welcome Archie to take the reins for this post. Archie is my parents' beloved golden Labrador, who is eight and best friends with my Miss M.

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I can't believe it, we are really here. Hey, hey it's holiday! I love coming away on holiday with Mum and Dad, but the very best holidays are when their grand-kids come as well, as that means I get to play with JJ, Miss M and Miss E.

JJ used to be my best friend, but he only wants to play with me every now and then nowadays, he seems more interested in that black box that he's always tapping away at. Mum calls it his laptop, I call it a pest!

Miss E and Miss M are twins and they are both fun, but I have to be honest, Miss M is my favourite. She is the one who gets up early to walk me with Dad each day and she is the one who always plays ball and tug of war with me. 

It can't be long now as the sun is up and I can hear Dad moving about in his bedroom, so Miss M will knock on the door soon and it will be time for us to go walking and running in the forest. It's very nice here in the New Forest where we are staying, but boy does it get hot in the caravan, it's lucky that Dad won't leave me here alone, so I am getting loads of great day trips out. I wonder where we will go today?

A Beautiful Day for a Dog Walk on the Beach

One of the biggest benefits of having moved to East Sussex is being close to the beach. It is my go to happy place whatever the weather but especially when the sun is shining.

Earlier in the month my Dad joined my girls and I to take the dog for a walk down on Bexhill seafront and then have a bacon sandwich and cuppa at Kerry's cafe (you guessed it, it was pre-slimming world!). We had a wonderful couple of hours together before he had to head off on the long drive back home.

Both girls were wearing their new ECCO boots with built-in GORE-TEX technology to keep their feet dry and warm in these wet and wintry months. This meant when they walked on the stones, run towards the waters edge or climbed and ran I didn't bat an eyelid about how their footwear would hold up as I know I can trust any pair of shoes or boots that GORE-TEX have approved to work with. Their checks are super intensive and they only work with the best and most trusted shoe-makers.

Walking the dog

I actually think perhaps this post should be titled 'the dog walking us' because until Archie gets to the park and has his good run around all he wants to do is pull us there!

This week whilst Daddy was working, the kids and I escaped to see Nanny and once the storm had passed we were keen to get outside and run some energy off. Who better to help us than Nanny's dog Archie?

We all headed to the local park together and enjoyed playing ball with him and chasing each other. It really is the simple things that provide the most fun at times. JJ wanted to stay home with his iPad and play some games as we had been out shopping most of the day but I'm so glad I put my foot down and told him he had to come with us as he really enjoyed himself once out.

This the last post in my series posted as part of the Mark Warner Family Active challenge. They asked us to get active as a family for at least 4 hours in October. I can confirm that we have probably had at least 2-6 hours active as a family every week in October and much of that is thanks to Mark Warner and their prompt. It is fairly easy to get younger children moving but the key I think, is in the adults setting the example and this is where we have a made a real effort this month.

• First we all played basketball together
• Then we barn danced the night away, what a blast that was
• Next the girls and I went out on a wet woodland walk
• Last week I shared with you some of favourite our 'all family' activities such as beach walks and giant hula hooping
• Then this week it is the dog walking. I'm sure you'll agree we have made the most of the October family active challenge!

Have you had a good week, how have you managed to get active this week?

I'm also linking up this post to Fiona's Country Kids - click on the badge to head over and see what others have got up to in their Country Kids exploits.

 

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JJ's Reasons to be Cheerful (week 44, year 3)

Early each week I start to think about what might be the basis of my #R2BC post for that Thursday. Whilst lots of lovely things have been happening, nothing sprung straight to mind this week, so I asked my 10 year old JJ what was making him cheerful right now.

*  Instant answer 'doh Mum, it's half term'.  Oh yes of course, great reason to be cheerful, no getting up at 7am to stress before heading off to school at 8.20am. Some lazy days, visiting Nanny & Granddad, Daddy off later in the week, a trip to London for a Guinness World Records event - yep a good week ahead.

*  'What else?' I say. His second instant answer made me smile a lot too. 'The internet, I love it that I can play Minecraft again'. Yes I can agree on this one too, we had our own internet set up last Wednesday and what a blessing to again be able to watch something on iPlayer, It is still slow and it cuts out occasionally but it is a massive improvement on what we did have.

*  'Go on, keep going' I urge him and that is it, he is off on a roll and starts to throw reasons at me. We are visiting Nanny and that means I get to walk Archie, yesterday we had a great meal with some friends from Daddy's work, we are going to see Cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2 at the weekend, we live in a great place now, I got a trick hand buzzer today and that is so cool etc etc

It seems that my 10 year old is a pretty cheery chap and he can manage to find 101 reasons to be cheerful. How wonderful, just what I want to hear.

So now you know what is making JJ cheerful this week, go on and share what has cheered you up. Are you feeling particularly grateful?

It could be something massive or it might just be the everyday simple things that happen. If you are new to Reasons to be Cheerful then take a look at the background to this linky and my rational for starting it 3 years ago.

Write a post and link it up, no rules, just as long as you have written about something which is adding a smile to your face or rocking your world then I’m happy. Then link up the post, add in the blog hop code to your post if you fancy and then people can go from post to post nice and easily. Don't forget that linkys only work if you go and visit some other bloggers who have linked up, even if you only comment on 1 or 2 it makes a difference. Tweet with #R2BC and I'll give you an RT too.

Wishing you a fabulous week ahead, Mich x

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