Tuesday 22 October 2013

22/10: LOST & FOUND

I've lost an earring.  I discovered the loss yesterday afternoon and immediately checked all the usual places - in the bed, in the linen basket in case pulled off when changing clothes, around my desk and areas I'd been sitting throughout the day.   I wear them day and night so don't actually know when I lost the earring - I'd like to think I'd have noticed one missing when brushing my hair in the morning but who knows?

For the first time in weeks the weather was good enough for us to go for a long walk along the beach yesterday so I could have lost the earring anywhere between home and Whitstable town ... I'd also replenished all the bird feeders in the garden and picked up windfall apples and pears so we spent a good deal of time checking the grass and garden paths but to no avail .....

We'll check with the local jeweller how much it will be to make a copy but s*ds law this was a 'good' earring, gold hoop set with diamonds.  Why can't I lose the cheapos??

Anyway ... 

we did enjoy our walk yesterday.  The morning started out wet and windy but it turned into a lovely warm/sultry afternoon and we had to dispense with our coats part way round the walk.

Tankerton slopes (a few minutes walk from my house) has lots of beach huts lining the beach path into Whitstable.  Lots of them had been given a new lick of paint before being shut up for the Winter.  These huts have no electricity or running water but the going rate is currently around £25,000 to buy one and they rarely stay on the market for long as Whitstable is a very 'trendy' area and popular with the DFLs (Down from London's) who come in hoardes in the warmer weather.




The weather was balmy, the sea was calm and the place was deserted - we're used to battling our way through crowds of visitors with pushchairs and BBQ kits etc., but I guess the early bad weather had put visitors off ...... Perfick!!

the gulls were chilled



there were people and pooches in the water   brrrrrr (bit cold for me)




We were happily wandering along the beach picking up small pieces of driftwood (as you do) with a view to doing something 'arty' with the bits sometime ... when David spotted this in the pebbles.  


We picked it up and carefully carried it into Whitstable where we took it to the local pharmacy for disposal ...... should have known better in this day and age

Sorry!  we can't dispose of that, we don't where its been!    We asked what we should do with it and the suggestion was to try another pharmacist at the opposite end of town.   But as we had to walk past a large medical centre first we decided to take the syringe/needle to them. 

Receptionist said No!   They couldn't take the offending needle for disposal.  I asked if we could speak to a nurse on site as they have 'sharps' disposal facilities and so we were sent round to check at a different department.  Same answer ... no they couldn't dispose of the needle, but they did give us a free swipe of anti-bacterial gel to clean our hands with! 

By this stage we planned to take it home and contact the local newspaper and let them find out what should be done with the syringe but thankfully a very sensible assistant came out with a yellow 'sharps' bucket and allowed us to put the syringe in there.   The syringe was for insulin and had been used.  We'd like to give the user the benefit of the doubt and hope the item fell out of his/her bag ... but it isn't the sort of thing we like to find on our beaches ...  

Given the 'jobsworth' 'big brother' world we live in I'm really surprised that we don't have instructions on the local noticeboards telling us what to do with items like this ... how about these new signs that have been erected at the beach


I really don't understand the warning about Groynes ... they are the wooden breakwaters which are in place to stop the pebbles/shingle/sand being washed away with the tide but they aren't aggressive to my knowledge??  



Whitstable is a working harbour so isn't 'pretty' but it is quaint I guess ... and there are a couple of very expensive fish restaurants adjacent specialising in oysters and champagne.   For the less well-heeled, the fishmarket at the harbour sells herring rolls and bowls of cockles/winkles which can be eaten outside at cafe tables/chairs

The boat with the tall mast on the left is the Greta, the Thames Barge that David and I took a daytrip on a while back.  Doesn't look so impressive with those huge sails folded away


The harbour looking very quiet and sleepy


and these huts are teeming with tourists in the Summer - they sell all sorts of arts/crafts/foodstuff



This art class was being taken outdoors - plenty of things to sketch at the harbour - always lots of colourful nets and equipment laying around.  The students seemed to be enjoying working outdoors




There were a lot of starlings around - handsome little birds aren't they



Today the weather is back to wind/rain and not at all nice so it was great to have such beautiful weather yesterday.  




9 comments:

  1. Your blog is titled Lost and Found so assumed you had found your earring. Same thing happened to Matt once with a very good gold bracelet he had worked in someone's yard for a few hours then we went to 15 different stores. Never did find it. I lost a similar bracelet once and found it at the bottom of our chest freezer some months later.

    Great pictures, particularly love the harbour ones and of course the Greta.Having lived on a barge for a number of years, I always have a soft spot for them and am glad there are still a few remaining.

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  2. No. Lost the earring and found a needle/syringe.

    We've spent far too long today looking for the earring at home but it could be miles away so not going to bother looking any more. If its here it will turn up eventually.

    Yes we still have a few of the old Thames Barges afloat in Kent but the Greta is the one we've actually sailed on so we have a soft spot for her

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  3. Bummer you lost your earring but YIKES to finding the syringe(with the needle included! Can't believe how many people you went through to get that disposed of safely though.

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  4. I'm annoyed about the earring but it may well turn up when I'm not looking for it :-)

    The syringe thing was a real saga. We just wanted to clear it from the beach but were beginning to think it would be 'ours for life'. I'll make some enquiries now to find out what the correct disposal procedure is for the future (although hopefully there won't be occasion to use the knowledge)

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  5. How sad to lose a favorite "good" earring! Hope it turns up soon - have you thought about borrowing a metal detector? My DH lost his wedding ring while working in a large field and my brother brought his metal detector over and found it fairly quickly.

    I won't even comment on the syringe! ugh!

    The photos are great though, some would make good paintings,

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  6. Lovely area you live in Sue, nice photos. Our beach is forever covered in crap, mostly blown in on the tide. They clean up regularly, then after a windy day it's covered in litter again. I don't think I've ever spotted a syringe though, nasty.

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  7. Hi Jan
    I think we've got a metal detector somewhere around but as I've got no idea where I lost the earring it would probably be a waste of time as I was wandering up and down the beach for about 4 miles as well as on footpaths etc. I think I'll just accept that the earring is lost. If it turns up that will be a huge bonus.

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  8. Hi Peter
    Lovely to hear from you. Hope you're on the mend after your op and back at the drawing board? Miss your paintings

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  9. when we were living in forfar, we were always finding syringes on our street :/ phoned the local council and were told to phone the cops. they come with a sharps bin and gloves to dispose of it. even tho i have my own sharps bin for my meds, if i found any more syringes, i would still phone the cops. sadly most of the time its not filled with medicine :/

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