No Fool Like An Old Fool.

Photos are all evening light on Porthmeor.

I really should have known better than to drink (non-decaffeinated) coffee in the afternoon. Not only did I have a fancy coffee in the café but a while later I had a small cup of Syrian coffee. (Black and no sugar but I'll give anything a go.)

By the time I put my head down at midnight my mind was buzzing. Thoughts raced around my head until I put ear buds to listen to the World Service at 2.00 and I didn't get to sleep until after 4.30.

I was up again at 7.30 and sat outside watching the clouds in the east turn from a subtle purple/pink to plain grey. Nearby sparrows in a neighbour's hedge almost drowned out the gentle shushing of the waves.

But I have still had a busy day. While we were away the neighbours cut back the tamarisk trees by the garage giving me room to get to the windows. And what a state those poor windows were in. A combination of woodworm and the weather has rotted out a lot of the wood. 

Really the windows should be replaced but as it's only the garage and they aren't opening windows I'm going to see if I can restore them enough so that the glass doesn't fall out or rain gets in. 

My first step was to scrape and brush off all the flaking paint. Then as they were going to need more than the small amount of wood worm treatment I have left I ordered some from Screwfix in Aber. Along with a resin wood hardener and a large time of resin filler.

I jumped in the car, still in wellies and my paint spattered work clothes and headed to the industrial estate. When I got to Screwfix it turned out that I'd ordered the 5L tin which was far too much even for these windows. Unfortunately they don't sell 1L tins and neither did Toolstation. 

After dropping off our old house phone at Hahav I then went to Charlies who did have a 1L tin.

As soon as I got home I gave the window frames a though soaking with the woodworm treatment. That's step 2 done.

But my work wasn't quite finished. The windows at the front of the house had so much sea spray on them it was like looking at a foggy day. Nothing for it but to give them a wash. After which I sat down and watched 'Help We Bought A Village'. 

Laughing Yoga And More.

All will be revealed.

We've had a dry day (just taken a quick break to go and bring in the washing from the line) with a bit of a breeze and some sun too.

Before going out for the afternoon I decided to put our suitcases back in the loft as we won't be going anywhere for a while now. Closing up the loft hatch I let it swing back too hard and the screws ripped out of one of the hinges. Repairing that needed Peter going up the ladder to hold the hatch in place while I climbed back into the loft to put in larger screws from above.

Then I went off to sing with the choir in the Arts' Centre at the uni. As well as talks on Bone Health and on The Role of Culture and Literature in Social Cohesion which I'm afraid I didn't go to there were 19 performances of song and dance from different cultures.

 

We missed the first set of performances (that's us in our Sing for Water blue). Instead we met up by the shop (full of nice but expensive books, ceramics and pictures), had a coffee and then went to rehearse in the dance studio. There were great acoustics in there and with people either having practised the songs or written out some of the words (me too) we did much better than at choir on Wednesday. Afterwards some of us couldn't resist doing some ballet exercises at the barre on the wall. How had I known to wear my blue leggings?

This is a version of This is Home, from the internet, our third song. 

Then we were brought to the Green Room where we waited with the other performers until it was our turn to go on stage. In there we watched the young energetic Welsh clog dancers, graceful ladies from Sri Lanka, Indonesian dancing and an Indian singer on the large screen.

The student ASMs got us onto the stage efficiently where we sang our three songs pretty well (I think) to a fairly full auditorium. Intriguing was the presence of misting machines at the back of the stage. These weren't providing a special effect but I wonder if they were to stop the air from drying out for the sake of the people singing.

We joined the main audience to watch the final set of performances which included an Indian gentleman who got everyone participating in Laughing Yoga. It was interesting and fun to shed our Western inhibitions for a moment.

Afterwards everyone was invited to The Great Hall to share a delicious chickpea and spinach curry served with rice and naan bread. No need to make supper tonight.

Windy.

Wild and windy today with a few short showers. 

Having heard the dreaded words 'a chance of frost' on the radio I allocated the day to making sure the tender plants would be safe for the winter. But as usual there were things to do before I could move any plants. Trays to be washed and the raised bed behind the cold frame cleared. The knautia that had been flowering all summer had to be cut down and the climbers they'd been hiding tied back on to the trellis.

And there tucked away was my first rose. When we moved from Barnstaple I took some cuttings from a lovely David Austin rose growing in our garden. Two of the cuttings survived and now one is flowering.

Finishing the cold frame was simply a matter of placing two sheets of perspex on top and weighing them down with wood and stone. Before putting the trailing geraniums and the osteospermum in for the winter I cut them right back and then poked in some cuttings into the same pots in the hope that some might grow. 

I had foolishly planted one of the osteospermums straight into a big terracotta pot and it was so heavy that carrying it to the back garden did not do my back any good. To avoid that happening again I replanted the osteospermum in a plastic pot which can be slipped inside the heavy planter.

The succulents including my collection of aeoniums have gone in the porch. As they won't need so much watering hopefully there won't be as much condensation as last winter.

Above - a surfer and a kite surfer in the bay today. Below - a surfing seal on Porthmeor.

You can see just how close it was to the water's edge.

Four hours later it was back again (Peter spotted hit from the window seat). This time it was even closed to the water's edge. (That's the sand right at the bottom of the photo.) It swam along, popped its head up and then decided to swim on its back.

Then had another long look at the people taking photos at one point opening its mouth as if to say 'Feed me', before finally swimming off.

Mostly Wet.

The day began warm and wet then became warm and windy, right up until I was hanging the washing out on the line when a series of short but intense showers began.

Today I was back riding Betsi. I do prefer her to Cody especially as I can ride with a lighter contact through the reins. We had a fun lesson as Chloe (now 8 months pregnant) set up some cones and we were free to were free to canter half circles (no more than two people at a time). 

 

Afterwards I took more bags of garden waste to the dump and then went into Toolstation to see if they had the piece I needed to repair the downpipe. I think there must have been some windy weather while we were away as not only had the piece fallen off but it was nowhere to be seen. No doubt it blew right over the cliff.

Toolstation had the part and suggested sealant, which I ended up getting all over my hands. As soon as I got home I replaced the part and pushed the whole drainpipe upwards as I must have dislodged it when I was sorting out the end that goes into the drain in the ground.

I was on a roll and was going to connect the last water butt in the back garden but the connecting hose I'd bought was too big. I've ordered the correct hose and will deal with that when it arrives.

As usual I went into Hahav and bought this large glass sphere for £4 to add to my cobalt collection. I also asked if they wanted our landline phone which can't be used with the fibre connection. At first the chap said no but one of his colleagues said she had a use for one so I'll take it in next week. Much better than throwing away a perfectly functioning item.

To cheer up this rather wet day here are some photos from my walk on the coast path at St Ives.

A short stroll from St Ives brought me to Man's Head a very distinctive rock formation overlooking Porthmeor.

From there I followed the coast path with a few steep slopes, around some coves to the next headland.

I could have gone further, maybe next time or perhaps we could bring pasties to eat as we enjoy the scenery and the grandeur of the Atlantic.

And then back along the coast path to St Ives.

I will get/have/go/be confused.

There was a weird yellow light this morning which made us wonder if a storm was on its way. No storm but it has been very cold. I picked the last red tomatoes today and doubt if the remaining small, green tomatoes will ripen. (And I won't be making chutney.)

Last night at choir we practised the songs we'll be singing at a 'Festival of Communities' at the uni this Sunday. We've only been allocated 5 minutes, time for three shortened songs. I wasn't too sure of two of them and my usual practice of winging it doesn't work when there are only three tenors. Plus I forgot that the Welsh song has full sentences after the initial words of the three lines. And I wasn't too sure of the second verse of Harbour. Better get practising and write the words down on a card as well.

But on a better note people have been bringing garden surplus to choir and yesterday I came home with a big slice of pumpkin and a bag of cooking apples.

I got a pumpkin soup started first thing this morning using up grated carrot and chopped onions I froze a while back. From the fridge went in some chorizo and a couple of our own potatoes and the result should be a good warming soup. That said I'm having a salad tonight followed by a baked apple. Soup will be for the weekend. I've also got the apple stewing on the cooker.

Welsh class was hard today as we try to get our heads around more future tenses. Mi ga i I will have/get, mi a i I will go, Mi wna i I will do/make. All so similar but with different meanings and of course they all change for you/he/she/we/they/us. 

Time for a break and then I'll be off to disco aerobics to clear my head with some fun dancing.

Back to St Ives.

 

Some wave photos with surfers which give a better idea of the size of the waves.

No lifeguards at this end of the beach, just a red flag!

You need to click on the photo above to see the many surfers at the far end of the beach.

Ouch !

Today's ouch, a big one at that, was a visit to the dentist. Not physical pain but ouch nonetheless at the cost of my new denture, a whopping £1,900. That's just for a lower denture, I'm not bothering with an upper denture, not at those prices. They even wanted me to pay for the whole lot in one go. As a point of principle I agreed to pay half today and the other half at the next visit. 

The reason for the denture is not so much cosmetic though it will be nice not to have such visible gaps but to make it possible to chew with more than one pair of teeth after breaking a tooth in Crete last year. Something that's kind of necessary though you don't need teeth for ice cream or cakes!

It's been chilly but mostly bright today and as there were plenty of waves in Cardigan Bay I thought I would share some wave photos from St Ives .

 

It's no wonder that artists and later holiday makers have flocked to St Ives for over 200 years. The colours and majesty of the Atlantic waves are simply amazing.

And yes, the sea was all these different colours. I could have sat for hours watching the waves.

Enjoy.

More Memories.

It was very grey this morning and with the light levels being so low good old S.A.D. began to rear its ugly head. That greyness drains my energy leaving me with very little motivation. However just going outside it felt brighter and my mood lifted immediately.

I went down to the zoo mid morning and got a lot of weeding done. The grass maze, the gravel garden and the small play area are now weed free. Next time I'll have to do the gravel by the ferrets as the warm wet weather has caused the weed population to explode. 

The sun came out for a while and the air felt quite warm. The clouds are now sitting below the tops of the hills due to the temperature inversion.

When I got home a chap from BT was there (or rather somebody from a company working for Openreach) to install fibre into the house. (Not that there was anything wrong with the internet speeds we already had.) We had thought that the new cable would simply replace the old cable but that wasn't the case. Instead it comes in through the other side of the house into Peter's study. And to my surprise there was going to be a wire running from the pole on the far side of the road, above the garage roof to an otherwise unused pole in the lane behind the back garden and then back across our neighbour's garden to Peter's study. Hmm, I said. 'Why couldn't the cable run to the corner of the house and then along below the roof to Peter's study?' The chap thought that would work and now instead of wires over the back garden and my neighbours' garden it runs as I suggested. A good thing I came home at that time.

While I was still in my work clothes I made a start on the cold frame. All I had to do was move a couple of pots and planters and then build one side and the front wall with the heavy blocks. Now I may see if I can work out a way to sit the perspex on top so that I can open it to water the plants also weigh it down against the winter winds.

 And now for a few more St Ives memories.

When I was little this was a bookshop over two floors. I can remember getting a book token as a present (I was an early reader) and choosing a book about animals from this shop.

Across the road stands the Catholic Church where I was baptised. We went to Sunday mass there every week and being in the days before anyone noticed my poor sight I remember seeing candle flames as starburst lights.

Down at the bottom of the hill this corner building used to be the butchers shop run by Walter Pearce, father of the artist Bryan Pearce. The Pearce's lived in the house above the shop. Their front door was in the passage at the side and led straight to steep stairs that had a thick red rope as the bannister. I  remember going to look at Bryan's paintings in his room right at the top of building. My mother's gallery was one of first to show Bryan's work and we are very lucky to have two of his pictures, an etching and a screen print, in our sitting room here.

 

A later memory of Island Road. We spent our honeymoon here in a room (kind of a bedsit) on the ground floor of one of the houses on the right. We came back for a week the following year but after that we went elsewhere and later the sheer cost ruled out coming to St Ives with our family.