A Sweet Ride.

After a rather wet night today has been mostly sunny with a few showers most of which only lasted a couple of minutes. I've made numerous visits to the beach and up on to the Island, basically whenever I've had a free moment.

In the morning I popped into a craft fair which was being held in a building almost next door to us. There were some nice ceramics and I couldn't resist a raku fired seal swimming on its back just like last night's friendly beach seal.

 

Then off I went riding, just for an hour as that was all that was on offer. When I'd rung last week I'd been told that we should get a canter in at the end which sounded okay. But when the owner, a very nice lady, said she would be walking with us as she'd taken an extra booking I realised this probably wasn't going to happen.

But I still had a very pleasant time meandering along lanes with a great view of the Penwith scenery where I'd spent many summers staying with friends of my mother (this was after we moved to London). 

Megan, the horse I rode was like a super sized version of my old horse Meg. She was incredibly comfortable to ride and took no notice of the cars on the main road. Would I go there again? Maybe, though I might look for a different stables instead to satisfy my need for speed.

The rest of the day has been spent walking around the harbour, buying an indulgent slice of Biscoff cheesecake and taking more photos. 144 today.

A Change Of Beach.

 Apologies for the sudden departure, the internet here in St Ives is pretty dire and initially my laptop refused to recognize any passwords at all. I tried again today with better results though I did have to stand on the doorstep to get a signal to my phone. It's the granite walls that cause a lot of problems.

In case it all goes squit again here are a few photos to give the feel of the place. Above is the view from our front door and we have the same view sitting on the window seat. Our flat is on the slipway to Porthmeor beach and the path on the right leads onto the Island meaning I've been able to pop out for numerous short walks in addition to going for walks with Peter.

Porthmeor beach is great for surfing and bodyboarding which is what we both did yesterday. I made sure to stay under the watchful eyes of the lifeguards (it was really crowded on the weekend which is why we waited until yesterday) just to be safe. The conditions were perfect and I caught lots of waves. Being brought up on St Ives beaches has made other beaches pale in comparison. Peter didn't stay in as long but the pair of us had aches and pains in the night as a result of our exertions. But it was worth it.

As well as walks on the beach and the Island we've also walked out along the coast path, explored the narrow lanes and browsed in many shops. So far I've taken over 400 photos in my attempts to capture the feel of St Ives, the colour of the sea and the shapes of the waves. Not to mention a curious seal that swims close to shore, so close that Peter spotted it tonight while he sat in the window.

Here's hoping this post gets published and I'll post again if I can.

Never Short Of A Cuppa.

It felt much cooler this morning. With no wind the sea was fairly nondescript but the sky above was dramatic.

I think that a lot of my lack of enthusiasm for our Welsh lessons is the sheer amount of time it seems to take up. That and the fact that learning languages is hard for me.

Not only is the lesson three hours long but I spend at least an hour beforehand going through the last lesson and looking at the next exercises. Looking, translating and making plenty of notes of course.

But by the time the lesson is over I do feel a sense of achievement and I know it is doing my brain good. Plus it is nice to be able to chat to Pete in Welsh.

 

During the lesson the postman delivered the Kelly kettle I'd bought. Now, whatever disruption to daily living occurs all will be well with a cup of tea or coffee.

Later - I had a good time at disco aerobics, burning off the calories with some energetic dancing. Rachel bless her, was still suffering with her cold and had to refrain from too much spinning around as it was making her feel dizzy. Towards the end people were getting too hot and opened the doors at the back of the hall to let in some air. These doors open onto the football pitches and children's playground and from her viewpoint up on the stage Rachel spotted a couple of lads, around 10 years old, joining in with our dancing, bless. One lad even came and danced in the hall for a while.

More Plants.

A brief post as I've only just got home from choir.

The day began grey and dark with frequent heavy showers then later we lost the clouds and it was another hot and windy day. (I've just remembered that the washing is still out on the line.)

 

I had some things to do in town first which included a quick visit to Charlie's where somehow I came out with four pots of the little cyclamen. I couldn't resist as they were only 50p each.

When I got home I gave the inside of the car a hoover. It was full of dirt and small stones, not surprising as we carry so much garden stuff to the dump and wellies, riding boots and walking boots all add to the general mess.

Once the car was tidied including washing off the worst of the dirt from the outside I turned my attention to the terrace hedge.

Seen from indoors it looked to be cut at quite a slant especially when viewed against the horizon. This was mainly an optical illusion as when I measured carefully it was only about an inch higher at one end. Like the builders of the Parthenon I would have to adjust the top line to fit the view rather than to the true horizontal.

However I took off the offending inch and a tiny bit more to make it acceptable to my critical eye when seen straight on.

The washing is now in and on the rack in the utility room.

Warm.

There was hardly a breath of wind this morning. Just a  silvery grey flat sea under a cloudy sky. It was warm from the start and the afternoon was sunnier and hotter.

 

I went to the zoo this morning and somehow managed to spend five hours there. I wasn't weeding all the time, there was the usual chatting with another volunteer and every now and again I'd take my tub of weeds to the pigs or armfuls of branches to be shared out between the goats and more armfuls of mint and lemon balm to the animal kitchen to be given to the wolf dogs (bedding). I hadn't meant to be so long at the zoo but right at the end I thought I'd check on the spiral paths in the grass maze and to my horror they were full of tiny weeds. If I left it any longer the paths would soon be obliterated. The paths are all clear now but will need checking while we have this warm spell after all that rain.

I got back home just in time to clean up, prepare some supper and change for Pilates.

Busy.

It must have been cold in the early hours as the central heating turned itself on (the thermostat is set at 17C) but on the other hand the day has been hot, very hot. A reminder of being in Crete this time last year.

 

I've been busy today. In the morning we went to Mach library to practise our Welsh. The new group that have joined our Zoom class seem to be more fluent than us so preparation for the next lesson is even more necessary. By the time we finished in the library it felt like a summer's day in Mach and the town was filled with tourists browsing the shops or eating in the cafes.  

As usual I dropped Pete off for his afternoon of playing pool and for me it was more gardening. I managed to give the long hedge a trim, possibly the last one for the season though if the weather stays warm it will carry on growing.

Then I baked a Bara Brith for Pete and after picking more tomatoes and preparing a salad I had 15 minutes sitting out in the sun. 

The forecast for tomorrow looks to be just as nice so hopefully I'll get plenty done at the zoo.

Wildlife Watching.

After a cooler morning we've had lots of sun, and warmth too.

There was a good breeze in the morning so naturally I put a white wash on. Just before the end of the wash cycle the machine stopped and some numbers flashed up on the panel. Not a good sign. It did that the last time I ran a white wash (hotter and longer than my usual wash) but got going after I switched it off and then on again. Today I got the machine going on a rinse and spin cycle (which I always do as either I'm too sensitive or the machine isn't rinsing properly) but it stopped and began flashing again. Oh no, did that mean I would need a new machine?

I could hear there was something not right as the machine tried to fill up and after we checked the manual it looked to be either a problem with filling or the filters.

Before checking the drain filter we went and had a look at the boiler which does need topping up every now and again and sure enough the dial was almost at zero. Peter showed me how to fill the boiler last time it needed doing so this time I took off the cover and opened the valves while he watched. To be certain to get it right another time I wrote on the inside the steps (which are very simple) of the process. That will make the boiler man smile when he comes to service the boiler but I might forget by the next time it needs doing. And hey presto the washing machine was fine once more.

This morning I began writing lists for our next visit to St Ives which is coming up soon. After many years with almost no holidays, which I didn't mind as we lived in a lovely valley a short drive from the coast, I'm quite liking going on holiday. 

For me a great deal of the enjoyment is the anticipation and planning to get the best out of the holiday. As we're driving there we're not limited on how much we can take with us, thankfully. We're self catering so there'll be some food bits and who knows what the weather will be like? It could be anything from warm sunshine to howling gales (both would be fun) so clothing will have to cover all eventualities from shorts to full wet weather gear. At least we won't need any fancy 'going out' clothing as that's not our sort of thing.

After yesterday's gardening efforts today I did what I like best, simply pottering about and tidying up. I worked my way along the path picking up every twig, leaf and seedling with some cutting back from time to time. A very enjoyable activity in the sun.

Once the shingle around the path was clear I moved to the rest of the shingle chasing the sun which at this time of year leaves the garden relatively early.

As I worked I could hear the occasional chirrup of a grasshopper and looking down I could see two of them close to where I was working. The larger one was a female who remained nearby working her way around the stones bending her abdomen down to lay eggs between the warm stones. Hopefully there will be lots of grasshoppers next year.

There was quite a bit of rustling in the dry leaves under the escallonia hedge but after an initial sighting of a wren I wasn't able to get a photo. But looking up, there on the top of the hedge was a sparrow keeping a close eye on me. It all goes to show that you don't need to travel far to watch wildlife. Incidentally even though sparrows and dunnocks are the same size and have similar colouring they are easy to tell apart by the shape of their beaks. The sparrow has a wedge shaped beak while the dunnock has a dainty pointed beak.

The sun had almost left the garden by the time I needed to go back indoors to do the ironing. It's so good to get things washed, ironed and put away in the same day.