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.

Memories.

Low cloud kept things wet today even more so when we were in Mach where it was especially wet. We had our usual meet up with our friends though as the library was closed 'due to unforeseen circumstances' we went to the Caffi Owain Glyndwr. 

I feel I've had a very productive day. Not only did we meet our friends and go through the next unit of our Welsh course on our way home we collected eight concrete blocks that I will use to make a cold frame.

I'd put a request on the local village FB page asking if anyone had any spare blocks and somebody offered me some for £1 each. I had asked for any kind but not the heavy concrete blocks which these turned out to be so we could only put four at a time in the car. (They were that heavy!). 

While Peter drove the second lot home I walked down to the pharmacy, collected my prescription but couldn't have my 'flu jab as their second pharmacist won't be there until next week.

At home an even better result. I found the holiday company's site and have booked us a week in St Ives next year at only £20 more than this year's price.  We're at the age where it's comforting to know exactly where we are going.

Our stay in St Ives brought back so many memories.

 

A view of the front door of the (then) Sail Loft Gallery which was my first home.

This was the home of my friend Laura who was about five years older than me. Her father was a reviewer of Jazz music which I'm afraid led to my lack of appreciation of Jazz having heard too much of it there and later in London when we stayed with them for a while. 

Every summer there used to be a fancy dress competition on Porthmeor and I remember Laura in an elaborate toadstool costume. Lea, Laura's mother quickly turned me into Looby Loo (Andy Pandy's puppet companion) with two plaits and a dress so that I could also take part.

The harbour beach was my playground (all the children played unsupervised in the streets and on the beach in those days) and I have happy memories of climbing on the rock in the centre of the photo.

The fishing boats were smaller in those days but it is good to see that St Ives is still a working port.

Below is the sweetshop/ general store that was the scene of my misdemeanour. I can still remember, aged about three years old, noting that my mother kept her purse in the wardrobe drawer, helping myself and going on a little spending spree in this shop.

Not only was my mother very cross with me ( I may have been smacked) but also with the shopkeeper who should have known I was shopping clandestinely. 

More memories to follow ......

Small World.

There were only six of us on this afternoon's walk, a rather wet one around Llyn Pendam, and yet one lady who has only recently joined our group, had been down in Cornwall last week and was in St Ives on the 26th at the same time as us.

I wasn't sure about going on the walk but having been assured by my home weather man that it was not going to rain off I went. Straight up into the clouds which resulted in us getting very wet. We opted for a shorter walk round the lake which only took about an hour. Still it was good to stretch my legs and take in the autumnal dew bedecked cobwebs and the arrival of large fungi. 

I haven't done much since returning except some editing of the many photos I took in St Ives. Today's offerings are all Porthmeor beach. If I stick to one location at a time there's less chance of repeating photos.

 

Holiday Memories.

It's been bright and sunny here in Borth today with fairly calm seas. When I brought the washing in from the garden it was almost dry.

I had to go in to Aber which was busy, (three times in the car park somebody got to a space before I could get there). Well it is a Saturday and also all the new uni students are wandering around proclaiming start of their new lives with coloured hair and eye catching outfits.

I didn't really have any specific need to wander round the shops but I'm glad I did because not only did I have a long chat with somebody I know but I found a pair of M&S leggings, dark blue tie-dye pattern in my size for £3.

I didn't bother going down to Morrison's but did the shopping for the rest of the week in Lidl (also busy).

 

When I got home we hung the picture we bought in St Ives. Although we had sunny weather while we were there it is evocative of Porthmeor beach and will be a constant reminder of our lovely holiday.

Below is the raku seal reclining for his photoshoot on the chunk of copper ore I found on Porthmeor beach. He's now back on the kitchen window sill amongst an array of interesting pebbles found on Marazion beach when we were there some years ago.