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. 

Goodbye St Ives.

We're back home. It was a long drive, which Peter did even though the plan had been that I would drive the final few hours through Wales. Seven and a half hours scrunched up on an uncomfortable passenger seat with just one half hour break! I thought we were going to make at least one more stop and though Peter would have stopped if I'd asked by that time I was so uncomfortable I just wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

It's taken me a couple of hours to unpack my stuff and deal with all the food and other sundries and of course get all my photos onto my pc and now I'm shattered. Still it was a lovely holiday.

Still Here.

This morning's dustbin collection at 6.00 was pretty quiet and I don't think I would have noticed if I hadn't already been awake. But the red bins outside our window have been multiplying. Where once there were two now there are five!

Since our stay is coming to an end I decided to wrap up and go for a dawn walk. It was lovely walking along the beach with stars overhead and the bright lights of fishing boats out at sea. I was almost alone on the beach, just a couple of dog walkers and a runner.

Having gone up and down the beach I went round the Island to catch the dawn throwing a golden light over the mainland.

 

It's gradually getting a little colder especially when the clouds block out the sun's warmth. I've still snatched every opportunity to be outside watching the waves and taking plenty of photos. I thought about going bodyboarding again but decided that there was too much of a wind chill factor.

In the morning we walked round to the harbour where Peter bought us a dramatic beach picture to hang in our sitting room as a wedding anniversary present to ourselves to remind us of this lovely holiday. It's not an original, those cost thousands, but a good quality print which was still very expensive.

Peter also bought himself another wetsuit on sale in the Tikki shop. XL this time as the one he has (also on the sale rale for £199) is quite snug and has to be climbed into through the neck opening. I went to the charity shop and bought a couple of paperbacks, a James Herriot and a Miss Read, to replace a book of Greek myths that Peter wants to take home from here. (The handbook says to do this if we want to keep any of the paperbacks.)

Walking back along the harbour I sat on a bench for a while to listen to a fairly decent (his voice did show his age) busker singing ballads that I recognized. There I spotted waves breaking over Smeaton's pier so of course I had to walk right round the harbour to take photos of the waves breaking up against the back of the pier wall.

Peter didn't think his ankle would stand up to walking along the cliff path on the far side of the beach so instead we walked onto the Island where we sat on a bench to watch the surfers tackle the waves off Porthmeor. One good thing about this place is being able to go straight on to the Island with its easy walking and plenty of benches. Later I took advantage of the low tide to walk right to the rock pools at the far end of the beach and came back with a pocket full of pebbles and a large chunk of rock which in places had a metalic ring due to the high amount of copper in it.

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.