It is very quiet in our house this evening as the family left mid-afternoon to meet up with Daughter No 1 on their way back to London. What a lovely time we have all had!
Today we went to Portreath as Daughter No 2 loves her cold swimming and wanted to swim one last time before they left. While she was in the water, I chatted to a lovely woman about our families, our missing of various relatives and our love of Cornwall. She thanked me for stopping to chat but it was as much my pleasure. I’m wishing now that we had swapped numbers as she lives nearby in Illogan. We did hope we might meet up again sometime walking on the beach.
Category Archives: Portreath
Swimming, A Meeting and Goodbyes
Posy, Tulip and Sea Trials
It’s four years since our lovely neighbour, Bill-next-door, died and I took a little remembrance bouquet round to Sue. We also had a lovely lunchtime picnic with mutual friends to remember this special man. You can read more about him here.
I promised you more photos of the bathing hats on their swim trials.Thanks to Sue and Meier for the photos.
Waves, A Parrot and Daisies
The winds are wild and Portreath is the place to see good waves and the surges of water in the harbour. We were rather late for high tide but it was lovely in the sunshine nonetheless. There were not many people around and few of those not in jackets. It’s not really feeling like August.
Walking back to the car we spotted a parrot in a van and it soon became clear that he was having a conversation with the man beside him. I took the photo from a long way away!The wild winds have wreaked havoc with our garden. One set of beans is down, the Canna broke off at the base, there is general mayhem and the Marguerites have all been blown into the Crinodendron branches giving an effect that pleases me.
A Gift, New Glass and Waves
To my delight a small parcel arrived this morning. I knew what was going to be inside as one of my Dear Readers had very kindly offered to send me some sea-glass and here it was! The colours are so delicate – whites, greens, some blues and a precious bit of red and another of turquoise. The darker colours are shades of green when held up to the light.
I set to straightaway to make a new piece of my stained glass project adding the sea glass as well as up-cycling some jewellery that I had found in a charity shop. It needs some refining but here it is. Huge thanks to Judith and her thoughtful generosity.
It’s a full moon tonight and high tide was about 5pm so we went to see the waves at Portreath, always at their best at full moon. They were magnificent!
Wild Waves, Peachy Clouds and Carn Brea
Thrift, Blue Seas and Zig Zag Way
A friend told me that the Sea Thrift at Godrevy is very lovely this year so as we were in that direction for an appointment we called by and it was just stunningly beautiful! Join us in this gallery as we walk on the cliff tops there and at Hell’s Mouth ending up driving towards Portreath. This post is especially for my lovely friend, N, who is away from home just now.
Tonight we have been to St Euny Church which was the venue for Zig Zag Way, a play about Cornish miners in Mexico. It was brilliant!
The sky as we came out of the Church was just gorgeous.
Petrified Forest, Shells and ‘Refugee Blues’
A Petrified Forest has been uncovered on Portreath beach, exposed by the wild winds. It can only be seen at low tide so we went down before breakfast this morning and saw some of the trees that are said to be between 4000 and 6000 years old! At one point, they made up a coastal woods–but after the seas began to rise, the trees became submerged by mud and muck. Eventually, they compressed and became petrified. Similar beach forests exist in Wales and Oregon. We met someone, who swims there every single day of the year – no wetsuit – and she showed us where the wood was, much more than just the tree trunk which we had spotted easily.Click on any photo to see more detail.
There were lots of pretty shells on the shingly part of the beach.
I heard the following poem by W H Auden Radio 4’s ‘Poetry Please’ on Sunday and though it was written for another age, it is all too apt for today.
Refugee Blues by W H Auden Say this city has ten million souls, Once we had a country and we thought it fair, In the village churchyard there grows an old yew, The consul banged the table and said: Went to a committee; they offered me a chair; Came to a public meeting; the speaker got up and said: Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky; Saw a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin, Went down the harbour and stood upon the quay, Walked through a wood, saw the birds in the trees; Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors, Stood on a great plain in the falling snow; |
Waves and Goodbyes
The last day with most of the family here and we went to see wild waves at Portreath, spent some time drawing, packed up the Birthday Crown and began to clear up a bit after the best four days ever with the family together for my birthday bash! Click on any photo for more detail.