22nd August 2021
The Minack
"Anyone want a cup of tea?" I call out, lifting the kettle to fill it anyway. I wince at the pain, my hands aching after spending a couple of hours scraping old embossed wallpaper from walls in the hallway.
"Please..." they all - hubby, daughter and son in law - shout back in unison.
We sit unceremoniously around the large farmhouse table, four mugs, two plastic beakers containing water for the grandchildren - Raphy must have the dark blue one and Molly the pink- and snacks of biscuits and fruit to keep us going. We're all tired and I promise after my cup of tea I'll read some stories to the children, after all we have been neglecting them a bit. And I didn't say it but I'd had enough of scraping the walls. My back, my legs, my hands... Yes, even if I have to read Grimwort's Ghosts for the twentieth time, at least it'd be a rest for my body.
"Mum and Dad, we've got a surprise for you," Jo was eager to tell us her news. Paul sat there with a smile on his face.
"What surprise?" I didn't like surprises. Must be my incessant desire to control every environment that I'm in. I tried to muster up some enthusiasm. Maybe I should have said, "A surprise, how lovely, what is it?" Easy to know how to react in retrospect. My query was, on the contrary, tinged with suspicion. Am I even going to like this surprise?
"We've got you tickets for the Minack Theatre for next week." The Open air theatre, really? What if it rains? What if it's cold? What if I hate the performance? So many negative thoughts circling in my head. Yes, I know, you think I'm ungrateful. Probably I am. And it must have shown on my face. I didn't mean it to. I tried for it not to.
"You don't have to go. Me and Paul can use the tickets and you guys can babysit," I heard the hurt in her words. She was deflated. Paul looked confused. I mean it was a present they were giving us.
"Well, I'd love to go, Jo. Thank you very much." said my dear hubby.
"No, we'll go. What's on anyway? It's just, you know, I don't like surprises." Was I making it worse.
After checking out where we had to go later and speaking to an official, who told us the Theatre car park would be open at six o'clock, we headed off to find another car park we'd spotted back up the hill. which had a big sign saying "All day - £3".
"We'll just park there, then we won't have to worry," Peter said. I agreed.
We set off for a walk, bringing nothing with us, not even beach attire. That was a mistake. We also had no water. Another mistake.
It was a long walk, maybe half an hour, including the climb down, to Porthchapel Beach. It was beautiful. After an hour enjoying the sun and talking to a family Margate - yes, what are the odds? - I started to worry about hubby being hungry and more importantly needing fluids.
"I've actually got something for dinner in the fridge," I said. "And I'll make coffee. It'll be easier."
"Ok, if you want," he'd have preferred to find a cafe, but didn't say anything.
He handed me an empty plate.
"I thoroughly enjoyed that," he said.
"Yeh, it was good, wasn't it?"
A few new potatoes, some salad and a pork chop. What could be better?
He played his guitar while we drank our coffee.
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We had another walk along the coast path in the afternoon , but in the direction of Porthcurno Beach. We didn't make it down. We were quite happy walking. Every now and again someone would stop to talk to us.
