Porthlevan

5th August 2020

18th July 2020

Porthlevan

It's misty this morning, so we won't be rushing off anywhere too soon. Time to catch up with journal and Peter gets his guitar out.

The wind whirled a symphony through the awning during the night, keeping me awake , so I'm happy with the slow start.

And, I'm really miffed that there seem to be no churches open in this part of the world, but we do get Mass online. We miss our usual routine of making visits to churches and getting Holy Mass as often as possible. It's all a little surreal and a bit disturbing that we can't go into churches. We manage our time of prayer every morning , though. 

Soon the sun shines and the sea in Falmouth Bay glints like a mirror. The campers who obstructed our view have now left and we get to enjoy it without moving while eating breakfast.

 

Today we join Jo, Paul and some of his family at  Porthlevan Harbour, calling at a big Tesco's first as we need some supplies. Going to any supermarket just now is not easy, with the queuing and everything. We wait at least ten minutes to actually get into the store, after which the shopping  takes only five minutes, but then we have to queue again, another fifteen minutes to get to the till.

Porthlevan is a typical Cornish fishing village, with boats in the small harbour, very pretty. 

Paul takes Molly for a boat ride, no not in the harbour, but in a lake, on a large swanboat 

While they're gone we take a stroll around the village, following the small cottages up the cliff path. Looking out to sea from here I am overcome with gratitude for my life, my family and especially my husband. I slip my hand into his and squeeze gently. Without even breaking the flow of his story he reciprocates.

Back at the harbour we sit on the wall we sit and chat. Over the next hour or so there are little purchases at the quaint shops lining the 

round the rest of us sit on the wall and chat, eat Cornish pasties, cake fudge and  ice cream..

In the evening we find a small cove Pordhu, with a beach , so Molly can go for a swim. She loves the water that girl. Raphie finds a stream that runs into the sea . He and George, the dog, run in and out of this shallow water , both delighted to be allowed to scamper freely. 

The day comes to and end. It's been a good one , and before setting off for the campsite,  because the camper is nestled in a lovely area in the dunes we stay and eat dinner here, left over chilli, I think. 

Day 10 Touch

10th Oct 2019

We come to day 10 in the poetry writing month.
Nothing amazes me more than being still here. We are a third of the way there and with a bit of luck I will get to the end of October with 31 poems written and shared. 
The prompt for today is Touch and my poem is in song form with a chorus. Hope you like it.
I welcome any feedback or comments to all of my blogposts. 



Enjoying the Dance                                    

Embracing, gliding, likes swans on a lake,

We took to the floor, a couple to make.

Quick stepping through galaxies, up with the stars,

Fox trotting on  Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.

And they said we could never be

Happy together, you and me.

But we’re still here, proving them wrong,

Enjoying the dance and singing our song,

Enjoying the dance and singing our song.

At times we twirled and swayed too fast,

 Feet barely touching the ground, time passed.

Our toes would be bleeding our bodies sore,

But we carried on across the dance floor.

And they said we could never be

Happy together, you and me.

But we’re still here proving them wrong,

Enjoying the dance and singing our song,

Enjoying the dance and singing our song.

Our dance has slowed but we still glide,

Gently moving, side by side,

Our adventure will come to an end one day,

But we’ll twirl on, we know the way.

Chorus

Day out in London

On Tuesday we went, my husband and I , to London for the day. We both had meetings in the evening, so went up together to enjoy a few hours mooching. We had been promising ourselves an outing together for a while. We didn't give ourselves a necessary itinerary being more than happy to decide as we went along what we might do next. For me this was just what I needed and finding a bench while strolling  through St James' Park was an absolute delight. 

As I sat drinking in the atmosphere, the warmth of the sun caressing my tired bones, I just melted into the present moment and relaxed. Not what you expect when in the big city. It felt like the official first day of spring bringing up a collage of memories of other days like this in the past. The queen's swans, spotted through the blossom heavy trees, glided  majestically on the water in front of Buckingham Palace looking for all the world like proud owners of their home. 

It was so interesting to hear the many different tongues, chattering like seagulls, as so many nations of the world passed us by, all busy with their plan for the day. We felt like onlookers , not really part of the play, just viewing from outside. 

Eventually we walked off , but before leaving the Park I spied a Heron brazenly lunching on the picnic food that small groups of people, seated on the grass, were happily throwing his way. I was fascinated by the fact that he was going so close to them that I thought I'd take a photo of him. Hurriedly, because I thought time might be against me, I got my phone working on camera mode, which , as any one of my children will tell you is a miracle in itself, and took a couple of pictures. He didn't move. So I went in closer and took a few more. He didn't seem at all bothered, so I thought I would get as close as I could and when it was too close for him and he took to flight I would get a great picture of him taking off. But before that could happen I took flight after noticing his knfe like beak that just might pose a threat to my own  safety/life. I laughed at his audacity and my own cowardice. That's put paid to my dream of being a "Wild Photographer"  - the only wild now will be the grandchildren. Wild enough for anyone you might be thinking. Mmmm...

The next pleasant surprise was going to the exhibition at The Mall Galleries, where, because Peter is a member, we got in free. We spent a long while looking at the artwork, most of which didn't impress me a great deal. I did think that a lot of Peter's work is better than quite a bit of what we saw. There were a couple of pieces that really moved me though , one of which was this one of a mother and baby ( refugees). Beautifully done, it spoke a timeless message of reality to me, reaching in to my heart . I absolutely loved it.

From the Mall Galleries we walked to Trafalgar Square and "no," I said "I don't want to go into another gallery( we were standing in front of the National Gallery), not today" . So we walked into Leicester Square , where, unknown to us they were preparing for the premierre of Batman v's Superman or some such nonsense.

There was plenty of activity , with the red carpet and everything.

By this time we were a bit hungry and for once I hadn't brought lunch with me, so what to do. Not sighting any Kentucky Fried chicken outlet, my favourite "safe choice" ( you know how much, and it's not usually a lot, that you're going to spend) and also wanting really to be a bit more daring I looked around for another bargain sign , which turned out to be the Angus Steak House at the top of the square. Their lunch offer was reasonable :

Smoked chicken on a bed of salad which included walnuts (which made me jealous, momentarily) for Peter,

Loin pork chop topped with Mediterranean veg all on a base of mashed potato for me,

And a pot of tea each - such good value - two and a half cups per pot.

And all for just £20. I thought that was a great deal for lunch in the city.

The staff were brilliant too, making jokes and bantering with us. 

We really enjoyed it and promised ourselves we'd do it again soon.

Our next meandering took us to another place I'd not been before, China Town. I closed my eyes, imagining I was in a far off place, scents and aromas helping with the dream. What an amazing delight to the senses. Then , looking around and seeing all the culture of China on display to feast the eyes. The few pictures here do not do justice at all to the pleasure I found in soaking up all the sights, sounds, and smells , touching a colourful  kingdom tasting delicious adventures. It reminded me of my time in China with my mum and sisters.  I loved it all and I will be back. 

We both went on from there to our meetings and met at eight thirty , exhuasted, but happy ,at Victoria to take the train home to Kent.