Had a fantastic time with Bridgie - said cheerio to her yesterday - will write update next week as no time at the moment! I have two golf buddies from Pavenham arriving in a bit :-) :-)
Tuesday saw Bridgie and I set off for Sennen in the car and then walk to Land's End. Alison, who lives around the corner came with us, and after walking to L E we had lunch in the pub there. It was cloudy but lovely. Wednesday's forecast was for rain till about 10am and then sunshine - and that is what happened! Beidgie and I headed to Porthcurno to look at theMinack theatre and then climbed down to the beach. We walked up over the cliff towards the Pednvounder path and then sat on the beach in the warm sun. The sea was stunning! Huge waves crashing in... I'll put a couple of pictures here and more on the Pics page - it was wonderful!
Up in St Just it was very misty but I've learnt it is always worth heading out because quite often the coast is clear :-)
Monday morning 7th, I decided I should varnish the floorboards in my bathroom. They had been showing signs of water staining and I wanted them to last - so I bought some clear, satin finish varnish... (I didn't want it very glossy). After rubbing it down I put on three layers with three hour gaps in between. I am pleased with the result :-) In between coats, I went walking, and in the early evening went down to Priest's Cove and sat on the beach in the warm sun. It was lovely.
Now I may have told you this before but a favourite sculptor of mine is Andy Goldsworthy. He creates amazing designs in wood and stone - so when I was on the beach I played with the stones and made a tiny arch! I was very pleased with it!
They have made some major changes to the house, with the kitchen, dining room and study all now one fabulous room. They've also adapted the lay out upstairs to create a lovely bedroom at the front which incorporates TIm's old room/my study and part of Phil's bedroom. They have created a walk in cupboard off the main bedroom and a big cupboard at the top of the stairs. It really looks great. Absolutely lovely in fact and they are very happy :-) The Thursday I spent in similar fashion - catching up with friends. Bridgie was in the midst of planning her move from her flat to a friends spare room - I wasn't sure if I might be able to help on the Saturday, but in the end Bridgie hired a van with a man and did it all herself with her friends. She is a star :-) That meant I could return home - so I set off about 8.20 after a nice breakfast with Gill and had an excellent journey, despite it being a friday - I was home at 2.20pm. There had been very little traffic. Ross, a neighbour who is a plumber and general maintenance man, part boarded my loft for me while I was away and re-pointed the loft wall stonework had been huge holes in it and you could see the chimney flue of next door... now that is all sorted :-) The weather had been misty and foggy while I was away and it continued like that for a few days. The scaffolding had been removed form the terrace they have built across the road...they have made an effort to do it in keeping but there has been much sadness in the town and along my terrace with this development. Saturday I played golf - the mist lifted enough for us to play and it was good fun. It was very windy and my partner and I came in with what we thought was quite a good score for the conditions... and we came fourth so we were pretty pleased with that :-) Sunday morning Paula and walked out to Carn Gloose and around. It was lovely to meet up again - Paula's very busy at the moment so we have to take these walks whenever the opportunity arises! On Monday I started to move boxes up into my loft :-) Great to make space in my store for some logs (hopefully) but quite an effort to move the boxes up there. My golfing friend Anne - who took me up Chun Castle - came for coffee, and then Paula and Rosie called in and stayed for lunch.
Anthea and Phil came to visit on Wednesday - again the weather was foggy so no views from my house... but we went to Sennen for lunch and we could see along the beach :-) Then we visited the Minack where it was a little clearer. It was lovely to see them and share some of my special places with them :-)
Monday was the birthday itself. 90 Years Young. Meriel had many cards - the letter box rattled repeatedly throughout the weekend and we were fetching them in by the sackful! Grandma had arranged an afternoon tea for many of the residents to celebrate her birthday. All the family were there again and it all went very well. Gill had made a wondeful book of photos of Meriel over the years - from childhood to the latest Great Grandchildren. It was a lovely present with much thought and care going in to producing it. A lovely record of Meriel's life. When the party was over and we had all cleared up it was time for Keith and I to set off for Bath.
Apologies for the absence... I've been away but back home now :-) So this will be a bit of a speedy catch up!The weather is frequently misty and grey but it is worth getting robed up and heading out as there are amazing things to see - the 17th was one of those days! The blackberries have been abundant this year and the sea was wonderful to watch :-)
Keith did a great tour, touching on many of the wonderful places to see - I want to come back and explore them another time. Whilst we were having a coffee in the afternoon a text came through from Bridgie. She was all ready to move out to a house which she and two of her friends were going to share - BUT ... the owner had had an offer of higher rent from someone else so he asked them to match it - which they couldn't - so basically completely scuppered! It had been such a battle to find this house to rent and suddenly they were back to square one and Bridgie due to move out of her present room the following weekend! How people can do this!! But Bridgie is a star and was hunting again straight away. She found a friend willing to let her stay in their spare room and (cutting a long story short) she and the girls have found a better place but they can't move in until November. Bridgie impresses me so much - anything that gets thrown at her she copes with with amazing equanimity... must have been having two big brothers that did it! :-)
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