Essence of a Summer's Day.

It's Mazey Day and Penzance was alive with people, processions with huge paper mache creatures, food, drink, stalls selling things of every kind and every colour. Sunny and warm, everyone looked like they were having fun.  I went on my own, Kate and her friends went and did their own thing, quite a change from previous years where I've had someone or other in tow...  it was okay, really okay to be on my own. Funny to buy only one (banana & chocolate!) crepe and to please myself, but guess I'm going to get used to that.  Saw a lot of old faces and spoke to some.. I kind of find it reassuring to sit and watch people go by knowing that I knew them once, and some of them I know now, and that they make up the place I regard as home.

There's a new Linen shop opened in town and the name rang a bell, so I ventured in and asked if they ran a store in St Austell maybe.. yes! The people who own it are a couple we met on holiday last year.. small world eh? I'm hoping we may catch up when they are down again... it's a great shop, Penzance is surely in need of a good linen store.

I met my scrapbook pal Linda for lunch, we ate at Blue Snappa where Ross works and we have such a laugh when we get together.. today's topics covered the usual : kids, work and stuff, but we managed to include nude bathers, gorgeous young men and bird phobias in that lot too.....you can imagine!

Everyone else has been busy, enjoying the day in their own way.. JB home here, tidying, drawing and installing a fab new stereo Col just picked up (which I'm now listening to... all the old 70's favourites and now Coldplay, some angst for the 40-somethings!)

This is Eddie one of Jordan's new characters.. took her 5 hours to make a doodle into this picture using her graphics tablet etc..she's working on a Celebrity Cleudo game for her Graphics GCSE which should be fantastic if she takes as much care..

Zac's been out working at a paintball site, running some games, what's better than to earn money doing something you do yourself for fun (ahh, sounds like Colin's progression from scuba to professional diver to me!) 

Ross has been working his socks off, double shifts at Snappa and then he's running the bar for the Mazey Day Ball..til 3am. He's already text me earlier this week to apologise for being so spaced tomorrow.. an apology in anticipation!

Col's been home here busy with a new project, he's loving getting to grips with something mechanical and being out of the office..and I quite like to see him in overalls too.. but that's another story..

I'm completing the summer feel with tuna barbecue with new potatoes and salad followed by... strawberries, trifle (if you like) and cream....add a few bottles of wine and the day is sorted..hic!

Good times..

..went to Plymouth shopping on Sunday, with my 3 girlies. It was kind of a birthday shopping treat for the eldest. but we haven't been all together in a while, so I booked some train tickets (in advance.. First Class, free drinks, £33 return for 4 of us.. sorted!) We arrived to find sales on in almost all our favourite stores.. go girls!

Used my old faithful Tesco vouchers and had fabulous salad centred Pizza Express for lunch, then more shopping.. bought lots of stuff for all of us.. staples as well as special bits and pieces..including my last minute impulse buy of a tie-die Maxi Dress!  Well, impulse buy to some extent, but aided and abetted by Lisa's comment of 'flattering'.. it had better be..(remember the last impulse buy?..the black paisley number.. still in wardrobe, waiting for a braver day!)

Not forgetting the boys.. they had their treat this evening....fish barbecue and I made a banana cake. No time to allow it to cool it got dished up with clotted cream and is now to be our special banana pudding! 
Zac is such a 'guy', I was telling him how to make the cake and he said that after the first two ingredients he came over all weak and 'kryptonited' like when he has to go shopping.  No worries, I have similar experience when I ask a guy to explain the difference between 2-stroke and 4-stroke bikes, I stop listening before they finish the first sentence! (apparently there is a sexy way to know the difference but 'cos it was about an engine I still can't remember!)

It's been such a great spell of weather, I hope we don't all start moaning as soon as the dull days return..it's been so good to sit outside and eat, it's still warm at 9pm.

Always impressed with my Col, I went with him today to visit a customer in Bideford. It was a long drive there and back, but good to realise how hard he works when he's away. We were shown around the factory and saw three very different jobs we need to make equipment for..diagrams to make, ideas to discuss and measurements to take, all in a noisy factory with a busy guy who believes you can deliver the goods!

Afterwards I tried to imagine doing maybe three more hours driving and two more similar troubleshooting calls, in one day.... not surprising he sometimes looks a little bleary eyed after a week away, or just cannot recall a particular site from another.

Who do you think you are..

..the TV programme that is! It's just become one of my guilty pleasures (you'll have to work the others out for yourselves..tada!)

For a while now I have peeked at it when it's on but this week I watched a whole episode, about Lesley Garrett the opera singer, it traced her northern roots and she had to go back through her Dad's line and then her Mum's in order to find her musical roots.

I did hear that they only 'do' the celebrities who have some interesting story in their past, but if you can relate the story to some period of history then it's a story nevertheless.  It's made me keen(er) to get to work on transferring the pencil written notes of my Grandad's wartime thoughts onto a word doc. and that'll be a nice exercise these summer evenings while Col's working on one of his new projects in the workshop..

Funny really, my brother and I have talked a lot about our Dad's family and the fishing roots and I know he's researched some of the older generations back through the Census records but not so much about Mum's family. Perhaps because our Dad was 'gone' or because we two had lived in the same place as him.. and Ken for one had gone the fishing route as well...me? well I just love the sea and the space they existed in.

When we were away on holiday I was talking to Ross and said to him that my Dad used to drink black tea, but I wasn't sure if he had sugar as well. A small insignificant thing really, but at that moment I observed that with Mum being gone there's no-one to ask bar Ken.. so I must! 

Rona / London Sailing Project

I think this gives a good idea of the weather and the boat....

and Jordan's already been busy with photoshop...amazing..see how they transform...

So what do you think.. brown?!

Playing with the layout of the blog and kinda plumped for this brown version.. I wouldn't have thought so but I like it, especially where ii boxes the images in white. And it's so nice to be able to widen the text area.. good old blogger!

It's been a more dismal week this week, Jordan was away til Weds eve, and boy did we miss her!  She's pretty self sufficient and a lot quieter in the house than she used to be, but I really missed her. Even Lilly thought she was here when she heard Zac's music and stood at the stairs shouting 'JorJor' 

She brought home a bunch of nice photos, this one was especially for me as the Geology 'A' level remnants in me love to see physical goelogy in coastlines.

It was a good trip, they went to Weymouth, Poole, Brixham and Cowes, had a night sailing and they had great weather all week.

Great week..

.. really great!

A change is as good as a rest they say and that was definitely the order of the week. Col and I spent few days in Southampton area, eating, drinking , wandering about and had a fab time together. It's been a long time since we had few days away without a background worry to distract us and we promised to do the same again soon, there's so many places we've never been to so close to home and seems the best way to do stuff is to make the plan and GO! 

We went to the Submarine Museum (honestly...really interesting, and nicely not too busy on a Tuesday in term time) and later went down to Lymington, where I reckon you have to own a Helly Hensen T-shirt to even wander the streets!  We ate at the Ship Inn, our first swordfish steak of the year! (mental note: go to Trelawney Fish tomorrow and buy lots more, and tuna.. it's barbq season after all).. and I got to realise why the kids are all drinking cider!

I travelled back on the train, (well the slow boat to China in train's clothing.. 3 changes..) but it was nice to just have time to read and actually be on my own, it doesn't happen much!  Colin set off for a few days visits, quite a variety, composites, print works and an Olives company!

Jordan went off on the Sail Training week yesterday and is in Weymouth this evening, cooking the roast..hope she's having fun, says she jumped in the sea today... hope she's taking lots of photos... need to get busy with some more scarp pages as I've had rather a famine of late!

Just in case he or Deborah is reading this.. Happy Birthday for tomorrow Uncle Bill.. hope it's a fun day, with the family I guess, and that we all get together again soon...xxx

Minack.

.. went to see the Barnstormers : Jesus Christ Superstar last night, It was great.Weather slightly on breezy side but two woolies were enough. Very hot tomato soup from the cafe and several coffees kept me and my pal Naomi well warmed.

The production was really good, even from up in the 'cheap seats' the view was terrific and when it got dusk and the lights came into their own, the final scenes were spellbinding.

How to follow that?.. mm, how does a Jam tribute band tomorrow evening sound...well at least Colin doesn't get a shiver at live music!

Lovely as always to go back to my 'salmon' country..even as we left just after ten it was still light enough to go down to church, but hadn't packed any flowers, so will save that for another day.

Killing two birds..?

.. no Karen, not my cat persecuting the lesser animals in the garden again (Karen rescued a very small rodent from our fierce Joey last weekend.. not sure for how long though..)

I'm doing three jobs in one tonight... taking Col for a slap-up Domino's for his birthday treat (!.. married too long or what?!), collect some metal parts for STS and then collect a gaggle of teenage girlies from a club in Truro.....well, it's that or a quiet evening in front the TV!  (haha, the new TV at that though... mmm, tough call.. but plans are in place!)

Fabulous weather here, everyone seems really busy too, which is good after the dreariness of the late Spring.  Hope it stays while I whisk him away for couple days on south coast... as museums of military hardware are always much more fun in the sun aren't they! (and here I am worrying about not having got him a 'proper present'..quality museum time is worth my weight isn't it?)

Nice to hear from Uncle Bill today, an e-greeting for Col's birthday.. and if he's reading this, special hugs and wishes for you too U Bill, for next Saturday.. love you guys!