sporty days

I have never been a very sporty type, I enjoy swimming but am not too much into running around but my whole family seem to love running around.  In fact when they can't run around they do get a little stir crazy and bickery.

so, a little bit of sun over Marazion beach and

french cricket, which I think is a vicious game but the children love (perhaps because it's vicious).

I escaped lightly with a bat bashed finger but I have to admit we did have a lot of fun and we really needed a bit of outdoors, it was definitely tooooo cold to stand around.

and my inventive sport obsessed children have created a sort of table tennis court behind the sofa.  Are those library books?!!  So I am going to have to learn to love sport!  Or sit and knit on the beach once the weather's warm enough.

beach golf and a February plan

What else to do on a cold bright winter's day but play beach golf?

This may look like golf tuition but that well wrapped up adult in the picture hasn't got a clue

 

Requirements: one very large, very very empty beach.  We chose Mexico (because it has such a romantic name)

and icicles on the beach

and the bluest sky ever

but it was so very very very cold

a view of Godrevy lighthouse (well, just about)

more strange and wonderful rock formations

and the plan

For the month of February I will try (very hard) to put one photo on a day with just a sentence as a record of our home ed life.

winter walking

A sort of new year's resolution, not set in stone or anything, was to walk more often because we have gotten out of the habit of walking.  We decided a grey, possibly rainy day was not a good enough excuse to stay indoors all day

Do we look cheery in the cold?  And look at all those other walkers with good intentions!  It's surprising how many people you bump into on January beach walks.  Maybe we're all starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

Well the children are always cheery once we get out, and always find something to do

jumping rivers is always fun

and we even managed to drag a teen out with us.  Now I'm glad we forced ourselves, because sometimes it really is a case of forcing ourselves it only takes one or two dissenters to weaken our resolve.  The last couple of days have been truly horrible weather but it's nice to use them to do some indoor things, maybe even some education!!!

winter surfing

It seems strange to me that just when it's cold enough to wear all our clothes, scarves,hats,gloves...

all some people want to do is get in the sea

and so the magical moment of father and son body boarding together

winter beaching

a trip to the lizard and a new embroidery pattern

We took a wintry trip to Kynance cove on the Lizard last week because I have only been once at high tide (there is no beach at all at high tide, so a pointless trip really!).  Of course we packed our camera for this gorgeousness but did we check the batteries?  Of course not.  So these strange photos were taken on Jason's phone.  The light is very strange in them, it was actually a bright sunny day but I think I like these photos more, they make me think of  memories fading.

that hat is not mine!  But my ears were cold.

this is the walk over to Lizard Point (which for some reason was never photographed).  The ponies are sort of wild ponies brought in over the winter to graze.  This is to encourage the choughs that have been reintroduced here, and judging by how many choughs we saw it's working well.  I do love choughs.

It really is a very beautiful walk, one we will be doing again.

And I have also managed (being a superwoman and all that!) to finish a pattern and list it in my folksy and etsy shops.  Considering my unpredictable laptop and an essay to write and hand in (my first in two years) I think I'm quite on top of things!

Anyway the pattern consists of cute little boy and girl rabbits with umbrella, kite and balloon.  It can be found here and here

bits of late summer

time spent on Penzance beach, not the prettiest beach, it's kind of industrial with the railway running just behind and the heliport (although the heliport is moving to make way for a Sainsburys).  But we love this beach, not too busy, and I just love that it takes us ten minutes to walk to it

sea life,

sea, sand and seaweed,

a view of the mount,

muddy sand (the best kind for building even if it does take days to get it off your skin!

and did I mention seaweed, this beach really would be heaven for a permaculture gardener with a big wheelbarrow!

this could be seen as a little showy offy but...

...it rains in Cornwall such a lot that sometimes we're left wondering why we live here.  and then a day like this arrives, out of the blue

and we remember why.

this particular beach is our favourite, we used to live nearer to it, now we have to drive for half an hour and i can't remember the last time we went to it ... until today

we actually ummed and ahhed, we only had three hours (and there's a half hour walk down after the half hour drive), it's a long way...

but i'm soooo glad we made the effort (we stayed longer and were late back, but who wouldn't!)

and there was a seal (can you see him?!  he is there, honestly) and he swam with two surprised swimmers for half an hour, circling them and playing (seals are curious).

the path back is teeming with wildlife

and plants

and even the first blackberries.

sun and noise

ok, i know beach photos again!!  but these are an important memory aid.  my sister comes down with my nieces twice a year and it rains.  but not this year

this year we could have been on the med!  and no i wasn't drunk when i took this photo but it is just maybe a little wonky.

it's been a glorious fortnight

if a little noisy (what?  three nine/ten year old girls noisy?