walking, surfing, thinking

I'm lucky to walk the beach path every day. On this morning last week, the Headland Hotel floated in the mist. Headless.


I just like this. The footing for some sort of pole, I guess. It's so weathered, it makes lovely reflections, it disappears and reappears as the sand levels change. It has a collection of very differently coloured pebbles held in the hole at the top. It's kind of like a little castle, surrounded by a moat, guarding its treasure.


A few days ago on the morning dog walk, a little brown hawk began to hover over me, looking to snaffle an early morning breakfast of the rodent kind from the bank above the Windswept Cafe. It was supremely confident in flight, feathers flipping here and there, body totally still. It turned to look at me, standing there updating the MSW eyeball surf report, dismissed me (despite some goon hollering "Wow! What a good photo you're going to get!" and carried on). It got really, really close, and caught something furry.

On Saturday I was surfing Gwithian, out from from the Jam Pot (yummy egg butties), and a dolphin/porpoise surfed a wave in front of me as I paddled out. It was a split-second view of a perfect arc. S/he had more fun out there than me - it was Baltic!


I've had a mad week this week, and I'm so looking forward to more of the above - quality time wtih good friends on lovely beaches! This is Rach, Abs, Laurz and Furtle in Marazion.

disconnected

Today I spent my lunch hour in Aldi carpark, watching the waves. I should have got in there. Three feet, clean, calm and sunny, and actually peeling for once. A handful out down beyond the baby waves of Towan. It was beautiful.

My initial reaction? Not to belt it back to my van, fight into my suitbootshoodrashyglovesplugs combo and race in, but just to stand and watch. How often do I do that? Rhetorical question. Never. Neverever. I live here, surf here and work here, so there's always something to be doing other than gawping like a tourist (best way to insult a local, tell them they look like a visitor).

What I did do, in fact, was drag out the iPhone and tweet. I had the urge to update my Facebook status as well, but then another set rolled in and I just watched it. I am always updating endless accounts wherever I go, mostly for work, but sometimes I don't want to. I just want to keep it to myself (and the crusty hanging off the railing next to me). This view and these 20 minutes of peace, chin resting on hands resting on fencepost, eyes resting on horizon, are mine, just mine.

Half-asleep in the sunshine, I idly thought about SUPpers (why, no really, why do they do it?), where bomb sets come from, and other questions that only occur to me when my fingers (cut-paste-tap-tap-slide) are forced to cease fidgeting, lulled by rare sunshine on rare unglovedness.

Then NatWest texted me to tell me my balance. Why do they call it balance when it's always sliding hellishly towards a Mines of Moria darkness? I was jacked back in. So I bought the Super Six in Aldi (RedLasering a few things as I went) and came back here to write a randomness. Now my cut-paste reflex is revving up, so I must get back to work.

…I should have got in there.

snow time

Snow yesterday, and it was beautiful for a little while, but the salty air did for it by this morning. A snowy picture of mine appeared on the Stranger website (I love Stranger). Cornwall (and especially Newquay) definitely retains more of a sense of wonder about the snow, as we see so little of it.

snowy newquay

One of my photos of snowy Fistral made it onto a BBC report about all the snow in Cornwall.

Pretty chuffed with that, especially as it was taken with the iPhone (the one above wasn't!). I am loving everything I can do with it, especially the Pano application. Got the best panorama of the snowy golf course and surroundings this morning. I also love Gorillacam, and I'm now searching for the best filters app I can find. Love a bit of sepia.

Atlantic Hotel sunrise and Great Western Beach.

There's no surf though, and I'm missing Wales like mad (there's loads there…).

white and pink

three lil things

Lovely morning on Fistral beach (though that Boxer was mad – why don't owners say sorry when their dog harrasses yours?). Found some sea glass.


These appeared from eBay, part of my Masked Ball outfit - the photo does not do them justice!

Got pooped on by a seagull, so it's my lucky day. (Er, no photo of this one.)

seal mama

Wow, seems like it's been flat for ages, but really it's not that long at all. Had a perfect surf at Fistral last weekend despite a hangover. It was quite small, but sunny and peaky and I had loads of waves. A small seal (Baby? Female?) appeared out of the back of one wave and took a look at me, then dived and swam under my board. That's happened a few times now but never gets old! No-one else even noticed it. Yes I did pick my feet up, just in case.

Sunday was a beach day, cliff jumping and paddling about (finally in the 3/2), then sitting in the sun drinking far, far too much…

Having trouble concentrating today as a report just came in that Levy is working on this south swell. I have no chance of getting there but I won't be able to sit still all day now.

a few reasons i is quite happy today

lovely perfect surf
sunshiiiiiine
fun last weekend down south
more to come this weekend, north and south
been paid
am the Country Life centrefold (not seen it, sure it's hilarious)
being left to work in peace
scored tons of freelancing work
going to a birthday party tonight with my girls
goin' dancin' tomorrow night (and maybe sign painting?)
think have scored a new 5/4/3

Divers in a RIB.

Pednvounder, mind the nudies

fistraly goodness, part 2

I'm putting my best shots on the CARVE blog instead of here at the moment, trying to build up traffic with a daily surf shot. But it's actually nice for the first time in what seems like ages, so I've taken a few today. Hope to get in at lunchtime…maybe…a few things to sort out first, i.e. way too much work to do!

staying home a bit longer

little mermaid

A print a day: Little Mermaid

This is beautiful...

madness

Check these two drunks, swimming in their underwear on Sunday morning!

And a foam-covered rock, because I like it.

Porth Joke

A little video from the weekend — trying to get the dog to swim in freezing water!

I walked over West Pentire to Porth Joke and rambled on about it here.