Category: Firestone Bay

#308 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone Bay, Food ( but this is not a food blog), Gustatory, SLTC, StonehouseLeave a comment
What lies beneath?

Our early morning dog walk produced a cute breakfast treat. Fresh windfall figs, minding their own business, resting on the pavement.

Enrobed in creamy yogurt they soon fulfilled their destiny. Later in the day the camouflaged net disguised another gustatory pleasure. Soupe au Pistou. A French tradition neatly relocated to the Stonehouse Tennis Club. In late summer when there is a glut of vegetables, communities in France come together for a communal meal of Vegetable Soup served with Parmesan and Pistou, a sauce made of garlic, oil and basil. Pistou is similar to pesto but does not have the addition of pine nuts or cashews.

Beneath the camouflage was a community of people enjoying charcouterie, the eponymous soup, a cheeseboard, tarte au citron and loads of chatter.

We met many people who we would normally pass on the street with a nod or brief good morning/afternoon. Released from just a simple polite greeting by sitting together for a couple of hours in the sun we had wide ranging and fascinating conversations with people who would quite rightly have been categorised as strangers only moments before. Well fed and watered we made our way home. The evening plan was to work off all the days fabulous food with a swim from our regular evening location.

Not a bad day at all and all within a five minute walk from home. This is turning out to be a very fine weekend.

Recipe below for Soupe au Pistou

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/summer-pistou

#288 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone BayLeave a comment

I must walk past these lovely handles most days but have never noticed them before. Today turned out to be a day for first experiences in every day places. These doors can act as a portal for the day. A little bit of Plymouth as a Mediterranean location. A Tuna was seen this morning in Sutton Harbour .

And a neighbour gifted me a home grown fig.

The fig was eaten soon after this posed image but may feature posthumously in a sketch. Possibly one of my watercolours with typing.

After a day of delicious figs and fabulously diverse natterings the evening dog walk had a little surprise.

This walkway into the sea was empty and we were hot, an impromptu swim was decided upon, just a quick dip in our knickers. It was glorious.

#282 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone BayLeave a comment

This is how a good morning starts and then the day progresses. Today has not progressed as planned. Covid has struck at the heart of our Printers group and we cannot open our exhibition today. So straight after the cup of tea came some reorganisation of our exhibition space. The cafe staff will reserve any sold artworks today and we will contact the buyers tomorrow.

After a swift reorganisation I was off to meet the bobbers for a swim. Overlooked by the majestic Sail GP boats moored on the Camber moorings.

On my way I was charmed by the sound of amplified ukulele playing and singing from a small yellow car.

What a gloriously unusual and unplanned way to start our day.

https://sailgp.com/races/season-3/great-britain-sail-grand-prix-plymouth/overview/

The link above takes you to the Sail GP website. I am so very very far from being a boat person, anything I write about this would just be gobbledygook, but when these thing move close to our swimming zone they are awe inspiring.

#260 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone Bay, Serendipity, StonehouseLeave a comment

Shameless use of wildlife to make my excuses and say that it is a busy week with not to much time for pondering. It is also a week of Spring tides and wrong tide times so there is also not any time for Bobbing. Weeks like this, the one certain thing is dog walking early in the morning and later in the evening. Mornings are calmer because I dont venture onto the beaches.

But evenings, coupled with unusual tides have become quite the giddy experience. Lola calmly digs for gold.

But Hugo wages his one aquatic pursuit ,with great diligence and a lifetime of practice; rescuing all the floating seaweed in the bay.

We spent a lovely hour sat in the setting sun while he busied himself on the most futile and pointless of tasks. Sometimes he persuaded Lola to join in but she lacks any interest in doing something quite so impossible and prefers to just irritate him.

Leaving the beach at a time to suit the human element of the pack was more difficult. Rescuing seaweed is such a satisfying task that Hugo never wants to stop. Once back on his lead he was distinctly skittish and skipped and jumped like a puppy all the way home. Not too shabby for a mature gentleman of nearly 10. Even the evening poo featured many spins and elaborate excited dance steps before the exact landing spot was identified.

#255 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone BayLeave a comment
Firestone Bay

Crazy early morning walk, this morning, the sun almost too hot for two dogs, who are a little too furry for this time of year. By the time we returned home we had walked through a rain power shower. I was on my quest for abstract colours and shapes in bright sunlight and found a couple. Both doors this time.

Ever a magpie for images of rust. I also wasted 5 minutes on a neighbours pile of old metal put out for the recycling team.

The pile was much bigger yesterday.

The recycling team failed to take any of it but local people have taken more than just photos of the assemblage. Five minutes or so may also have been spent by me, yesterday, with someone elses garbage. Yesterday my favourite bit of rust were these two birds

Overnight I had a brainwave about what I could do with the bed springs, those in the garbage pile not the ones in my actual bed! Too late some other urban forager had taken them before I could. How will my sweet peas cope …

Before the rain set in me and the dogs cut quite the abstract image on our walk.

After our drenching our silhouettes were nothing like as sharp. Fortunately for you ,there was no bright sunlight to do an after shot. We squelched home, fur and skirts clinging tightly to our legs. Even the rust pile on the corner of our street failed to hold our waterlogged attention. The dogs also love the scrap metal for reasons of creative peeing, almost as much as I love to photograph it. Bigger dogs leave messages much higher up, cats, mice and hedgehogs leave their fragrance lower down, the whole thing is a multi story message board to them. Five minutes well spent for all of us on a dry walk.

#238 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone Bay, Serendipity1 Comment

Finally, yesterday I was ready to ditch any form of wetsuit and just swim. Unencumbered by a lengthy dressing and undressing process. Summer has arrived in my swimming life. The day had been a collection of small domestic positives, admin and chores achieved and dog walks in the sun. One of my walks located some old friends, the white cows who normally sit on the green are having a rest and possibly a spruce up in one of the local secret gardens.

A small tin has also arrived. A reward to myself for selling a few pictures recently. The topics of the exhibitions I am entering later in the year need a more earthy feel than recent works, so I bought some earthy colour watercolours hand made from natural minerals in Pennsylvania just to start off my thinking process.

One of my evening swimming companions took a fabulous panoramic shot of Firestone Bay. The colours in my little tin would also work quite well if I attempted a sketch here one evening.

#231 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Bobbing, Firestone BayLeave a comment
©Gilly Bobber

The sun sets on an unusual 4 day weekend when the Queen celebrated her Platinum Jubilee.

The bobbers got together in their usual place, Firestone Bay, to have a dry bob. A bob that does not require immersion in the sea but that does involve food and nattering. We gathered for a picnic at Stonehouse Lawn Tennis Club for a picnic overlooking our usual swimming spot.

The topics were, as usual, wide ranging but the Queen was touched upon and South West Film Archive provided vital evidence of one bobber presenting the Queen with a bouquet of flowers, she also, thoughtfully, gave Prince Philip a button hole, carefully wrapped in tin foil to protect his uniform. Posterity did not record that moment but we do have a still from the bouquet presentation.

©SW Film Archive. Shelley Bobber meets the Queen.

Today was a significant moment in history. None of us will ever see a Royal Jubilee again, so full on picnic time it was, with Sandwiches, Sausage Rolls, A cheese, pineapple and silver skin onion hedgehog, Fritatas, Scones, Strawberries and cream, Savoury Pin Wheels, Cherries, Crisps and Prosecco.

Games were played.

Trees were planted, cheers were cheered, and the National Anthem attempted. A good day was had.

#140 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone Bay, SerendipityLeave a comment
©Debs Bobber

The bobbers have effortlessly slipped back into the usual routine of three dips, into the sea, a week after a period of very stormy weather . Right now the water is 10 degrees but the outside temperature is only 4 degrees. This is a strange combination to get our heads around, but right now it is almost worse for Andy our regular coach/safety man. He stands on the shore keeping an eye out for Spearmint the seal or anything else untoward. It is really cold just standing still and watching. Last nights bob had three other non swimming onlookers so they all kept each other warm by chattering. Spearmint kept away, so the chatting was not interrupted by safety issues.

The sunset last night was rather gorgeous. The sun sent out an evening sunbeam to slightly warm us up, post swim.

©Debs Bobber

Before slipping away into a golden dusk.

©Debs Bobber

Something three bobbers celebrated with tea in bone china cups.

#131 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Bobbing, Firestone BayLeave a comment

Rusty links and shadows on a Saturday. The sun came up, our campervan passed its MOT and the Bobbers got back into the sea after 10 days or more of stormy conditions. Spring must be just around the corner.

This was the bobbers celebrating sun and a succesful bob . On the next beach along other swimmers let the sun go to their heads.

©Plymouth Swim Collective

Beneath the bobbers warm clothes and cups of tea every bobber is a glorious celebration of toned muscles and flexed pecs. We simply didnt get correct instructions for the after swim photo. Next time…