Category: Serendipity

#269 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

Yesterday was a fine observation of how Covid has altered life. @theoldmortuary used to row gigs out of Cawsand, this coastal village  Until yesterday we had not been there for nearly three years but in the past we knew these waters very well. For the first time ever we arrived by ferry.

The plan was to spend about three hours on the beach doing the things that 3 year olds love. In reality so much more was achieved as Kayaks could be rented, and fabulous milk shakes ordered.

And the sea was warm enough for everyone to swim as much as they wanted. We are nearly at the end of our week of intense family time. It has been such a blast of fun and exploration but also a big lesson in how beautiful our surroundings are and how accessible everything is. Looking at life through the eyes of a child really is an education and a wake up call to enjoy the moment. After a day at the beach we went on a camping adventure. High up on a Devon hillside we looked west towards Cornwall and in particular at Cawsand where we had spent the day.

Camping for a three year old is very exciting and almost derailed the beach outing because of the levels of excitement the appearance of a small person  sleeping bag created. Lessons to be learned, do not reveal the trump card of the day until all other activities have been exhausted. We even practiced camping in a supermarket car park while provisions were purchased.

Driving skills were practiced.

But the ultimate goal was always the sleeping bag.

Not necessarily sleeping though!

#268 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

Circles of Life.The patterns of a poppy, jelly fish and chandelier are very similar looking images of this weeks blogs. Life doing circles is sometimes more obvious than others. Curiously in the week when my two grown up children have returned, temporarily, to the nest. I have witnessed real birds sitting in nests. Something I have never, knowingly, been close to before.

These three little birds were perched in a nest near a footpath down to the beach at Tregantle. Desperately squeaking for a supper of fresh worm.

Having braved the hurley burley of Padstow on a busy sunny day we managed to escape the crowds by finding a first floor restaurant.

We were not the only ones to have a birds eye view of the crowds while sitting in a calm contemplative space. A pigeon had found herself a snug spot just a few steps from fine dining and a well stocked bar. The chandelier in the top picture would give her light too when daylight faded.

All too soon, of course, these nests, as will mine, will be empty again. The circle of life bringing tristesse after joy as certainly as night follows day. Possibly a glum way to end a blog without reminding ourselves that it is a circle of life and that joy , perhaps yet unimagined, will also follow hard on the heels of tristesse.

#265 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

The sun setting on the first of our family days . More than 15,000 steps walked by 5 adults, 2 dogs and one small person. Fabulous to have a day out that just used a quick ferry ride. When we lived in Cornwall, Mount Edgecumbe was a 30 minute car journey. I used to marvel at the families from Plymouth that just casually caught the ferry over for a picnic. Yesterday we did exactly that. Packed up food in our rucksacks and set off on the Cremyll ferry from Admirals Hard to Mount Edgecumbe.

A ferry has crossed this stretch of the Hamoaze since 1204, or 7:15 in the morning depending on your time frame.

In true picnic style ours was eaten fairly soon after arrival and desert was an ice cream from the fabulous Orangery.

15,000 steps was a lot for everyone in the gorgeous weather of yesterday. On our return we all eased our bones and feet with a swim in the sea and our minds with bedtime stories and boardgames.

A day in mid July that felt a lot like Christmas in so many ways.

#264 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

Rather an appropriate quotation for a day with a late blog. A busy day in beautiful weather but very much a day for making the most of the moment and having our family around us.

©Jenny Tsang

Plymouth was beautiful but we turned our back on Plymouth and headed to Cornwall on the ferry. Not exactly the gateway to Cornwall but certainly an interesting portal to a different world.

Castles and canons were the perfect props for a small girl obsessed by Pirates.

Then a cruise past our usual dog walks.

And then time to set foot back in Plymouth.

#263 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn flowers, Friends and Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

Quite the red letter day in the yard today. Firstly the bees were going crazy for the poppies in the early morning sun.

Then a small under gardener arrived from Hong Kong via London and Sennen Cove. Never has the 10:15 from Penzance brought such a precious person.

She quickly set about the watering tasks. Then it was time to find the play park and walk the dogs.

Dog walking is a serious business when you are 3 years old. But for us all wildlife spotting became very serious when we spotted a Smooth Hound Shark at Freemans Wharf, not far from home. That is setting the bar very high for the rest of her visit. We will do our best, but I fear we may have peaked too soon!

#261 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Bobbing, Box, SerendipityLeave a comment
©Jenny Tsang

Spring tides and slightly warmer waters have brought a little zing to coastal sea swimming.

Kim and I had a Sunday night swim and she returned to the beach with the sensation of a stinging nettle encounter on one arm, neither of us had seen any jellyfish but that seemed the most likely cause of her discomfort.

Yesterday I was working in The Box and was having a natter with a colleague. We were talking about our weekends and were surprised to realise that while I was in the water on Sunday she was basking, like a reptile in the sun, on a boat moored not far from where Kim and I were swimming.

We were not even in the Natural History department when she flashed me the picture of the Compass Jelly Fish she had seen on her return to land. The Sunday mystery sensation explained…

©Jenny Tsang

#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.

#258 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Friends and Family, Serendipity1 Comment
©Lauren Webb

Yesterday was all about watching family members doing sporty things. The weather was kind to everyone. Hannah and friends Emily and Becky swam to Drakes Island and back.

Just once a year swimmers are allowed to swim across the deep water channel entrance to Devonport Dockyard between Devils Point and Drakes Island. The swim was sponsored to raise money for the Chestnut Appeal, an organisation that raises money for research into Prostate Cancer. A disease that is close to our hearts and minds as far too many men have lives blighted by this disease. When I say close to our hearts the comment is emotional not anatomical. The prostate gland actually lives just below a mans bladder and surrounds the urethra just after it leaves the bladder. Clearly nowhere near a woman’s actual heart! It is the size of a walnut or chestnut. The prostate is a busy thing making the juice that sperm swim in, but in engineering terms it is badly designed for longevity. My dad described it as having ‘built in obsolescence’ . As men age it swells and becomes thickened, which is benign disease, and makes men wee a lot at night, sadly it is also the site of a very common cancer.

The swim was a little delayed because a big ship needed to pass.

But soon enough the swimmers were off.

And 30 minutes later back again.

Rewarded by coffee provided by their very attentive support team.

My second stint of watching involved the TV, our family had tickets for Wimbledon and while on an outside court had front row seats. Unfortunately the BBC overlayed the exact spot they were sitting with a score checker.

When they were in court 1 they were just tiny dots of pink and blue.

Never in the history of @theoldmortuary has a blog had so many people in it! The dogs were there, at swimming, not Wimbledon, too.

So after a day of watching other people do stuff I felt duty bound to take a little dip in the sea. The crowds were smaller and reaching the island positively not allowed.

#247 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Stonehouse2 Comments

A blue letter day, with bells on. Blue was the colour of the day. After 6 months my passport arrived! 6 months of waiting. 6 months of sitting on phone lines listening to shocking music and on the rare occasions I made contact with a human call centre person several months of listening to a variety of lies about the location of my missing passport. Just one month of getting my local MP involved and the passport is snuggly in my possession. How I wish my passport was still a cheery red European one but after 6 months the blue British one will have to do. This unacceptable delay was apparently caused by the loss of my original documents, something that would have been of concern to me had all the documents not been posted back to me four months ago. Quite how a passport could be sanctioned last week with no documents is a mystery that I can’t quite get my head around. Maybe I just sounded really British to the nice young man who phoned me last week from Westminster …

In other blue related events, the scaffolding came down from the front of our house and we can see the new colour scheme. We are very happy with our choices.

The ‘bells on’ comment comes from the evening dog walk. Morris Men and clog dancers were performing at a local pub.

The local streets were alive with the sounds of leg bells. While the dancers  twirled and stamped and entertained, the dogs were curious and happy to watch, but jangling legs close up were too much for them in the confines of the pub and we left, no doubt,missing a jolly evening of music making.