#112 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Home Towns, WordsLeave a comment

Not a lot going on here. Some days or weeks are a bit becalmed. Not a huge amount going on or achieved. Those of you who actually know me would, quite rightly, never use the words elite athlete in the same sentence, paragraph or, quite frankly in the same room as me. But when I’m feeling a little bit becalmed I try to apply the sports or business philosophy of marginal gains.

The marginal gains philosophy approaches specific weaknesses as opportunities for growth, not points of criticism, improving the emotional wellbeing of athletes and employees alike. With marginal gains, a team can grow and develop in a way that best suits their needs.

Really there were no specifics for my becalmedness, just a list of not exactly thrilling tasks for a couple of days. I realise that I could also use the word doldrums but that word always suggests a slight dispiritedness which is not the case at all. My marginal gains of the week feel very marginal but a gain is a gain, regardless of its scale.

The cure for this state of mind would normally be a quick dip in the sea, and that is precisely my plan for today.

#110 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Beach Life, Serendipity2 Comments

In the creamy early morning light of St Ives it would be easy to miss the stone balancing on Lambeth Walk Beach.

Just like tourists there are less of them in January and they are not so tall or flamboyant. In this instance less is definitely more. These modest but skillfully created piles gently look out to sea, barely changing the appearance of the beach, they contemplatively slow everything down just that little bit. Encouraging the viewer to be still longer and breath deeper.

#109 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn WordsLeave a comment

Here is another gorgeous doorway from St Ives. Once again I am using a door as a way of introducing a topic that would only provide very poor visual content. The gate is open which is a fine excuse to open up about my latest addiction. Like many addictions someone introduced me to this new pleasure. It was almost a throw away comment as he left the house.

“Have you tried Wordle?”

https://www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/

I doubt he had even got to the end of the street before I had found Wordle, done a Wordle and needed more Wordles!

I texted frantically asking how I could get the next one.

He replied that I would have to wait until tomorrow.

Who in their right mind introduces anyone to something they can only access once a day for pleasure?

Well , me actually. You won’t regret it.

https://www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/

#108 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn ConcatenationLeave a comment

There is nothing more exciting for our dogs than a beach that is slightly damp and yielding to the paws. A beach where they can build up speed and go a little crazy without human intervention. January is the perfect month for such adventures. This picture was taken at the very end of a long walk, the dog footprints are there just for the joy. The human footprints have determination and purpose. The human footprints are heading towards coffee and cake in a favourite cafe.

The cafe was closed for refurbishments. The dogs continued with joy and the humans made compromises. Ultimately everyone was happy.

Which is more than can be said for any lobster who casually wanders into a lobster pot looking for a snack.

#107 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering1 Comment

A late ponder and a strange one too. I’m not yet done with St Ives but this ponder witnessed the great divide in our country yesterday. The door was on a street in St Ives and for the purposes of this ponder represents home, somewhere safe to live. Yesterday we witnessed a street cleaner very gently clearing the debris around a homeless woman, there was a lot of stuff and the whole time he was brushing and picking up litter he carried on an entirely upbeat conversation, as if they had just met. He exuded kindness and I felt awkward for just walking past, but in awe of the way he was handling a difficult situation. The interaction stuck with me. Just a couple of hours later we were walking near our home, there was a boat show in our local harbour.

These two moments are at either end of the financial scale of this countries wealth, its all a little mind blowing. The kindly street cleaner is the high point of the day, however pretty these boats look.

#106 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Holidays, SerendipityLeave a comment

Morning has broken in St Ives with the gorgeous colour of Cadbury Chocolate wrappers.

In truth not the most thrilling of sunrises but the clear sky was a sign that the day was going to be a bit of a colour sensation. Early morning duties were the pleasure of sharing the start of our day with Miss VV, our granddaughter in Hong Kong. Our early morning adventures with her via video call involved stories involving sand horses and naughty seagulls. For the rest of our day we had strict instructions on the photographs that needed to be taken to be sent to her for when she wakes up. Seagulls were top of her list.

This one is a bit of a visual joke as he had managed to poo on the reflection of his own head.

Another request was dogs on their holidays.

Miss VV did not request a piece of Barbara Hepworth sculpture but we took our own initiative and took one anyway.

Gifted in 1965 to the town she had adopted as her home.

We did a three hour coastal path walk and found some small and deeply personal sculptures. Love locks attached to a small metal fence on the sea side of the path. Stuck together and corroded by the salt spray of the Atlantic.

The thing we didn’t manage to capture was a dolphin feeding frenzy which we witnessed but luckily for the blog a more proficient photographer was about earlier in the week.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/hundreds-dolphins-st-ives-bay-6519724

That’s enough St Ives for one day, more tomorrow.

#105 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn HolidaysLeave a comment

Yesterday did not go as planned. But I knew the best laid plans had failed by 6pm the night before so a different plan was hatched. Serendipity stepped up to take the place of forward planning and for the first time in just over two years we got a seat in our favourite and now local coffee shop, so the birthday fairies were not totally having a bad day. First World problems and all that but it was lovely to have coffee in a cup sat at a table indoors. The surprise element of the birthday outing still happened but not in the way it was meant to be. A pair of pyjamas in a carrier bag does not have the same impact as pyjamas served in a biscuit tin which depicts the destination of the next couple of days. The irony is not lost on me that 6 months ago we moved out of a Cornish cottage and yet I had booked our first break away in a Cornish cottage. To be fair to me my search area for a cottage was anywhere between Penzance and Bristol. I had four search parameters.

1- Price

2- Dog friendly

3- Plenty of walking with no need to use the car for three days

4-A homely cottage, not cute and absolutely not decorated in blue and white, with beach huts, seagulls or fish as decorative features.

Number 4 turned out to be the deciding factor.

When we moved from a non touristy part of Cornwall to a very touristy part of Devon we moved our decorative fish with us but beyond that one detail we prefer a more organic style of interior design. Stuff gleaned from ebay, skips or dumpster, charity shops or friends and neighbours discarded or unneeded items.

After a sunshine filled hour or two in Truro, we took the road to St Ives.

Truro Cathedral

We arrived after dark and just like short stay tourists everywhere we trundled our little suitcases the ten minute walk from a car park to our destination.

Comfy cottage.

More irony as we settled down with a cup of tea. A programme about Cornwall was on the TV as we settled in.

We did not eat spider crab last night, but fish and chips and sausages for dogs filled us up ready for today’s walking.

Not a beach hut, Seagull or fish in sight.

#104 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

We are off on a little adventure today. Not words that have been used very often over the last two years. The weather has been checked and a booking made but beyond that nothing has been done in preparation, because the adventure is a surprise for everyone else @theoldmortuary. Which makes this a very brief blog.

Thankfully a friends new Podcast was released yesterday which gives me something to share with you.

https://castbox.fm/x/2sAj8

See you all on the other side the adventure.

#103 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Anecdotes, Serendipity1 Comment

Blogging was a lot like these little boats today. Left behind by the tide of my own technical inadequacies. I had failed to charge my laptop and then plugged it in to a socket that wasn’t turned on. Zoom meetings had to be attended on my phone. Irritating as this was it was enlivened by WhatsApp messages from friends.

One friend was moving his hot tub to his new home. It looked like more fun than I was having.

©Mark Curnow

Another friend who lives in France was thrilled to find a biscuit selection that included custard creams.

©Angela JS

However much I yearn for in- person meetings. It would be rude to get my phone out so this newly learned meeting brightener will be shortlived but I may now default to my phone for Zoom meeting’s just for the onscreen entertainment.

But the joy when I got out of my second Zoom meeting of the day was palpable. Maybe the dogs will prefer it when I no longer Zoom at home.