Not Only But Also

Hello there!

Firstly thank you for your wonderful response to my last post. When I started writing it, I had in mind a kind of tips for raising boys kind of affair. But lets be honest here, the best thing to do is throw away the manuals when you have kids. They scupper any attempts to try and label them or put them in a box. The minute I think "gosh my boys are so thoughtful and lovely" they immediately do something vile. Likewise when I'm literally at the end of my tether and would quite happily list them on Ebay, they disarm me with acts of kindness and love. Such is the way of the child.

.........

Apart from some ridiculous weather, things have been trucking along here. My daily business is unassuming and routine. I am swimming more, and enjoying being able to swim further and faster every week. I met up with Antonia and we had a rather lovely wander and natter and coffee and lunch. I think it's the start of a great friendship. And my friends, she wore a blue polka dot coat. I wonder if she heard my inner self covet it?

There have been huge flocks of Starlings congregating in my road. They appear between the heavy showers, and gorge themselves on the white seeds of the many palm trees in mine and my neighbours gardens. I have a massive palm tree. I had been toying with the idea of cutting it down. But watching this murmuring has made me wonder whether I should embrace it's bird feeding capacity, and just accept that I will be constantly picking up palm leaves forever and ever and ever..... I ran up and down my road trying to get the money shot of these birds in flight en mass. Sadly I just wasn't quick enough.

 

I have enjoyed walking Honey along the beaches once more. She seems to have got over her eye ailment, which is a relief for both of us. I am always struck by the amount of surfers in the water on a week day. Perhaps they are postmen, or chefs in between shifts. They are nearly always men at any rate. There was some particularly good surfing displays on Friday. The waves were good. Three feet and clean, I believe. I haven't made good on my promise to learn to surf. But I am a step closer to donning a wet suit. You just never know.

I pass this working studio every week on my way to my gardening job. It enchants me. I find it romantic. Look at the works in progress on their easels. Look at the tools of the painters trade; the brushes, the paint smeared cloth, containers of turps. The smell emanating from the open door was quite intoxicating. You are invited to come in, but I am very shy - almost intimidated - by such places. What must it be like to have a space such as this to work in? Are any of you lucky enough to have a space such as this?

I have been very taken with the pared back forms of the plants that border hedgerows and coastal paths. I am a fan of Angie Lewin. Her lino prints are out of my price range, but I can reproduce a little of her talent by taking a snap of the real thing. They are so beautifully sparse, don't you think.

 And I think I found a mermaid's purse on Lelant beach. I've never seen one before. Of all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) things that get washed up on that expanse of beach, it has somehow eluded me. There were razor shells in abundance too, and some may have found their way into my pocket and home.

Oh and Samuel has decided to accept the offer from Liverpool University. He will be a long way away from St Ives this time next year. I'm trying not to think about it too much.

Leanne xx