Two Boats Sold

Last night on the high tide a crane arrived and Lafrowda was lifted out and got ready to be taken away to her new home.



On this morning's high tide a different crane arrived and Lily's Pride was taken out as she too was off to a new home.



She had been sold with all her pots which were also loaded onto the trailer and by the time she was ready to leave it was quite a job to get the unit out from the harbour car park and onto the road.

200 Posts!

I can't believe that this is my 200th post.

I want it to be something special and so it naturally has to be a photo of Hamish. He is sitting under a painting that was done of him by a lovely lady called Rosemary Strong. We love it and hope that you all do too.

Tombstoning

We've just had all the emergency services rushing to Portreath harbour as some lads got into difficulties while tombstoning. It is a constant problem at the harbour and the local Coastguard get really angry with the lads who will insist on risking their lives and then when it all goes wrong they expect the services to rush to their aid! Thankfully there was a happy ending today as the two in question walked to the ambulance but I dread to think how much it cost for an air-sea rescue helicopter, the Coastguard and ambulance to all come here to get two lads out of the water. Of course it was a photo opportunity for me!



and Hamish wanted to know what all the fuss was about ...

Wheels of Wadebridge 2009

Another Sunday and another Car Show. This time it's not so far to go as it's at the Royal Cornwall Showground at Wadebridge which is about 45 mins away from home.

The MX-5 members all met at the Sports Centre first so we could drive in together and set up our Stand. We'd driven through some horrendous weather on our way over to Wadebridge but it was dry when we arrived although a tad cold. There was a good turn-out and a few new faces. Club members are forever changing and it's difficult to keep up with all the new ones. Once on our pitch we set up the Club banner and as it was blowing a mighty gale the decision was made to leave the gazebo in its bag today. It would probably either be floating around at sea somewhere by now or would have collapsed in a broken heap! Coffee time and ever the optimists we got out the chairs.

It turned out to be the only time we sat in them all day! The sun was shining so we went for a wander around the Showground and here's a selection of what we saw ...

An Alvis ...
The MG's ...
The Panthers ...
One of many static engines ...

As if by magic - water from a tap!

Just as we were heading back we could feel rain in the air so we began by walking quickly and ended up running for the car, making it just before the heavens opened. This proved to be the story of the day - sunshine and showers ...


and Hamish wasn't too impressed with it ...

He did sit outside when he could and was very intrigued by the people and cars on the Stand behind us ...

We finally decided to make for home and catch up on the golf, cricket and Tour de France. Unfortunately Tom Watson didn't make history when he finished second in the Open, England may with a bit of luck beat the Aussies (sorry all my Aussie rellies!) and Bradley Wiggins had a fantastic result in the Tour de France.

Powderham Car Show

After the weather we endured yesterday, to say I wasn't particularly looking forward to a car show would be an understatement! Well we woke to a dry day this morning so maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all apart from the fact that the alarm had been set for 5.30am!! We'd been asked to lead the convoy up from Cornwall to Powderham Castle and the first meeting place was Lostwithiel at 8am. Two cars had cried off so three of us made our way up to the next meet which was in a lay-by at Lee Mill which is just on the far side of Plymouth. Two more cars cried off here so in the end we had a convoy of six cars making our way to the Show. We arrived and joined the others who'd been camping there for the weekend - aah such memories of last year in the rain and mud!


Hamish had a new pal to play with but he wasn't at all keen!

Bear is a 14 week old Jack Russell cross and he was so sweet ...

Everybody at the Show knew that the steam train Tornado would be passing by at about 11.30am and so there was a large gathering of spectators along the hedge. Steam traction engines were waiting to salute the train as it passed ...

An announcement came over the tannoy that it had been held at Exeter St Davids and a couple of fast trains would be sent through first. We all relaxed and had a chat until suddenly we heard the sound of Tornado. Panic set in as we all tried to climb back up to get the best possible view and then it was here - and gone - in a matter of seconds!! The only shot I got is of a bit of steam in the distance as it approached ...

and then the carriages ...

It was so disappointing. I think everyone thought it would go by at a reasonable speed for photographers but instead it zoomed through at about 75mph! Tornado was used by Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson on board. Do check out the link and see what it really looked like! After lunch we went for a stroll around the Show and here is a selection of things we saw ...



This was an 1881 Tricycle ...

And this was an 1895 Olympia Tandem Tricycle which is ridden quite regularly by the owner and his wife ...

It was then time for Mike to have forty winks!

before driving home to Cornwall. Hamish travelled most of the way back on the parcel shelf ...

and was looking decidedly fed up and sleepy!! The sun did break through and we managed to get the top down for the last part of the journey but then it began to rain again and we got home just in time before the heavens opened!

Pilates 2:1

Whilst away on our hols I had a text from Jo asking if I'd be interested in having a 2:1 session of Pilates at her place. Naturally I said yes and so this afternoon I left Portreath with Mel and headed for Jo's home. Mel had some strange torture-looking equipment with her but more of that later!

We began with a warm up and after trying to walk along a rubber band which was about three inches wide - yes we were trying to look like those gymnasts on TV who do amazing things on a beam - it was down on the floor with a long roll underneath us ...

Not the easiest of things to balance on especially when Mel is say "Lift your leg" and then"Lift both legs". I managed to get a photo of Jo doing exactly what had happened to me ...


Yes, we both fell off it!

It was really good having Mel to ourselves as she could explain everything slowly and make sure that we were doing it all correctly. We used squidgy balls for another exercise but no photos I'm afraid! Then came the rings ...

Apart from using them between our legs Mel found other ways of using them to torture us!

All the time we were working Fred was feeling very left out and decided he wanted to get in on the act ...

No Fred - that's not how it's supposed to be done!!

Almost finished now ...

After all our hard work it was time for a very welcome cuppa and a very naughty cake! Many thanks to Mel for teaching me and to Jo for the use of her home.