Our Summer is Running Away

Now here's a picture I wish I had taken. And all found on the Pinterest picture

sharing site. And unbelievably it was taken in my favourite place the beautiful Isles

of Scilly just off the Cornish coast. And I'm guessing that it was taken on my favourite

Island of Tresco, where on some days you can almost imagine you're on some

Caribbean Island. 

And so last weekend with the Summer running away I opted for a Sunday coastal trip down

to familiar Hasting on our South Coast. It's not quite Cornwall and the sea isn't even the same

colour. But it was good to get out of London and enjoy some sea air.

I managed to take a lot of film footage for a new video using the video option on my stills

camera while using a tripod to steady things. So I'm still editing lots of clips and putting it

all together. And the tripod allowed me to get some impressive long zoom shots, the kind you

can never get on a smart phone.

Looks like I'm having to put my Birthday video project on hold as I'm now in the throes

of my weekly Bladder procedures. I've completed four of six with two more to go. And then

there's another six procedures split into two three week programs to be carried out in

September or October. And the only drawback of this treatment is that the Immunotherapy

pumped into the Bladder causes a lot of tiredness for a couple of days following the treatment. 

Below: A few pictures from Hastings on Sunday

 

A Trip to Mount's Bay.

Just a short video from last month when I was in West Cornwall and visiting Mount's Bay.

I was keen to see the layout of the castle Island of St Michael's Mount after the devastation of

the big storm last February, when the Island lost eighty percent of it's trees.

Managed by The National Trust, the Island features a medieval castle and priory that dates

back to the 12th century.

And so in this short video I was observing the boatmen at Marazion bringing back

some tourists from the Island. And I do remember it being a very blustery and windy day.

Full June Holiday post HERE.

 

Back Home

So luckily the weather wasn't as bad as the gloomy predictions. In fact there was pockets

of sunshine on most days. So I managed to take lots of pictures when the opportunities

came about.

Hoping to get a big picture post up here very soon.

ABOVE:  SUNSET ON PORTHMEOR BEACH TAKEN FAIRLY SOON

AFTER I ARRIVED AND UNPACKED ON THAT FIRST SATURDAY.

 

Doomed Again in Cornwall

So this week I'm staying down in Cornwall for an early Summer break. But sadly the

the weather conditions are horrendous and it will be like this all week.

And I knew the weather was going to be like this around a week ago, but I still chose

to come down here anyway. I thought, well why throw away and waste all the money

I paid out to get here, something I did last September when I wrote off the whole 

holiday and wasn't paid back anything in compensation.

Thankfully Saturday, the day I arrived was sunny and reasonably warm. And yesterday

on Sunday, St Ives was looking sensational, like a picture postcard. So naturally I popped

out and grabbed lots of beach photos knowing that they might be the only pictures I'll

be taking this week.

I was also lucky to grab a few beach sunset photos shortly after I arrived late on Saturday.

And then called in on Kai who lives right by the beach. He did a short video for me last June

where he can be seen jumping off the beach wall HERE.

So on hearing of the terrible weather predictions for my week here about a week ago, I rang

up the holiday company and paid a deposit

for another week here in this property, once a Fisherman's cottage, for late August early

September, in the hope of a visit to the Islands (The Isles of Scilly).

I did try and upload some of the great photos I took on Sunday but it looks like my

USB SD Card adapter is corrupted. So I'm going to try and pop over to Penzance tomorrow

and see if I can get a new one.

And they say there might be some sunshine tomorrow afternoon so I might also try and

visit St Michael's Mount and see all the damage caused by last Winter's big storm.

(above) St Ives weather last week. It would have meant trips out each day, beach trips 

and a visit to The Isles of Scilly.

(above) St Ives weather this week. And predictions

have worsened. Such is life.

The Rain it Raineth

Above:  Porthmeor Beach Cornwall on a blustery day.

When will this never ending rain end here in the U.K. Apparently a small village in Cornwall

called Cardinham has just endured fifty solid days of rain. And the last time they had a dry day

was on the 30th of December last year.

And just recently Aberdeen up in Scotland endured no sunshine for 21 days. I wonder if anyone

enjoys the January and February Winter months. I certainly don't. Oh sure it might be warming

up in the next few days, but still more rain is expected. Hurry up Spring and come to our rescue.

Above is a well known Cornish painting by Norman Garstin and painted in 1889

and titled 'The Rain it Raineth Every Day.'

It shows a rain soaked Promenade in Penzance. And strangely enough I tend to associate

Penzance with rain as I often take the bus trip out there when the bad weather hits St Ives,

really just to look around the town and shops, being the main town in West Cornwall.

 

Waiting For The Summer.....Goodbye January.

So while the January Cornish holiday reservation lists seem empty with lots of untaken

bookings, probably because many are still paying off for their recent Christmas, I thought

I'd grab myself a week in early June when all Schools go back and the holiday prices drop.

But will I get the good weather unlike last June?

And as always, by March and early April most of the holiday bookings will be taken.

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Earlier in January Britain faced the wrath of one of it's worst Winter storms named Goretti.

And the West Cornish Castle Island of St Michael's Mount felt the full force of the storm.

And if you're familiar with the Island it is covered like a forest with trees dating back by a

hundred years. But sadly the storm devastated eighty percent of all those trees. One almost

dreads to imagine what the full picture of the Island looks like by now or how long it will all

take to recover.

The above picture of  The Mount was taken last Summer by Max from Singapore who I

bumped into while staying down in St Ives last June.

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Around the start of early January and the New Year's holidays I was struck down with one

of the worst cases of a sinus infection that I can ever recall. And the worst part of it was that

for two and a half weeks in the first part of January I had literally gone deaf in both ears.

And it was actually quite frightening. I couldn't answer my phone and I couldn't hear the

tv or radio. And my own voice was like a muffled vibration sound in my head.

I was also having to wear a mask over my nose to cover up visible nasal polyps.

And so eventually I took myself off to the local Hospital Casualty Department and endured

a truly horrible six hour long wait to be seen by a medical team who supplied me with

anti-biotic tablets while setting me up with an appointment the following day at an Ear

Nose and Throat Department at another Hospital where I was given even more medication as

well as further follow up appointments at ENT Department.

Almost within a few days I could feel a great improvement. I was gradually getting my

hearing back while at the same time getting a feeling of euphoria with the knowledge that

I could hear once again, although it's back by about eighty percent while continuing with

the rest of my medication.

Interestingly they said on the radio yesterday that many people with various health problems

are simply not prepared to wait the six hours to be seen and would rather suffer in silence

at home which is quite sad. 

__________________________________

And so I can now finally put those headphones on and return to listening to music, something

I missed terribly.

And so below we have Youtube reactor Jayvee reacting to Steely Dan's 'Hey Nineteen'

from their 1980 album 'Gaucho' which also happens to be my favourite Rock Pop Smooth Jazz

album of all time.

I simply knew that when my hearing returned that Steely Dan's Gaucho would be the first

thing I'd want to hear again, with 'Gaucho' being the zenith track with it's amazing harmonies.

More of Jayvee's Youtube Channel.

NO SUNSHINE, NO HOLIDAY

As I write this early Sunday morning I should be waking up on holiday in Cornwall. But for this

past week the weather forecasts for West Cornwall have been truly appalling, with literally rain

predicted daily for this week.

In fact the cottage owner in St Ives probably thinks I'm already there and settled in. But I think

I decided a week ago that I wasn't going to turn up this week. And my stay there in June wasn't much

better. How did I manage to pick the wrong 2 separate weeks? I will of course phone the Holiday Company on Monday and let them know that I'm not there this week.

Of course I'll just have to write off the extortionate money I paid out for this week as I wouldn't get a

penny back at this late in the day. In fact I booked this very week back in April because later

this week the new School terms restart and all the holiday Let prices drop down by around two or three hundred pounds.

But if you want to make a booking throughout July or August, the standard weekly fee for a self catering cottage is going to be anywhere between £800 to £1,000 just for a week. So I came up with a cost cutting idea and that is to simply cut out my regular second visit to Cornwall in September and just

settle for a May or June booking when the weather is often more reliable.

And despite all this St Ives wins yet another award.

ST IVES IS U.K's HAPPIEST SEASIDE TOWN.