Best Friday 13th January 2012 in a long time.

Woke early after restless night of 'thought' torture. I nearly took a sleep aid but forgot where I put them.  Things are moving and changing round here. Now have a plan and two deadlines so I know exactly where I'll be and what I will be doing, more or less. Somehow the Universe  just doggone plucked me out of my indecision and put me between two posts as it were. It was unbelievably sunny and I'd missed two days of good weather being on the computer too long. It was time for a jaunt.


I took camera, sketch book, purse, pencils, you have to be prepared. Took the Tresidder Public Path that takes you past the fancy white house where Julia Bryant, and her husband own and spend only a short time in. She is one of Commander Favell's three daughters, the heiresses of Penberth Valley! They came and bought the valley and everything in it and then donated much of it to the National Trust, keeping the biggest and nicest houses for themselves whilst still behaving more or less like they still own everything. I believe they still have some kind of power of veto to have an influence on who moves into Penberth. Penberth does have a reputation of being 'somewhat exclusive' but in fact most people who live there are not wealthy by any means except for richness of place.


 I was curious about where a Commander could raise all this cash. Apparently the family made their fortune if that isn't too twee a word, in Shipping and a plantation. Julia Bryant and husband live on a Teak Plantation in Africa for a lot of the year. Well it just so happens that I walked past the 'White House' today, the Public Path goes right through and past the side of their house and you have to go through a gate through their property. Mr Bryant was getting his Range Rover out of the garage. He noted my presence and as I walked past looked straight down to my shoes almost as if he was still in Africa and looking to see if I actually  had shoes on or something. Talk about being literally 'looked down' on. He seemed tanned of course, healthy, dressed in country squire type clothes and he had an expression set on his face like he hadn't been to the toilet for at least three weeks. I smiled and did my courteous best not to seem intrusive and nosey. As I went past I said Hello and how are you, very well thankyou came the reply but no enquiry as to how was I. Only to be expected. I think it's called showing deference to one's superiors or probably at least he might have thought that. Probably really wanted to go and get his shotgun out and show me off his property. There's no point in getting upset with these 'kinds of people,' they are not the kind I don't think to change and why have a conflict? I am exercising my new found awareness a la Eckhart Tolle, trying to. Just beam and smile, beam and smile.


As this 'gentleman' went past in his Range Rover I smiled and waved, he just about raised his hand and did the 'Queen' wave but the set grimacing expression stayed firmly in place almost like facial paralysis. There's no need is there. I kept my eyes forward and didn't look untowardly curious just walked briskly through as you do and onto the road and then left up to the continuation of the path up to Boscean Farm, that hasn't actually been a farm since the sixties so I was told by another member of the Favel family, this time Favel Briggs who actually really is a dam good sort. He was sort of wobbling along, I think one of his hips is bad with two springer spaniels. One called Saffron who never does what she's told. He seemed very preoccupied in ordering them about and  managing their behaviour. I asked if I could take a couple of pictures. But Favel wouldn't smile kept shouting at the dogs who were being quite good actually. We chatted about Boscean. Apparently being rented out for 1200 pounds! We talked about, who actually could afford that on the wages down in Cornwall. I said a  lot of people in Penberth were on Housing Benefit as they couldn't possibly pay rent out of their very low pay. I certainly know of a few people. Favel didn't seem to agree on that one. I said I thought the Trust charge too much and that not many people can manage it and that they are as high as rents in London, and that some of the cottages are extremely limited and small.


I said I was staying at Charlie's. He seemed to think I was at Boscean Farm. How would I manage that, I ask you. In fact its big enough for a fairly large group of people. Zoe, the songwriter, Murray Lachlan Young, the Poet's x. apparently now has a cottage next door to Mildred's. She is a good friend of Serena, the daughter of Sir John and Lady Frances Banham. Frances being another of the three daughters of Commander Briggs. We chat merrily for a while, I ask to take a couple of pics. I managed to get one of Favel just going over the fence. A very nice chap and the dogs were very well behaved too.


I carry on past Boscean Farmhouse, oh I did mention to Favel what a shame it was to see so many empty farms as it were. He said Boscean started closing down in the sixties as the flower trade died down for one thing because of cheap imports from Holland. Shame we don't try and start it up and market home-grown Cornish daffodils, ten varieties. Duncan still grows flowers but he's a bachelor and shares a house with his elderly mother.  Favel said he doesn't have huge outgoings in the form of wife and child to support and I suppose in fact has quite a simple quiet life. Duncan sells to the Farmer's markets all year round and has a stall on the road.


I go through the gate and continue down the path and see Adele pottering outside her house. Seems this is going to be day for chance meetings. I hear Venus has joined the astrological melee joining Chiron and Neptune in Pisces or very nearby! Promises to be a magical day and so far it is, weather, mood and friendliness. Spring has been in the air most of winter in fact. 
'Hey Adele.' I yell, 'what happened about my vegetable box?"
"Oh my I completely forgot." She puts her hand to her mouth. I walk over and grab her arm.
"What do you want to do, give me a smack" she says joking.
"You completely forgot" I said."When I asked you so nicely?"
"How about you bring some round on Wednesday and I'll leave a fiver in a plastic
bag outside the door."
"Yes, ok." We chat a minute and then she scurries off. Then I see Jilly outside her car through the trees. We are supposed to be having coffee tomorrow. I walk over, she is in a hurry and has to phone in because Finn isn't feeling very well and wants to stay at home. We arrange the coffee meeting." I give her a little hug and go. She seems to appreciate the hug, well don't we all?


I chug merrily down the teeny lane to the cove see that the tide is very low and start walking up the steep cliff path. On the way I saw the buzzard family but as soon as I get them in the frame they fly away. Very hard to get pictures of birds in flight I'm finding. It is still sunny, no wind and some very interesting clouds, altogether a very agreable day so far.


Along the path, over the stream, past Logan Rock for about a mile and I can hear the sea and waves roaring even before I see it at Pedn, my beloved place, sacred sea, equivalent to the sacred mountain of Taos. The tide is very far out. Do I want to climb all the way down there? I notice three fishermen, two are the twins, Claire and Lyn, the other is 'Tadge,' he calls himself and he's a good sea bass fisherman. I think I made a dreadful mistake once and called him 'Todger!' He works at the Logan Rock and is a landscape artist. Sea bass, come in on the tide especially if the sea is choppy, as it churns up the seabed and so the fish can feed on little shrimp and whatever is lurking in the sand. There is a large quantity of sand and it is banked up quite high along the long beach. There is sand also on Vault beach just nestling beneath Logan Rock Fortress. The chances are that it will all be moved somewhere else by the endless movement of the sea. 


I climb down, there may not be another day like this in a long while. It is too good not to. Besides I have to have a paddle and see how cold the sea is.The twins have put up two fishing rods, they don't have floats and the 'fly' sits on the bottom of the sea ready to lure the sea bass. Out to sea a small boat chugs along. A large flock of seagulls and shags and gannets are sitting on the water, some are flying and diving in, a sure sign of fish. Then along comes a larger boat from Penzance sees the smaller one and turns it's nose inward to point towards where the birds are. Everything is watching everything else and eating everything else too!


The water is cold but feels cleansing. I pick up some tiny baby scallop shells looking orange and pink amongst the more common plain white clam shells. I wonder what happens to the clams so that only their little shells end up here in ribbons where the tide has dumped them. There are wavy patterns and swirls on the beach reflecting a sort of spaced out mackerel sky above that has tints of pink in it. I always think of Venus when I see pink in the sky.


It's getting cold so I clean up my feet and start back up the cliff and walk to Treen, but have a little chat with Lyn, Claire and Tadge before I go. Lyn and Claire are totally identical twins and I can't tell them apart but I managed to say 'hello Claire' today and got it right. They are Penny George's daughters, a very old family down here. Penny's father used to live in the Nook, next to Arthur and Jean Thomas and Adele and her family live there now and even have a solar panel provided by the National Trust.  


I walk through Treen, down past the Logan Rock Pub that's always closed when I go past but I can see smoke coming out of the chimney, down the hill and along the Public Path that I came down on in the first place. Of course Ann is there doing her horse thing and she regales me with umpteen stories about horses, foal death, horses being shot, how snobby the  Bryants are, whom we met earlier and I manage to pick up quite a bit of info about horses. Such as one time her little bay mare pony managed to give birth on the road and the foal rolled over and in the process of that happening was deprived of oxygen or something weird, when her mother walked on and was brain damaged. She describes a mare giving birth with little grimaces and how she talked to the mare and it was all over very quickly. I ask her about the new Strawberry Roan pony in the field who looks very much like he thinks he's with the wrong people, and is very stand offish with the other two, a Dartmoor Pony and something Welsh I think. Ann agrees that he is a very pretty snob. "He'd look nice pulling a little trap into St Buryan. And you never know the way things are going ."  I agree absolutely. "You must do it, that would be a feast for sore eyes." A mere hundred years ago you would be considered wealthy if you had three ponies that you could use for transportation. More stories, more chit chat and its getting very dark. Ann has a lot of stories and likes a chat and is quite interesting. I eventually pull myself away but not before I describe  my 'meeting' with the man from the white house, Mr Bryant.


Sadly one time a pony had to be put down against Ann's wishes and she said that you can still see the shape of 'Liberty' on the grass. Nothing will grow there she tells me. I walk on pass through the gate and sure enough about three yards along is a pretty bare patch of ground. I want to put some daffodils there said Anne.


On the way I pick up some dead twigs and branches, then Fiona appears in her car. She is housesitting the old Bolitho house, Tresidder. She tells me she was glad to spend Xmas quietly with her dog. She works at Mencap and its tiring working with Learning Disabled children and so on. Wow I'm amazed at there being people who don't mind spending Xmas alone. You should have come down to me I say but she was glad of the peace and quiet. She had to run up to put Ann Armitage's chickens away for the night. Ann moved to Lamorna as Tresidder was being sold. Nice cottage she had.


Finally get home.  From the wilds of Cornwall today I could not escape from people. Feast or famine, it was lovely, relaxed, happy, sunny beautiful day. I feel content, for a change!!