Strolling, just strolling

On the Monday we decided to have a walk around St Ives to see what had changed, and wander in an out of shops. it was bright and sunny again, but still with an underlying coldness.
 We noticed that the shop which had been White's haberdashers and furnishers for years had changed hands yet again. I called in at the bookshop and had a browse of the children's books I had picked up my next 'fix' of Poldark on the Saturday in Penzance. I had also brought ' Who made God?' by Edgar Andrews, which I started quite well, but then lost my place.

Husband decided it would be nice to have a coffee somewhere, preferably near the beach, so we strolled across to Porthminster. I felt strangely at home on that side of St Ives. There are 2 beach cafes selling coffee, sandwiches and snacks, husband decided on the far one. The cafe underneath on the beach didn't do decaff, so I suggested we went into the Porthminster cafe and ordered. Whilst in there I booked a table for the following week for dinner. We sat at a table outside and our coffee was brought out to us. It was very pleasant, and we were chatting to a couple at the next table, who also childmind their grandchildren.

palms near Porthminster

Looking across to Godrevy, two tone sea

Porthminster beach, wonder what the cage is for? Unruly kids perhaps

One of y favourite views

We finished our coffee then wandered off down the path into the Warren. We discovered that there was a craft fair in the Guildhall, so spent some time in there, then husband went in search of a pasty, and I walked round to Pels, bought a crab salad, then found a seat on the harbour. There were plenty of seagulls around, so I was glad my salad box had a lid. St Ives seemed full of German tourists. Suddenly I heard a scream and as I looked round saw that a gull had snatched a sandwich from a young Japanese woman, who obviously hadn't been told about the gulls' bad habits. There seemed to be more flags than ever flying around the harbour, and since I have been home, I have read that  certain flags are there to deter the gulls.
It was very pleasant sitting in the sun, and eventually husband came to join me.Then we went in search of an ice cream, and resumed our strolling around the streets. Later back at the flat we had a doze, then dinner, and watched yet another sunset. That evening I had I small amount of white wine with my meal, I had opened the bottle, as it had been left for us, but husband prefers red. That night I woke up with awful palpitations, for which I blamed the wine, so didn't drink any more.
The next morning, as I went over to the recycling point, I saw the lady from number 3. I asked what they had done about their car, as she had said a few times they were not happy with the parking and she told me they had moved it to the Island. I said 'Ok, thanks, we will probably do that ourselves next week. It's just that we plan to go to Truro, but if you have moved the car then it's not a problem.'. so later, we got in our car, and I was able to retrieve my sunglasses, distance glasses and a hat which I hadn't been able to get to since the Saturday. So off to Truro we went, and managed to park in the Viaduct car park, on the middle level, so that the car was not in the full sun.
I had rung Sainsbury's, but there was no sign of my missing lens, so I had to be ultra careful with my spare reading glasses. I had a prawn salad in Malletts, but they do rather tend to undo the good of the salad by serving it with doorsteps of bread and butter. I couldn't eat it all. Then I looked round the store, we thought a cup boiler might have been useful for making Ovaltine, but no one seemed to do them. The flat lacked a kitchen towel, so I bought a cheap one.

Statue, Lemon quay

I toured my usual shops, buying a pair of sandals in the Reiker shop, then went round to Lemon Quay. There was scaffolding up all over the building where the lovely craft/material shop was, but I couldn't find out if that had moved or closed. I browsed M&S,and wondered how they could have got their 'fashion' so wrong. Dresses in what looked like crimplene, in garish colours, lace dresses, which are impractical for everyday wear, and instead of the usual cotton V neck tee shirts, again they have produced them in a 'slub' material, which looks cheap, nasty, and resembles J cloths.
Husband and I met up again, walked through the pannier market, had an ice cream, then went to Lakeland. We decided to go back to the car, and drive up to Sainsbo's to stock up on food. Once there, he abandoned me to go and look in an Aldi we had passed.
The traffic was getting heavy as we left so I got a map out and devised an alternative route back, which meant that we kept moving most of the time instead of crawling along to the A30. It was slow through Camborne, but quite a pleasant drive.

Our regular visitor, ever hopeful but never fed.

On the Wednesday, we spent the day in St Ives again. this time I ate a crab sandwich in the Yellow Canary cafe, much easier than having to shield it from seagulls. Husband walked past the cafe, but didn't see me, when I tried to phone him my battery died. That was the day I walked around the harbour to Smeaton's light,and right to the end. As I was marveling at the almost turquoise water, I spotted the head of a seal, bobbing about just over towards Lambeth beach. I felt frustrated that there was no one to share the sight with, no one around me seemed aware. Eventually I wandered back to the flat to find that husband was already there. Later we took a stroll across the beach as the tide was out, and he wanted to examine a rock which we could see from the flat.
We spent that evening indoors too, We watched some old Lewis,and another detective series,and photographed what turned out to be the last decent sunset for a few days. I wasn't sleeping quite so well, as the mattress was memory foam, and every time I needed to turn over I woke up.