By Stephie, on Monday 13th July, 2009 at 23:37 pm
Kim and his classmates celebrated ‘graduation’ from primary school to secondary school, with a celebratory bbq on one of the beautiful beaches on the north coast of Cornwall this weekend. Famous for its fantastic surf, we were treated to dramatic skies and tumbling 8 foot waves. And the odd burger or two!
 Incoming tide at Porthtowan  Do I have to smile? Really, it's so not cool.  Class of 2009! Yep, that's it, well pretty much, it was a tiny class! (Kim's 3rd from left, in silhouette!)  Boys will be boys (and will pretty much ignore the girls!)  Time for a dip! (Kim's in the distance)  Kim and budding surfer friends  contre jour kim!  Wooohooo school's out! Well in a week anyway... Thanks to Clare and Jo for organising such a great end to the school year, and good luck to everyone in their new schools in September!
By Stephie, on Wednesday 1st July, 2009 at 00:19 am
 Best not go to Mount Hawke then...
By Stephie, on Wednesday 27th May, 2009 at 15:07 pm
 Sam read aloud from his book and Kim was thrilled to get a signed copy. Yesterday was a special day for Kim. He’d been chosen by his school to go on a visit to the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth (along with some children from other schools in the area) to meet the author Sam Llewellyn. He was very excited, regardless of the fact that he’d not read any of his books!
It was a lovely day out. We had a quick browse round the museum before the workshop with the theatrical Sam and then a cruise around the harbour on a small ferry. It makes you feel so small being so close to the large ships in the docks – like Brunel standing alongside the chains!
 Custom House Quay, where we caught the ferry  A bit of spring colour! Kim said my tights looked like a teenager's. I don't think he was being complimentary.  Cruise ship in the docks  View of the dry docks  View from my favourite Falmouth shop Willow and Stone After this we wandered through the town via a few detours to shops and a cafe to Falmouth Art Gallery, where I was disappointed by the Darwin 200 exhibition. Not inspiring in the least, with some really mediocre photographs and paintings. The only images that made any impression on me were by an artist called Susan Boafo, all the others have faded from memory less than 24 hours later. Here’s one of Susan’s works that was on display. I think even a bad exhibition is worth a visit though, at least it makes you think! And I did come away with one memorable image.
Finally we headed off back through the town to Pendennis Point for an ice-cream and a stroll along the cliffs, just in time to see the Federal Fuji being tugged out to the bay. Only a few hours before, we’d been marvelling at the size of it in the docks and the fact that it was afloat in 4.5m of water!
 The Federal Fuji being tugged out to Falmouth Bay  Kim watches the Federal Fuji chug by, much quicker than he'd expected! After all the excitement we drove home around half past six ready for a good dinner, only I got involved in the garden and Kim couldn’t be bothered to eat – he was too busy reading his new book!
Oooh, by the way, check out Willow and Stone online – lurverly stuff!
By Stephie, on Monday 25th May, 2009 at 23:35 pm
 Kim takes to the open road After I picked Kim up from school last Tuesday (has it been almost a week already?) all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep; I was mentally and physically exhausted. I’d spent the day navel gazing at the funny farm, which is never easy and often distressing, and I just needed to chill out. Kim, on the other hand, had other ideas. Apparently, on Monday I’d promised to take him on a cycle ride. Had I? Really? I was so tired I couldn’t remember (which I think was probably his tactic). It was a fine afternoon though and being tired was not an excuse I was going to get away with. Nor was I going to get away with a five minute jaunt down the lane and back. No, today of all days, I was going to have to cycle 8 miles up hill and down dale. I had to: thanks to cycling proficiency lessons at school, my newly confident son wanted to show off his new skills.
I started off the ride in a curmudgeonly mood, which will surprise no-one, but it doesn’t take long for the enthusiasms of an eleven year old to rub off on you and I soon forgot how miserable I was meant to be. We took a leisurely route out through Mithian and round to St Agnes and stopped to appreciate the big skies and listen to the sky larks along the way. In fact, we stopped quite often to look at something or other (or maybe it was just a ruse to rest the weary legs), here’s a few of the things we saw.
 Big sky, tiny engine house on the outskirts of St Agnes  Village pub - I loved the light through the ivy  A secret garden?  No, it's the very public memorial garden!  Bull (de-horned) and his cow - so cute, how can you eat them!  These jolly friendly pigs have a spectacular view of St Agnes Beacon from their field By the time we got home it wasn’t just me that was tired. For the last mile or so Kim had to get off his bike and push it up the hills. He was not amused. I was pleased. At least I could guarantee he’d want an early night for once!
By Stephie, on Saturday 23rd May, 2009 at 21:38 pm
It’s been a busy week and I’ve got behind. I have a few photos of things I’ve been up to that I want to share with you, but my camera-phone keeps crashing when I try to upload the images – so bear with me!
I went for a wonderful walk yesterday, in glorious sunshine. I took a path I’d never been before, and didn’t really know was there until recently. I think it’s a local’s best kept secret: Carn Marth. It’s an amazing place near Redruth with flooded quarries, an amphitheatre and the best 360 degree views you can imagine. You can almost see sea all the way round too. A great de-stresser – and boy did I need it!
 Wheal Amelia engine house, on the way up Carn Marth  Flooded quarries and views towards the south coast
By Stephie, on Sunday 17th May, 2009 at 23:08 pm
A weekly post of inspiration
There’s nothing more inspiring to me than a walk along this woodland path in spring. It’s from a place called Trelew, near Mylor Bridge in Cornwall. While everyone else is wandering along the creek admiring the boats on the glistening water, we like to feel that we know of a really special, secret place, that is all ours…
Click on the images to see a larger, crisper version.
 Kim pushes his bike up the stony woodland path ahead of me  while I stop, entranced by the dappled light.  The heady scent of ransomes fills the air  as we walk towards the light  and the bluebells.  In the sunshine Kim rests and picks some buttercups  before we move on and spot a wild orchid.  We meander down a long country road to the church yard  where we admire the Cornish cross outside Mylor church  and spot some grave stones with a view of the harbour.  After an icecream we wend our way back along the creek  to home for tea.
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Narrative Self in pictures
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I'm running a 28 mile marathon in memory of Josie this February. Come and find out why.
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