A team of botanists surveying the Little Robert in the local hedgerows (similar to Herb Robert but with yellow stamens) have solved the mystery of two common plants by the Cornish roadsides:
Alexanders was introduced by the Romans as a foodstuff, similar to celery, and is easily confused with cow parsley.
Red valerian is another Mediterranean import.Probably festering again tomorrow, especially as the surf forecast touches 4 metres, but hope to make progress after that. There are worse places to be stuck than Padstow - the local museum has a fascinating mix of lifeboat history and pagan ritual...
I've been reading your birthday present, and thought I'd share a little of its contents with you, as you're weatherbound. Jill Fredston is a wilderness rower (the going backwards sort). In "Rowing to Latitude" she describes her life and the journeys she's made along the coast and rivers of North East Canada and Alaska with her partner, Doug. Their progress along the Inside Passage from Seattle to Skagway was intermittently halted by inclement weather and sea-state. She writes:
ReplyDelete"Our progress the first few weeks seemed infinitesimal, but that was only because I was using the wrong scale. I kept sneaking glances at our big-picture map to see how far we'd come in relation to how far we had to go. Gradually I began to focus on taking the measure of each day, not so much in miles as in moments -- warm apple pie with a lighthouse keeper, naked baths in clear creeks, seal noses in the kelp beds, a Tlingit legend told in a lilting Native accent by a man who insisted on taking us for a ride in his truck..."
Enjoy every moment. Don't fester!
Izy
Hi Graham, Viewed Mike F's pictures he took of your epic adventure yesterday - you really must teach him how to rotate those pictures - Mike F showed me the slide show. Now have crick in neck! The seas look bigger and scary. Spoke briefly to Mike H about his damaged boat – I’m sure the full story will be revealed soon. Keep safe out there and hope the enforced day off gives you time to recover. Keep up the excellent log. Regards Uncle Steve
ReplyDeleteSage advice Izy!
ReplyDeleteSteve, any chance you can get Mike F to email me the pics to kayakfreelunch@googlemail.com ? Pure vanity of course, but I'd like to see them.
please apply to crones image . con seriously when i get back wi ll do off to france on a proper boat with sails and a toilet back soon mike f
ReplyDeleteModule choices selected: Ring me when you want to know :D
ReplyDeleteAlso... a shame about the glasses, You're not kidding about it becoming expensive!
Abi