Well – here we are in the New Year, and well in to our second year at Jacks House. Christmas came and went, with visits from children, friends and neighbours – an opportunity to slow down, to think about things other than the house and all the jobs that need to be done.
The kitchen dresser we ‘up-cycled’ was ready for Christmas, and looked very nice, brightening up a sometimes-dark corner of the kitchen. We have other bits of furniture lined up for similar treatment, when we have a moment.
The weather was so poor that we were pleased to huddle by the fire and do very little except be sociable. (And what is Christmas about, if not that?) But we did manage a few days out walking. New Year’s Eve was quite memorable, battling 50 mph gusts along the coast path from Lands End to Sennen, and watching the sea roaring up and over the cliffs and the harbour wall.
It passed all too quickly, and we were soon back to sorting out a plan-of-action for 2018. Top of our list this year is to renovate the fourth bedroom and sitting-room, so that friends and family can stay in privacy and comfort. But before beginning that, just a few small jobs that had to be finished: the floor tiles in the studio (Pete), and sorting through as yet unpacked boxes (me). Jobs that neither of us looked forward to with any enthusiasm, but that distracted us from the bad weather!
The next bright day found us walking from Lands End to Nanjizal – in the opposite direction along the coast. It was quite a muddy wet walk in places because we’d had so much rain since New Years Day – and where the coast path ran uncomfortably close to the cliff edge we had to pay particular attention: all round the Cornish coast sections of coastline have been radically changed this winter because of the succession of storms, the gales and the rain.
It was a lovely walk in bright sunshine – nearly back to base, we made the acquaintance of the Lands End Cat.
In mid-January we went along to a meeting of the Ocean Pride renovation group, curious to know what will be involved in restoring this iconic fishing vessel. She was built in 1919, in Newlyn, and owned and operated by a succession of fishing families before ending her days high and dry on the banks of the Rother in Rye. The Ocean Pride has historic status, being ‘the only Peakes-built counter-stern lugger left in the country’. She has now been brought back to Newlyn http://www.oceanpride.org.uk/News#OPhome051217
where she will be rebuilt and have a new life as a training vessel for apprenticeships, and for the community. What an inspiring project!
We’ve now begun swimming twice weekly, in the comfort of a private pool which we share with a few others. How lovely it is to be swimming again! I’m not a strong swimmer but the exercise is just wonderful! It will do us both good, and make us stronger – and we need to be, to be able to do the work that we set ourselves.
One other big job on our agenda for 2018 is to clear the overgrown land opposite our house, and on the first sunny day we had after New Year, we managed to get out there and start clearing brambles and nettles, and the detritus that accumulates on unused plots of land.
We managed two good days and then the weather closed in. Since then we’ve had a couple more: we’ll just keep snatching those fair-weather days until we finish the job. There’s a nice-sized pond that is perfect for a few ducks, although we’ve been told by more than one person that ‘ducks make such a mess!’ Alternatively we could keep chicken, but our neighbours have chicken, and we enjoy their eggs. Perhaps geese? But they’re quite noisy apparently. One daughter says that pigmy goats will make short work of the brambles and weeds, that’s very tempting! Our other daughter likes the idea of a pig…or even two…Lots to consider!
By the third week in January we were feeling the January blues, mostly because of the continual fog and rain that we get so much of here. On the one clear day we had, I spent a couple of hours in one of my favourite coves – trying to clear my mind and begin to think about painting again. The tide was a spring tide, and the waves were pretty huge, but at low tide I could scramble across the rocks and explore the rock-pools and the local geology.
Priest Cove is marked everywhere by the residue of its mining history, huge blasted boulders striped with veins of quartz and iron cover the shore around Cape Cornwall, and at low tide the adits and caves can be accessed, although it’s unwise to do so unless you’re very aware of the dangers, and very fit. I admire them from the outside, but I wish I was more informed about what I am looking at! As it was a chilly day, I’d put plenty of layers on, and became quite warm, climbing over the rocks. As I made my way back to the cove I was congratulating myself on not slipping (I had several small accidents last year). Then down to the cove came two women, one quite elderly, who proceeded to strip down to swimsuits and plunge into the bathing pool! I was so envious; of their ability to slip into the cold water so easily, and of their ease in their surroundings. I was reminded that I’m still very much an ‘incomer’.
pwilsonsmith 