Walking around St Ives and visiting the antiques fair without Diana after a night’s thunderstorm and then playing ball and going for a dinghy ride with Daniel before an evening’s reading
A reasonable night’s sleep and Diana up to the galley to prepare the morning drinks. It really needs me to do this so that she can prepare the breakfast and the children and we suffered a little from disorientation as the baby cried. A nice breakfast of melon to start and fresh toast to follow. We turfed the kids out after to play and get exercise as we cleared up. The ground was wet outside after a real thunderstorm in the night, but the morning sun and air was so warm that we had the sliding roof back as we ate our breakfast. I ran The Lady’s engine to recharge the battery, as we are staying at the Waits Quay again today without cruising. Afterwards, all up to the St Ivo centre together to swim from 10 to 11am and then I looked round the antiques fair for a couple of hours as the others went back. A few things of interest – boxes, folding chairs – but I bought a silver tipped (1919) walking cane of good length as my only purchase. Back to eat a salad of cheese and pork pie as Diana went for a walk and the baby slept. An afternoon of rain, which kept us in The Lady, but I wore my waterproofs to scrub down the roofs and deck and then repair Daniel’s dinghy engine. After a tea of sausage rolls and jam tarts, the weather cleared and the sun came out. I left Diana to look after the girls and went for a good long walk around St Ives.
I concentrated on the architecture and admired the waterfront houses, both in their own right and as playing host, down their alleyways, to a number of old cottages and buildings only accessible by alleyways and footpaths. The merchant’s house at the end of town quay attracted much of my attention, with the connected barn for garaging and the sheltered and enclosed walled garden at the rear. On a balmy evening, eventually back to The Lady and to a tirade of scornful abuse from Diana, who was not content to be left alone. Then to play catching ball with Daniel and take the dinghy out for a tour as the sun set on a calm evening. The late evening reading about antiques and writing my journal after settling Debbie down with another bedtime story. I light the paraffin lamp this evening to add more light and heat to the saloon as the temperature cooled. The barometer fell and stabilised at 1010 today and, not listening to TV, are eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s weather for the Bank Holiday market.