It is a well known fact that a flying trip to St Ives is an endurance test of 24 hours. We know precisely how long it takes because we have done it bunches of times, beginning with climbing aboard the Cybertruck, and ending with a sometimes hair-raising ride to a cottage in the back seat of a cab.

All the cottages are unique and filled with their own darling decor. This one has an ocean view, and an ocean, and a large number of boats (some with red sails called 'Luggers'), lots of free-wheeling sea gulls, and a stair lift. 

a What? you ask. Yes, it has a stair lift - as in Carl Fredricksen from the animated movie called "UP", when Carl needed one because his knees or ankles or legs weren't quite at the top of their game. My own knees, ankles, and legs are fairly tip-top. But I'm liking this Carl Fredricksen "UP" character, now that we have something pretty profound in common.

Carl Fredricksen

The 24 hour ordeal ended at 5:35pm on Friday evening as I waved to my friendly cabbie, and turned to greet the owner of my cottage. We were to meet there so he could give me the keys and show me how to use the stair lift. It's hilarious.

I was feeling the effects of only a couple of hours sleep on the plane and train, and was probably speaking gibberish. So we finished with the tutorial and entered the cottage. I was instantly silenced. Faced by a wall of shining, gleaming windows, I could only think of only one word to say, and said it again and again. "Stupendous!" 

For there was the sea. A sea you cannot describe enough. A gem-of-a-sea with mesmerizing colors mingling in a million ways, reflecting the sunlight in all its glory. And out there standing, and sitting, and swimming were the people and the dogs, shout-barking and having one beauty of a time, and I wanted to be out there too. But there was no time because I needed food! and so I thanked the kind owner, clutched my keys and ran off to my little essential chore. 

(If only I had a Butler! Or at least an Amazon Fresh delivery!)

Thus ended my first day in St Ives, 2026. Have you ever adopted a town? or a county? or a State? or a continent? No country could ever replace the good old USA, for me. I knew this decades ago, standing aboard the SS Austraulis as that mighty ship slowly approached the Panama Canal. A group of Americans stood there together, silenced by the appearance of the American flag. Old Glory. Stars and Stripes. I looked around at these dear people, American to the bone. Many had been away for years, and were washed by the grip of a love they remembered afresh. All of us wept.

So there will be no adoption process; no saluting of somebody else's flag. But I sure do like it when I fly across the Pond. Just look for that American lady in row 46 seat C, the one who is grinning from ear to ear.

That'll be me.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

An American in Geevor

In the Geevor Mine today

 I did so want to take my husband to the Geevor Mine near the village of Pendeen. I wanted him to see the green fields along the way and hear the unusual and fascinating way Cornish cabbies talk to their fares when they are cooped up with them for a half hour.

 I wanted my husband to go deep into the mine that is no longer in operation but still has all its parts intact. But mostly, I wanted him to see OUR SON 'DOWN THE MINE'!

He - the Doppelgänger - was down there, I tell you.

I've already shared in this space that I had once visited the depths of Geevor Mine, been scared by the smallness of the space, thought I would scream, yet made it out unscathed. After this small drama I walked around the lockers the miners had once used, saw the clothes hanging in the opened lockers, small nick-knacks belonging to the men, and enlarged smiling miner pictures usually smoking a cigarette. 

It was then that I saw him.

I found a double of my Rather Stunning Son.

(Donald Dunston)

It was weird, and I was suddenly filled with a desire to bring my son here to see himself. I did this in 2023, and we asked a volunteer if any of the retired miners knew Donald Dunston. They told us that a retired miner who had known Donald was working that day! We searched for him, found him, and bought him a pot of tea while plying him with questions about mining as he knew it.

You can read it all here: https://sconetherapy.blogspot.com/2023/05/cornwall-day-3-down-mine.html

So today I brought my husband to see his son in the mine and to marvel at the lifestyle experienced by those men long ago, digging out tin, copper, and other elements so badly needed by the general populace of the world.

And do you know what? We saw that retired miner there again today! He is called Colin McLaren. We didn't get to buy him tea, or be able to ply him with questions. But we saw him, and that was enough. Colin McLaren is a lovely man, very kind and shy and followed around by young and old alike after he spoke for them. Here he is back in 2023:

Colin McLaren, retired miner at Geevor

We ate a Cornish Pastie and enjoyed the bright sunlight beaming around us through the enormous cafe windows. In due time, our erstwhile cabbie came to collect us, and we said goodbye to Geevor. We now have one more day in Cornwall, a day which will include packing up, cleaning up, getting rid of food we cannot take with us, and saying goodbye to friends. It's been lovely. 

It always is lovely.  

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

Down the Geevor Mine

We Put Ourselves in Cornwall in October

 

A friend's back yard on Friday when it wasn't raining yet

 We haven't had all that much to do or to write about in quite a few days. First of all, it has been rainy and windy which no one can complain about because (take a breath) they themselves booked the cottages and put themselves into wet Cornwall in October. Next is the discovery that my knee (or at least the back of my knee) has developed a 'crack'. Or, at least there is a sound of a crack. It happens whenever I move the knee, and then the knee cracks and tells me that hurts, and would I please stop moving it, if I don't mind.

 So we do not walk and run and search out foods and other fun shopping ideas along Fore Street right now.

 So even though it was raining outside, and my knee was sore, and the bedroom windows banged like a relentless hurricane, we got bundled up and went out on a rain-walk just now. Because we are well endowed with coats, and especially the SconeLady's two-coats-in-one, the air was cold but we were not! 

 I expected to see empty streets again, and people crammed into hot restaurants. But that is not what we saw. We saw the adult tourists all out sitting on beach benches, watching the kids and dogs which were IN THE FREEZING WATER. We could hear them squealing all down the Wharf. Now that's entertainment.

 We came back to our cozy, three story cottage with steep stairs, thinking about leaving in four days. It sure did go fast, dear Readers. And we sure did love it. But I won't be altogether sad to leave it this time. Trying to sleep with bedroom windows that bang like a relentless hurricane at night is not all it's cracked up to be.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

A Cornish horse I've come to love

American Pancakes in a Foreign Restaurant

We were the only people out of doors yesterday morning. St Ives was as deserted as one of the black and white fifties Sci/Fi movies my husband likes so much. Abandoned streets, restaurants open but empty, and winds of enormous size. 

We crept out into the chaos with hesitation. The winds had been so loud and so strong in the night that we thought the roof really might lift off, and we'd be Dorothy over the rainbow. Surrounded by flying rubbish bins.

Seeking something to eat that was not a chocolate twist, a croissant, a cinnamon bun, or an apple turnover, we finally settled upon a real breakfast at The Hub. We love The Hub because it has a porch out front with dear little tables and splendid tea. The Hub was open but empty, just like everything else. 

We decided not to sit inside where it was over-heated, but outside where it was brisk. There was also a dog flopped out under the chair of his Master, and I maneuvered toward the dog's table. (We like the dogs of St Ives, and maneuver ourselves in their direction as often as possible. My husband says, "That's a fine looking dog you've got there," whenever someone has a Golden Retriever. Golden Retrievers ROCK. We would like the cats of St Ives, too, only there aren't any right now. Where did they all go? We are puzzled about this. Maybe they are spooked by the winds of enormous size, or the proximity of all those dogs. We just do not know).

To bring this story to a swift end, I ordered the 'stack of American Pancakes'. Only they weren't actually American. They looked American. They had American butter, and American syrup on them, and you might almost think you were at a Denny's. But..

I wish I'd stuck with a chocolate twist.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

 

Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Yesterday at the Wharf

There was a large crowd with us at the windy Wharf today, everybody waiting for innocent victims (tourists) to become soaked. 

 Our favorite little sweet cottage is right there, and whenever we stay we hover around watching at high tide. It's only a matter of time before, WHAM! down it comes at high velocity on their hapless little heads. The watchers laugh and the tourists scream. Without fail. Today's tide was massive, so we sacrificed our dryness to see what would happen, taking videos. I became wet but it didn't matter, because of my new waterproof coat.

The children of St Ives loved getting soaked. Their mothers called for them to "Get away!" but they ran through it the way they would a sprinkler in the heat of summer (does Cornwall ever have sprinklers in the heat of summer? I'm thinking, not).

 I can hardly believe we have only one more week in Cornwall. During that one week, we want to hit the Coffin Trail again, walk St Michael's Way again, go to Wild Church again, and eat as many Moomaid's Dark Chocolate Sorbet cones as can fit into a normal sized tummy. (only it might not be normal sized right now)..

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

Would Mr Darcy Approve of Me?

My sister reminded me that in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennett was quite the walker. She lived in beauty, and wanted to be out of doors. Although there were times she read a book or talked with her sister about the two horseback-riding wealthy gentlemen, the English countryside would forever call out to her like a magnet.

But there was mud in that countryside, sometimes; and manure all the time, and water of a variety of types. You can see it in the series. 

In a recent blog post I included a photo that showed my own wet jeans - and socks. and shoes! To this, my sister replied, "I love your blog about St Michael's Mount! The bottoms of your pant legs are wet for 6-8 inches! It reminds me of when Elizabeth Bennett walked over to Netherfield to see her sister who was sick. Bingley's mean sister commented to Mr Darcy that Elizabeth's petticoats 'were 6 inches deep in mud!'"

                                                        

6 inches of mud

Bingley's mean sister would certainly NEVER go walking in mud. Bingley's mean sister liked Mr Darcy, and thought that if she brought Elizabeth's mud to Darcy's attention, Darcy would lose his interest in Elizabeth, and like her.

As you all know the denouement of the story, I don't need to tell you that having muddy skirts never hurt anybody's love story. My own jeans are in the washing machine right this very minute. This is because we walked St Michael's Way again today, and I know that Elizabeth Bennett would approve of me. 

And yes, I think Mr Darcy would too. Do you?

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

The mud in this English countryside 

 

The Land of Austen and Lewis

                                        

RF-4

 I don't know if soaking one's feet is a viable treatment for what we now call 'corns'. But since there is plenty of water on tap here in our cottage, and warm water feels good anyway, I shall soak them.

While I soak, I am thinking of how terrific it is to have married someone who is perfectly happy to go to and be at the places I like to go to and be at. It has been like this for a long time, starting with joining the Air Force and being given assignments in foreign lands. I hoped the foreign lands would be lands where they spoke English and shared similar cultural habits (a.k.a. England). And then when our first assignment was to a base in England, I couldn't believe it. It seemed miraculous. The land of Jane Austen and CS Lewis would be mine!

There was Oxford, and tea with crumpets, and driving on the wrong side of the roads, and Her Majesty the Queen, not to mention the excitement over Prince Charles and Lady Di, followed by Prince William. 

Because of that assignment, and then the next one (also England), our children have made friends here and kept them. Our mothers have come; our siblings have come; our friends have come; and we ourselves have been coming back, and will keep coming for as long as time allows.

And it's all because I married someone who is perfectly happy to go to and be at the places I like to go to and be at. Starting with joining the Air Force.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady