Round the Island

 

Well, this was the hardest trip I've done in this country. Although I've paddled around the Isle of Wight before, the weather was shocking. It blew force 5 all weekend and force 6 at times, which made some of the sea states quite scary. It made paddling last Sunday look straight forward.

I couldn't let go of the paddle to grab water or food for the 1st 30km, and only managed to land once in the 60km done on the 1st day! Even though it was the start of Cowes week, I only saw 3 sailing boats South of the Island, one of which I kept up with with the sail up for nearly 20km.

Off to Weymouth for a long weekend, where I hope to forget all about kayaking. The resultant pain should recede by the time we're back.

In the meantime, here is a far more pleasant trip from the week before filmed by Nick. Thanks Nick, its great not to be the cameraman sometimes!

 

Looe Island

 

Christa won us a short break with the Cornish Wildlife Trust on Looe Island last week. It was during the heat wave, so we hardly need an excuse to spend all day every day bobbing around in the sea.

 

Half term fun.

 

Another great week down in West Penwith. Keep your eyes open for the dolphins!

Nice look Bryn

 

 

Well, he did say his fringe was getting in his face. Morwenna made sure that isn’t likely to happen again for a year at least!

Luckily, Christa is a whizz with the shears and has prevented too many comparisons being made with that guy from Slade.

 

A busy Weekend

 

Well, Easter is nearly upon us. There’s been no let up since Christmas, so a little break is in order. More on that next weekend.

Last weekend was a blast. 1st up, taking the kids to the climbing wall. They’ve never been before, but I think we will be there again before too long. Great fun.

 

Then, after picking up a kit to attach a rudder to my kayak to make sailing less painful, it was back quicktime for Christa to back-comb her hair and get out for an 80’s night. I had included a photo, but she has demanded that I remove it!

Then, after a slightly slower start to Sunday morning, it was a ten mile run with Sam and Nik in preparation for an off road half-marathon we have planned. This is up in the Blackdown hills behind Taunton. Will need to be a little dryer under foot before we can do that mind.

Anyway, the afternoon was a little bit of fun with the kids, then fitting Niks kayak with a Flat Earth sail. Should make the miles fly by as soon as the water is warm enough to fall in regularly!

 

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRun

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Winter drawing to a close

 

Spring feels like its getting close now. It’s been half term this week, so its been a good time to close the clinic early a few days and get back to play. This post is the last 2 weekends.

Lucy and Alex came down with Molly and Iris. The kids seem to have Christa’s good memory and enjoy being with the other children like it was only a week ago they were together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swimming in the pool is back on the agenda, since the sea over here is still well too cold at the minute. Morwenna’s sole motivation to swim lengths in the big pool is to earn the money that she can spend on chocolate at the pool canteen.

Having decided to split the trees from the garden down by hand (!) I have moved all the rings under some leftover damp proof membrane to season and today made a storage area. The kids have decided it’s their den. Dangerous and dark areas hold obvious appeal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High areas also appeal, so now its time to see if we can get a decent treehouse up on the stump. The kids were making plans on this in the photo. Posts will be forthcoming when this happens.

 

I’d forgotten how good it is to play with the kids now the days are getting longer. They hadn’t had enough and were outside til with a lantern this evening. The result is a very quick bedtime!

The snow arrives

 

  

Well, the chickens didn’t know what to do in the snow, but the kids sure did! As soon as they knew school wasn’t on the menu (after all 3 cm had fallen, with another 1cm expected!), it was out for some fun. 

  

El Cotillo, Fuertaventura for Xmas

 

A well needed break over Christmas and new Year brought us to the Canaries again. If it ain't broke, don’t fix it I say. This time the temptation of surf took us to Cotillo on the Northwest coast. Whilst the surf was a little underwhelming and dumping, the coastline was lovely.

We all got ill, and i managed to fracture my skull in the surf, but it would take more than that to stop us enjoying ourselves. The kids spent most of their time swimming and exploring the calm lagoons.

Lovely to have mum and dad with us. Christmas without the lights and tree could have been a little flat, but there’s nothing like a Christmas swim to lift the spirits!

Paddling down the Exe.

 

Nik and I have just joined the local kayak club and gone out for the 1st paddle trip of the year. Hands were numb but we were all smiles, at least til we started getting wet!

 

Good bunch of people here at the club and well-run too. Cant wait to get out again.