We slept in this morning. I had refused point blank to set the alarm clock and we woke up at 11am, almost exactly 12 hours after going to sleep. It was nice not to get up feeling like I hadn't been to sleep but I felt decidedly groggy and the feeling of everything being too much effort did not go away for the rest of the day. I have agreed to the alarm clock being set for a respectable time tomorrow morning.
We have had a few issues with workmen today. After breakfast, we noticed that the fleet of Volkswagens had all gone out, so thought it would be an ideal time to try out the hot tub without being interrupted or delayed by someone else already being in it.
However, we arrived to find a white van parked in front of the window, with workmen milling around in a typical workman style of not really doing much work. I did notice that one of them was eating a Cornish pasty, which I would have been quite pleased about in a stereotypical kind of way, were it not for the fact that our hot tub experience was now quite clearly going to have to be delayed.
So we decided to go out straight away instead. As it was getting on for 1 o'clock we set off for a picnic and a walk by the sea nearby. Upon reaching the end of the drive, we found the road completely blocked by a triangular "men at work" sign, 4 workmen in yellow waistcoats, and a lot of bits of tree. To be fair to them, they were actually working quite hard, and were quite close to the mark with their 5 minutes they said it would take to clear the road.
We started the walk at a little cove called Millendreath which looked charming on the map but turned out to be a bit of a ghost town. There was a vast boarded up seafront building which looked like it would have served numerous cream teas and ice creams in its day, but looked quite depressing in it's current state. We later found out that it had closed down due to it's owner being sent to jail for an armed robbery!
Our walk took us almost immediately up a steep hill and onto a coast path which I'm sure had more uphill than downhill. I was still feeling lethargic and unfit although Claire seemed quite sprightly. We eventually settled on an agreed picnic spot and were just about to open our sandwiches when a local chap turned up and started quizzing us about the helicopter which was flying around overhead. He wanted type, colour, number of rotors (if that's what the windmill things on top are called), and of course what it was doing. None of which we were really able to answer satisfactorily. He regaled us with tales of coastguard rescues and deaths at sea (just what you want when you're trying to relax with a chicken sandwich), and also informed us that the weather was about to turn and there was going to be torrential rain starting tomorrow.
I noticed eventually that Claire had stopped talking and was quite deliberately looking first at her unopened sandwich and then at the man. I decided to try the same tactic in the hope that he'd take the hint and leave us to it. Several awkward silences later he asked "are you going to eat those sandwiches then?". I had to bite my tongue to avoid offending him but a few minutes later he said goodbye and walked off.
We ate our lunch and immediately went in search of a cream tea before the man could return. When we were feeling suitably sick after too much jam and cream we returned for another go at the hot tub. This time was much more successful and we have both decided we want one when we move to our house in the country.
It's of note that over the past 24 hours I have learnt a couple of surprising, if not downright shocking things about Claire. Firstly, whilst doing the census I discovered that Claire quit school before completing her A levels! I'm not sure why, but I find this quite disturbing, although I'm gradually coming to terms with it.
Secondly, I found out that my ridiculously laid back and calm girlfriend has in the past suffered from panic attacks. I was relieved to find out that she has not had any since meeting me.
Who knows what shocking home truths are in store tomorrow!
I have just checked the weather forecast and to my annoyance, the man from the picnic spot seems to be right. From Wednesday it is going to be pretty wet. So we are going to make the most of tomorrow with another coast walk to an isolated beach, followed up with another trip to the hot tub.
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