Sometimes I have such feelings of guilt when I spend time doing pleasurable things that it almost puts me off doing them. Almost...But not quite. Life is for living and we are only here once so it comes down to all of us to make the most of what we have and live each day as if it were our first; eyes and hearts wide open, ready to see things as we did when we were children and not so full of cynicism we can't see the wood for the trees. That said, the sun is out, the sky is blue, who's for the beach?
I am not the kind of woman to waste a glorious day indoors cleaning. Dust will always be there if I live to be a hundred, but warm, sunny days are few and far between, so it would be a crime to do anything other than be out in it and enjoy what Mother Nature has sent us. Besides that, Pea finally finished her exams yesterday and now has ten weeks at home with which to do nothing, so it obviously falls to me to provide a little diversion now and then. Going to the beach is something we are lucky enough to do whenever we want, but I still love it as each time is different. Today we chose a beach further away from the ones we usually go to, but we wanted to feel as if we were on holiday, so somewhere less familiar was necessary.
We chose Red Wharf Bay. When we arrived the tide was out, far out and going even further out by the minute, but it afforded us the opportunity to walk bare-foot down to the shore along soft, warm sand and enjoy the feeling between our toes.
Jelly-fish season is upon us and the beach was littered with washed-up bodies drying in the sun. A jelly-fish is a beautiful creature and it is always sad to see such beauty sadly abandoned by the sea and dying as the sun beats down on their delicate forms. But it is the circle of nature and they will become food for sea birds and later on today when the tide turns again, it will take them all back to the sea where fish and other marine creatures will feed on their remains and nothing about their lives will be wasted. Perfect.
The sea, when we reached it, was warm and inviting. The waves lapped gently against our legs and gulls called in that special way that can only mean one thing; you are at the seaside!
What ever beach I visit, the same thing happens to me after about half an hour of pure sea air; I get hungry. Really hungry. The kind of hunger that I never feel anywhere other than the beach. We headed back along the sand to a gorgeous little tea-room-cum-restaurant and sat outside under a giant parasol. We had tea and Pea indulged in a home-made vanilla ice-cream the colour of clotted cream and dotted throughout with vanilla seeds.
I am not overly keen on ice-cream. I think it's because when I want a treat I want something comforting, not something that will crash against my teeth and give me brain freeze. However, tomorrow I will be making ice-cream. Bit of a paradox, I agree, but there is a reason for it. This ice-cream is soft, smooth and comforting. It is filled with hazelnuts, copious amounts of double cream and, would you believe, brown bread. I know, I thought the same thing when I was given the recipe a few years ago. I will say no more for now as I will write more fully about brown bread ice-cream tomorrow; after I have cut the lawn, cleaned the bathroom, washed a small mountain of dirty clothes, (having picked them up off the floor first) and completed several other delightful chores I neglected to do today. But in the distant future, today is the day that I will remember; another stitch in the tapestry of my life, not tomorrow full of house work and boring stuff. When I am dead, hopefully I will be remembered for being kind, always smiling and making nice food.
I do not want to be remembered for having a perfectly clean house.
Let the dust settle and steal a day for yourself! xxx
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