Warming Up

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Dragged the reluctant kids to the Lost Gardens of Heligan, (I bet I made the joke about finding them on my last visit, but am not going to check or repeat it here) but managed to keep them there for over four hours, even though they largely claimed not to be enjoying themselves.

We went on our second rope bridge of the holiday, but this one was more sturdy and the kids kindly didn't try to shake it and I got across without any vertigo or pant-wetting (I didn't wet my pants on the first one and anyone who says I did is lying).

We got right to the top end of the attraction and I loved the sculpture of the fox that greeted us there and we then headed to the wildflower meadow, which thanks to the recent heatwave is just a field of almost exclusively dry brown plants.

Then we found our way to the playground where I had my first pasty of the trip and the kids played tetherball (which made them happier than the long walk through the woods) before we went to see Maddie Moat off of Maddie's Do You Know who did a talk about bees, possibly aimed at slightly younger kids than ours - though I learned a lot. Do you know how bees choose the queen? it's amazing. I will never tell. Bees are fucking crazy and the way they make honey is insane. I'll be sad when they all die out and the planet dies with them.

Ernie asked a valid question - Which came first the flowers or the bees? But we didn't hang around for the Q and A bit so we will never know.

The kids were keen to get to the beach again, but we took in a few more bits of the Gardens and found a hut with microscopes in it that was fun.

Then we went back to the same beach as yesterday.

The sea was much rougher and further up the beach and the waves were crashing dangerously on to the sand. Not many people were braving the windier conditions, though a few brave souls were leaping in the waves, some of them over by some scary looking rocks. Haven't these pricks been keeping up with the news?

Our kids were fascinated by the sea before, but as much as we told them to keep back for fear of being caught in the undertow, they kept edging closer and closer, playing chicken with the waves. They were having so much fun, but we were quite scared. Seeing our fragile children framed against the fierce and uncaring churning sea was very sobering. I kept asking them to come back, but they couldn't resist the lure and on the occasions I was down there, I have to admit, it was exhilarating fun to run from a sudden mini tsunami and attempt to stay dry. Ernie was very unsuccessful with the staying dry bit, but luckily his mum is always prepared and had dry clothes for him, even though we hadn't planned to come back here.

To demonstrate that our fears weren't entirely unjustified, a rescue helicopter appeared some way out to see and seemed to be trying to rescue someone or something from the waves. The orange object they picked up on their winch kept falling back into the sea, but finally they got it aboard. I don't know if it was a real rescue or a training run, but it was some unexpected drama.

First guest for the (possibly) final ever live RHLSTPs in London this autumn announced in the badger secret area and behind substack paywall.

Might well be your last chance.