The Big Pond

Okay so I'm his Dad! It's quite hard to write about what Billy did today, without sounding like a complete idiot. However, I have the record books on my side. The event was the Cornwall County Athletic Track Championships over at Par, try saying that when you've had a few. The best that Cornwall has to offer. Billy entered the U11 800m, it's what he wanted to run.

The race started at 1.25pm and went as follows. The start was pretty crazy. One lad went steaming off down the track, Billy followed in hot pursuit. It just looked too fast to be sustained. Slow, slow, slow I urged Billy in my head. This was a race not a time trial. We had a plan, this was not it! But to no avail, the two continued at such an astonishing pace, completing the first lap quite a distance ahead of the others, On the bell, Billy was sat on his shoulder, looking focused and strong. Something surely had to give. This pace couldn't continue. Forty metres later and the other lad hit the wall. He dropped right off the pace leaving Billy now out front on his own. I think we all expected Billy to drop back to the pack too, but he did exactly the opposite, he stepped it up and got quicker. As he came down round the top bend and onto the home straight he was in full flow, sprinting with real purpose. He crossed the line as the others were just beginning the straight. The timekeepers checked their stop watches. "Two minutes 27!" came the shout. "Two minutes 27 secs?" They looked at each other. "What's the county record?"

"Were you going for the record?" Janey asked him later. "No, I kept thinking that big boy was going to put in a late charge!" He was indeed a very tall lad, but had Billy cared to look sideways he would have seen him about half a lap behind. Billy had retained his unbeaten running record but what I was more interested in is how his time compared to his peers around the country.

The Cornwall U11 record is 2mins 34 secs. Having researched on the internet the fastest time I can find throughout the UK whether it be club, county or event records, is two minutes 29 secs and that's the only one I can find in the 20's. He beat both and could have gone faster. He had plenty left in the tank. So what does that mean? That he's the fastest 11 yr old ever in UK? - it's a lovely if unrealistic thought, there must be a better time/s out there somewhere. No, what it is, is reassuring, that's what it is. When you live in Cornwall you can feel a bit cut off from the rest of the planet - this can be a positive thing, and it can be a negative. With our boys and their hobbies, the fear is that it's a negative, so we're always mindful of it. If football and running are to be Billy's main focus, maybe even career (follow your dream) then keeping in touch with what's going on in the bigger picture, outside of Cornwall is important. No point being a big fish in a small pond. So this was the first measurable chance to see how he stacked up against his contemporary's throughout the UK on a level playing field (ie a set distance on a track), to compare times with other counties and clubs.... and the reality is that he's gone out and put in a performance that would be the quickest in most regions (2.34 seems a popular county record) if not all. In other words, he's doing great. And that's very reassuring and relevant, particularly as he approaches Yr 7 and Secondary next term and we think about a school that will get the best out of him and help him to fulfil his dreams. Oh decisions, decisions.

Billyman crosses the line - the others are there somewhere!

I know, I know, banging on about my boys again! But hey, when your flesh and blood does good, you're bursting with pride. Bring back the guest bloggers! Whatever did happen to them?) I'm not going to stop there either. I'm going to press on with family matters! Findog was also at the event. He battled through his heat to pick up a hard fought bronze in the sprint final, an event that we entered him into by mistake (he's a long distance man and should have run in the 600m). Anyway, he took his chance and ran his little legs off! Tough following in big brothers footsteps, but he's come to realise that if he gets his head down he too can mix it up. His time will surely come. Great run boys, great day. We're keeping up with the big pond.

Findog on the left - he's not used to running this fast without a ball at his feet! His school report commented that Fin has a fifth appendage, a football permanently attached to his left hip wherever he goes.

Full for Bouncing

If you tried to send us an e-mail over the weekend, I'm afraid it would have bounced. Our e-mail box was full - not in-house but on our providers. Just needed to go into the system to delete a few Mbs off the mainframe. All done now. So if you did send us a message and you haven't had a reply yet, our apologies, perhaps you could re-send. Cheers big ears.

Janey Directions

Can I just point out to my Missus that when her friend says on the phone, "We're near the big hill, not Brae Hill" that that means the one near Rock, not Daymer! That was some expedition carrying all the wetsuits, BBQ, food, drink, chairs and towels around at high tide. Fun was had on arrival where Billy's Year 6 had congregated for beach games and grub. Bit of an informal leavers party.

Got the surveyor man in the house doing some measuring. This is the last year of us renting out half our house, we're going to join it all up. We've had visitors staying downstairs in the summer for the last 15 years, but now the boys are bigger, we could do with the space. We're looking at putting internal stairs in to join up the two levels and Janey's talking about building a mezzanine on the top floor. But I'm not convinced we need a Greek Tapas Bar in the house.

So that was the end of the News of the World. Had to buy the last edition as I've been a reader for many years. The inside section displayed all the best front pages since it began. Just illustrated to me exactly why I'm not going to miss it. Yesterday's NotW, today's fish and chip paper.

and there's more

Continuing on from my last blog.... when I got home, cucumber on the eyes, avocado face mask, panpipes and I was restored to normal stress settings! Not quite true (what are you talking about Pete, none of the aforementioned is true!), I have spent the last two days with the vision of this Black Golf 1.6 careering around the corner, imprinted on my brain. Lunacy. Reckless. Selfish. In hindsight what I should have done was not worry about becoming a youtube middle aged angry man lycra sensation and popped him one on the nose then and there. Jab to the nose followed by a knee to the nuts. Jab to the nose, knee to nuts. Jab nose, knee nuts. Nose, nuts. Nose, nuts. Develop a bit of a rhythm. Nose, nuts. Jab, knee. Did I just say that out loud? Turns out he went to College the next day and bragged about it. Ho,hum. The yoof of today - no respect innit! I blame Cher and all that Swagger Jagger.

In my fragile state I've treated myself to some new shoes. I had a meeting to attend down in Falmouth and I observed on the drive down a pong emanating from the foot well. My Snuk’s had got wet and there's nothing more smelly than a damp Snuk! I rushed to the shops to invest in some ‘Hey Dudes’ - similar to Snuk’s but with a rather chunky sole. In my hurry I had missed this fact, and so I know possess a pair of slip-ons similar in style to what my Dad might wear! I call them my 'special shoes'! They smell lovely. (ps I've been asked to leave Tesco's before now for shopping in bare feet! On the basis that I wash my feet daily and my shoes, never - why's that?!)

Yesterday was strange. After the boy's training at HMS Raleigh, we quite often head along to Mount Edgecumbe to give Libby a quick walk and swim. It’s a place that’s very good for the soul, sitting on the bank with an ice cream, watching the boats sail past. Last week I noticed a sign advertising a Photographic Course in the grounds of the historic house which I thought might be beneficial. So I booked on. £25 for a full day, seemed like great value.

On arrival at the designated meeting point it was immediately clear that this was a social group that I would not normally have been part of. We’d been brought together by a love of creativity. However, it was clear that within the structure of the assembled, the severity of any affliction, most notably limps, gave you higher social standing than the quality of your digital SLR. There were more walking sticks than at a fell walkers convention. Simply getting from A to B proved far more challenging and time-consuming than any efforts to compose shots, set f-stops and select shutter speeds. The morning was spent listening to an informative talk, then venturing into the private garden to take snaps of the flowers and bugs. Not a particular love of mine, but a worthwhile mission trying something different.

Come lunch time we were ready to refuel. One lady, who had clearly spent a lot of time stationed at the 'eat all you can' buffet revealed, to raised eye brows, that she indeed was the one who was the sole vegetarian in the group. A wonder of science. My mind imagined a field of wandering heffers and how they too grew to quite a size eating just grass. I concluded that this lady must comfortably be satisfying her five a day quota and therefore would be internally extremely healthy and quite probably, regular. I caught her sneaking a piece of chocolate cake into her bag, “for my friend.” That’ll be the imaginary friend then. To her credit, she was walking ‘sans stick’. Not a speedy walker on the flat. On downhill stretches she was able to build up a good head of speed which would see her pass us on the next uphill stretch, annnd on the way back down again, as she rolled past uncontrollably having just come up short of the brow. Back and forth she went in the gullies. Anyone watching us, could have been mistaken for thinking we were watching Nadal and Federer knocking up.

The afternoon resumed with a lengthy (in time, but short in distance) walk to the pond where the ducks became the focus of our lenses. With the promise of a Photoshop workshop back at the Mansion House, I made my excuses and walked back to the car, would you believe it, with a limp! My new ‘special shoes’ being the cause of the niggle. I chuckled to myself about the day’s events and the onset of my sympathy limp. My Symp Limp. My Slimp. But I was now free to resume my life and living.

My sister is back from Hong Kong and staying down here five weeks. The cousins all picked up from where they last left off as if they’d been away for an afternoon. No chat about what each had been up to. The conversation went "Hi" "Hi' "Alright?" "Yep" That was the sum total of their catch up. Then straight outside to the garden for a Nurf gun battle.

Above are a few photos taken on my 'Course' - it's art but not as we know it!

Saved by the Lycra

What I witnessed this afternoon was the most inappropriate piece of driving I've ever seen. And I'm no spring chicken! I can't imagine what was so important for someone to feel that they had the right to drive so fast and so selfishly around narrow Cornish lanes. It was the action of an inexperienced and immature driver completely lacking judgement. The fact that he and I are still here, came down to luck, not his skill.

This afternoon I went for a bike ride. Thought I'd go for a quick blast while I had the chance. I turned out of our road heading past Carruan Farm on my left. As I approached the final bend before heading along the straight towards the turning for New Polzeath, this car came around the corner. And it was shifting. Shifting so fast that the back wheels were struggling to grip the road and only inches from the hedge. It was in effect traveling sideways, it's headlamps pointed in my direction. Yeah it was a bit scary. I could tell from the drivers reaction that he too was concerned. He was out of control and out of his mind. What was he thinking?

Mad? I was furious! But I knew who he was. I'd seen the same driver with most of his wheels off the ground traveling at ridiculous speed over the brow of a hill, just outside Wadebridge. My ride was over. I headed back to the beach where I knew he worked. A female police officer happened to be there, so I took up my complaint with her. Still dressed in lycra, confrontation didn't seem like the most sensible thing for me to get into. If I'd have been normally attired, I may well have boffed him one on the nose (something I've never done before). If the police officer had witnessed what I had just seen, he would have lost his licence, no question. I cycled home, got changed, calmed down and drove back to the beach, where he still was.

We had a chat, and to be fair he apologised. He knew he'd done wrong. He's not a bad lad, just a young boy lacking experience. He thinks he's invincible. But he's not. There have been plenty of fatal car crashes in this area. We don't want another one.

We've all been there - that taste of freedom and independence. We've all gone too fast. I know I did. But this was rally driving on a minor road. So this is his wake up call. Had there been walkers on that side of the road, as there sometimes are, he'd have got them all. Had he slid one more inch and clipped the bank, neither he nor I would be here this evening. How we chooses to drive from now on will say a lot about his character. Let's hope for mine, yours, you kids and his sake, he considers his actions and slows down.

His friends will probably find this all very funny and heroic. The people that really care about him, will take him to one side and I'm sure will have a little word in his ear.

Update: In recounting my story this morning I hear from others that he likes to time his runs! Around small Cornish roads? See how quick he can get from A to B. I'm going to report him this morning to the police. Hopefully a considerable hike in insurance premiums will focus his mind and with a bit of luck get him taken off the road. That would be the best scenario for all concerned.

Big and Messy

Big Sam taking on the chunky surf conditions this morning.

Sketchy

I can't deny that we had some fun tonight at Greenaway, me and Libby. Well sketchy as the surf raced up the beach. Not only did it race up, but on this shot above, that surge that you can see came right around the back of us! Surf was pumping and dumping!!

Nothing to Report

We're busy with school groups, but it's pretty quiet around on the beach in general. I'd have to say that apart from weekends, Polzeath is definitely quieter than normal. That's not a bad thing!

Just seen the Swagger Jagger vid from Cher. Am I the only one that likes it? Get, get, get up on the floor!!

Snoop Dog

'Instructor Bonding' on Saturday night. All in good spirits. Sounds like it went well. I met up with them for some photos before they toddled off with Wail and Sam to various drinking holes around town. Kelly (on left) is Snoop Dog! (added later: I've just seen some of the photos from the other night and I can indeed confirm that a good time was had by all - and there's absolutely no way I'm putting the snaps on here!!)

I've said it before, I'll say it again and fingers crossed, I'll be saying it in the future - this is a great team. Good vibe on the beach, in the office and shop.

I forgot my camera this morning! So it'll have to be a sunset one from last night.

Oh and I should give a big mention to St. Minver School, who for the first time in many years won the District Sports. Here's Billy taking the 200m in his stride. Fit as a fiddle he is. Findog too, although I didn't get a photo as his 400m race was super close and I was cheering too much!

Dog Whisperer

Glorious beach day! 2ft, light offshore, sun's on full beam! It's school activity week - this is what we trained for!

Following a rather lengthy bike ride yesterday, taking in the sites of Torpoint, Downderry, Looe, Liskeard, Bodmin, Wadebridge back to Polzeath I ended up collapsed on my bed looking up at the light (turned on) dangling from the ceiling. It was at this point that my research began. My observations were recorded as follows -

That a fly will circle clockwise five times, before performing a figure of eight and then doing five times anti-clockwise. The pattern is then repeated indefinitely. This presumably is to counter act any possibility of dizziness. I cannot comment with any real certainty what came first - the clockwise or the anti-clockwise.

Having been hypnotised by the fly, I decided that it would be fun to try and hypnotise my dog.

I summoned Libby to the bedroom. "Libby Loo." She came. "Sit!" She obliged, she's a Lab, keen to please. "Good girl!" I hovered my finger above her big black nose and then did small circles around her snout. This caused her to open her mouth nice and wide, her big brown eyes fully focused on the tip of my index. I made the circles progressively wider and wider, until her mouth would stretch no more, and she yawned! Worked every time. That's a great game!

So what can we learn from the above? That I need to drink more on long rides! That's pretty clear. Having said that I forwarded my fly observations to Falmouth Uni last night and they sent me a 2:1 by special delivery. Crammed three years work into an afternoon, and saved myself twenty seven K!

It was hot yesterday, mind. I came back from my ride with a good Poo Head and some wicked Farmers arms.

We have a group of German students staying with us at the moment. Last year I made a joke on here about the German sausage as they took to walking around on the Beach House decking in their 'Budgie smugglers'. Turns out my sense of humour didn't travel. Anyway, they're a credit to their school. Organised, polite, appreciative, athletic, quick learners - they've got a great positive mind set. No question, they're a top crew, very welcome and we enjoy having them to stay.

Whilst I cycled, Janey drove the Mondeo Estate back from Plymouth yesterday. First time she'd driven the monster. "My legs were a bit short." she commented. "Nonsense." I replied. "They touch the floor." Mind you as she drove past I was reminded of the dwarf that Richard Hammond had as a co-pilot on Top Gear. Could just see the top of her head!