Fri, May 1st

Today we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary just as we had our first, in St Ives. This time we had a ride over with the hope of finding a framed picture of Hayle to commemorate the holiday and as a gift to ourselves. However, I am getting a little head of myself.

After exchanging cards, receiving a anniversary text from my daughter Hayley, a shave, bath (no shower), and breakfast, we headed into town to get some photos before the so called rains came. We also wanted to have a drive around the residential part of Hayle, after I'd grabbed some photos of the Parish church in Phillack that had been there since 500AD, and The Bucket of Blood pub, to get a better feel of the place. That took all of five minutes. Like Dawn said, it's a pretty small town. But for those who visited Dawn in Oriental, NC, nothing as remote or isolated. This is bustling in comparison.

We then drove to St Ives and parked the car so we could check out the art gallery for a painting or print. Dawn went first and found some she liked. When I went I had to plump for the panoramic print of Godrevy Lighthouse from the beach at Hayle. It cost more than we had hoped, but we put the money Dad gave us for our anniversary towards it so it didn't break the bank.

The ride back to Hayle was the scenic route and with the windscreen wipers moving back and forth. As predicted, the rains had come. Thankfully after we had picked up the framed print. In town we stopped and picked up some more ice cream from Mr B's and a couple of pasties from Philp's Bakery. They had only been in business since 1958, so they weren't as good as Warrens. The ice cream was for dessert after dinner.

The pasties were so filling that I decided to go for a walk on the beach even though it was raining to lose some weight. Sorry, an excuse. I wanted to photograph some windsurfers on the waves. The wind and rain certainly brings them out. Then it was back to editing photos while Dawn did the journal again.

Our anniversary dinner was some really good fish and chips from Loggans Fish Bar in town. We spotted it when we went for a drive earlier in the day. It was so much better than Hubbard's. And, all things considered, an appropriate anniversary meal. Especially with the Ferrero Rocher and Cherry Ripple ice creams with chocolate flakes for dessert.

I did the washing up for the first and only time while Dawn went for one last walk along the beach. This time she headed towards the dunes just north of us and ended up along the clifftops. She arrived back exhausted and totally thrilled by the views from the clifftops. Another fitting end to our anniversary.