This life you have, Prue is just other worldly - those dolphins! Touching their (I imagine) squeaky, vinyl-like heads and seeing their faces would be such a thrill and I loved hearing the slap of the water as well. You cite Arthur Ransome (I adore those old school kind of wishywashy illustrations!) and I was thinking Enid Blyton as well and deffo a 'Wind in the Willows' kind of lunch, but much BETTER - because there were no "potted tongue sandwiches" haha. Yours is, clearly, vastly superior! This was such a welcome post. You almost make me want to become a swimmer too (almost!) because I have never liked being IN the water, only beside it. Thanks for this cheering post, nonetheless and hugs as always to The Terrier xo
Oh Sue, the touch is so swift, almost shy. But vinyl yes, patent leather maybe? It's an honour, honestly. How trusting they are!
Yes - all those watery adventures sang to me as a child and still do. My childhood was a kind of Swallows and Amazons life growing up on the coast in this little village. I've seen so much change (for the worst) but am glad my own children had the full watery adventure and we're making sure our grandson has the same as much as is possible with climate change and bad council development and planning.
You MUST become a swimmer. It's never too late and it's such an amazing world in and under the sea. It's my greatest regret, that since losing all rightside balance, I can never scuba. It was on my bucket list. I can however snorkel and one day, I'll use the Go-Pro and do a little essay/vid to show what I see.
From one Terrier-ist to another - Hi Five or whatever they do with their paws! XXXX
Kate, thank you. but just between you and me, I really have to push myself sometimes. A very big hard push from behind that I'm sure Mum has a heavenly hand in!
We're very lucky, Olga and even more so that its such an unsophisticated and removed place from the rest of the world. Island life has so many advantages.
You are right, Prue—that journey... if only we could feel the same sense of clarity as when diving into clear water, when nothing else matters, and everything makes sense. BLISS!
I'm listening to your linked music as I type this and can feel my blood pressure dropping, my shoulders relaxing. I can almost feel the azure waters across my legs as I imagine lazily floating and paddling near your splendid beaches, as you describe them so well. I've had that thrill of being so close to dolphins several times and it never ceases to thrill unlike any other thrill. Maybe like that of seeing whales; they too take my breath away. Thanks for giving us another glimpse into your world. And do take care in the sun- I don't want to lose you and your perspectives too soon. ❤️
I've got such a lovely skin specialist and he whips the offenders off but it is a concern. I wore a big hat today instead of a sun-visor as I walked the Terrier and a humdinger of a seabreeze came in, big end first, and my hat just took off. I need a Spanish riding hat that has ties under the chin. Protection and style all at once!
What a life. We are so blessed. Happy, happy sigh. And yes, the older I get, the surer I am that we must Live every moment we can. For this too shall pass. Enjoy it while you can dear Prue. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. 🤗🤗😘😘☀️ 🌊
Ha! Montreal. There was a 20 degree drop in temperature in 24 hours. It will improve this week. However these wild variations in temp are purely climate change related IMHO. We no longer have much of a spring. Enjoy your paradise.
We call that a polar vortex and have them here very occasionally but with no snow. I agree, climate change indeed, and I personally feel we only have two seasons now - summer and winter. Autumn and spring are beyond short-lived, even in a La Nina year.
Another absolutely beautiful read, Prue - this post has taken me straight to your beautiful ocean. What a treat to see the dolphins! I'll never forget the time I saw dolphins in the wild - it was absolutely wonderful. Your picnic on deck looks right up my street - and hurrah for your enthusiasm (which I share!) for that wondrous creature, the pickled walnut! 🙌
I grew up hearing Swallows and Amazons - we'd be read a chapter every night in bed, and over the years we enjoyed the entire Ransome canon of books. My parents had both grown up sailing, and my grandparents lived in the Lake District, making Arthur Ransome's stories so relatable. Loved every word.
It's great to hear that the Terrier is back up to speed with his watery wading! I'm so sorry about your concerns with your skin, and am sending a 'virtual' Elastoplast of love Down Under. 😘
Hurrah! Another Ransom fan! I swear I could be a child forever in his world.
The Terrier is louder and more fiercesome than ever, bless his damned paws. I've just had to haul him inside on an early Sunday morning because he's racing round the garden after starlings, barking up a storm. It's all in with him, no half measures. Sigh!
And you like pickled walnuts! We make our own to a family recipe. Love them with bitey cheese! It's always a December thing with us - the week before Christmas when one is busiest, the green walnuts are always ready to be picked and pricked. I hope I did enough this last December to keep us going for a couple of years!
Pickled walnuts are completely new to me! The squirrels and blue jays steal our walnut crop every year…but if they leave a few I will try pickling them!
You have to pick them early in the season when they're still very green and then you prick each one right through with a skewer (wear rubber gloves as your hands will turn black with stain that is almost impossible to remove). Then they should be left in the sun for 14 days to blacken right off. After that, you make the pickling solution, then bottle the nuts with the solution and leave for over 4 weeks before you eat them (we leave for 6 months to a year). It's a procedure and our recipe for that and for the solution is a family one. Maybe I'll post it as I've tasted others and they're awfully bitter.
The Terrier is rather like me, then, in his 'all or nothing' approach to the important things in life! May he bound around with gay abandon whenever the mood takes him!
How wonderful that you make your own pickled walnuts! I have to admit that we buy them - Opies brand - I am very careful with them because of all the sugar they put into the pickling liquor, but I don't need more than one at a time. The last walnut tree I came into contact with was at a botanic garden when I was assisting Jim on a shoot for the book - it was a windy day and I had to run for cover, because those things HURT when they hit from a height! 🤣
The local farm shop has been known to sell 'wet walnuts' in season - perhaps I need to plan ahead and get pricking and pickling?
This post touched something so deep within me that there were tears. Initially, I couldn't identify what the something was, but I knew the tears were not of sadness. I've been mulling it over for a few hours now and think it was, in fact, the very opposite. The sheer joy of it all, and the relative simplicity. Good food. Meaningful conversation. Openness. Blue water. The precision of the albatross's markings. The dolphins clearly felt it too, and they WERE communicating, though they speak another language. Just so magnificent and moving!
p.s. I wonder about long sleeve swimmers (like the little people wear). Maybe it's just too hot for those! Glad you're paying attention.
I too teared up. Such strong positive feelings. I think we all yearn for such a simple, pure, joyous lifestyle. I’m so thankful that we have Prue to share it with us in such a vivid fashion. Happy sigh. 🤗🤗
Oh my gosh - i had no idea this post would induce such a swathe of emotion. Reassured that people I felt might be kindred spirits are indeed. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Elizabeth, as it's so much a beloved part of my life.
I should wear a rash vest like the surfers sometimes do, but unless they're absolutely skintight (and on me, that's a sight to behold, I tell you) they bag as soon as they get wet and its awkward to swim. I do have one that I wear sometimes both in the water and on the kayak but its not a favourite thing. My only option is to coat myself in SPF's before I go in and immediatley when I get out.
Mostly I wear a linen shirt over the swimsuit whilst out of the water and risk bare skin when in.
Oh, Prue! Thank you so much for this awe-inspiring feast for the senses. The video of the dolphins filled me with such joy and wonder…and more gratitude to you for sharing. I know I will watch the dolphins and listen to the music of the water, over and over, . Just like I will re-read this gorgeous essay!
These posts about your homeland make me wistful...I wish I could gather up my entire family and come live on your wonderful island! I think you'd easily have a career writing travel brochures if you chose to. But, who needs more tourists, right?
I've dealt with skin cancer several times and have an appointment in April to have another spot checked. 🤞🏼 If I'd only known back then what I know today (and that goes for a lot of things besides sun exposure!)
Yes, you're probably right. Who needs more tourists? The businesses do but then there's peace which would be lost. It's a conundrum. Some of us are called NIMBYS - not in my back yard.
Yes too, to if only we had known back then about skin protection. My dad had olive skin and brown eyes and yet he ended up with a huge scar across his nose. And about 9 months before she died, I took Mum to see the specialist and she had 9 removed across her back. She was so brave. But with genes from both Dad and Mum, I'm not sure I stand much of a chance.
The best we can do is catch them early. Keep the appointments faithfully and sound the alarm to all the sun worshippers (of which I was one!) Loved to bake in the rays until my bone marrow felt warm.
Pure beauty, all of it.
Isn't it though? Thank you, Mary.
This life you have, Prue is just other worldly - those dolphins! Touching their (I imagine) squeaky, vinyl-like heads and seeing their faces would be such a thrill and I loved hearing the slap of the water as well. You cite Arthur Ransome (I adore those old school kind of wishywashy illustrations!) and I was thinking Enid Blyton as well and deffo a 'Wind in the Willows' kind of lunch, but much BETTER - because there were no "potted tongue sandwiches" haha. Yours is, clearly, vastly superior! This was such a welcome post. You almost make me want to become a swimmer too (almost!) because I have never liked being IN the water, only beside it. Thanks for this cheering post, nonetheless and hugs as always to The Terrier xo
Oh Sue, the touch is so swift, almost shy. But vinyl yes, patent leather maybe? It's an honour, honestly. How trusting they are!
Yes - all those watery adventures sang to me as a child and still do. My childhood was a kind of Swallows and Amazons life growing up on the coast in this little village. I've seen so much change (for the worst) but am glad my own children had the full watery adventure and we're making sure our grandson has the same as much as is possible with climate change and bad council development and planning.
You MUST become a swimmer. It's never too late and it's such an amazing world in and under the sea. It's my greatest regret, that since losing all rightside balance, I can never scuba. It was on my bucket list. I can however snorkel and one day, I'll use the Go-Pro and do a little essay/vid to show what I see.
From one Terrier-ist to another - Hi Five or whatever they do with their paws! XXXX
Oh Prue you’ve done it again. Thank you.
My favourite part of this post is hearing the joy, awe and pleasure by those watching the dolphins.
I’ve always followed the don’t put it off theory, but it’s only been in later years I’ve realised I need to apply it to pleasure activities too.
Kate, thank you. but just between you and me, I really have to push myself sometimes. A very big hard push from behind that I'm sure Mum has a heavenly hand in!
i hear you
Watching that video made me smile. :).
And it's stunning where you and yours live.
We're very lucky, Olga and even more so that its such an unsophisticated and removed place from the rest of the world. Island life has so many advantages.
Thank you for sharing the lovely pictures - what a beautiful place you call home.
It's honestly heaven, Janice. We're really lucky.
Sure looks like it.
Thank you, Prue, for sharing this magical place through words and pictures. Oh how it makes me long for summer...and space...and clarity. 💙🙏❄️
Thank you Alice, for reading and commenting. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have such clarity?
I think it's part of the human struggle, to search for a clear direction in life.
I think that maybe though, it's the old dictum of the journey, not the destination.
You are right, Prue—that journey... if only we could feel the same sense of clarity as when diving into clear water, when nothing else matters, and everything makes sense. BLISS!
Ohh, I agree with Mary B-Pure beauty, all of it!
I'm listening to your linked music as I type this and can feel my blood pressure dropping, my shoulders relaxing. I can almost feel the azure waters across my legs as I imagine lazily floating and paddling near your splendid beaches, as you describe them so well. I've had that thrill of being so close to dolphins several times and it never ceases to thrill unlike any other thrill. Maybe like that of seeing whales; they too take my breath away. Thanks for giving us another glimpse into your world. And do take care in the sun- I don't want to lose you and your perspectives too soon. ❤️
Oh, thank you, that's so nice...
I've got such a lovely skin specialist and he whips the offenders off but it is a concern. I wore a big hat today instead of a sun-visor as I walked the Terrier and a humdinger of a seabreeze came in, big end first, and my hat just took off. I need a Spanish riding hat that has ties under the chin. Protection and style all at once!
Its sounds like a piece of Heaven Prue, just idyllic xxx
Ah, you know me well, Libby.
What a life. We are so blessed. Happy, happy sigh. And yes, the older I get, the surer I am that we must Live every moment we can. For this too shall pass. Enjoy it while you can dear Prue. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. 🤗🤗😘😘☀️ 🌊
Live every day... XXXX
Lovely place and delightful photos. Longing for warmer weather. But still appreciative of it all even minus 14 Celsius today.
OMG!!! So bitterly cold! No idea how people live in conditions such as that. Stay warm. 🤗
Hell's teeth, Alice! I'm shivering to think about it. Are you in the wilds of Canada? Or the northern tips of the USA?
Ha! Montreal. There was a 20 degree drop in temperature in 24 hours. It will improve this week. However these wild variations in temp are purely climate change related IMHO. We no longer have much of a spring. Enjoy your paradise.
We call that a polar vortex and have them here very occasionally but with no snow. I agree, climate change indeed, and I personally feel we only have two seasons now - summer and winter. Autumn and spring are beyond short-lived, even in a La Nina year.
Another absolutely beautiful read, Prue - this post has taken me straight to your beautiful ocean. What a treat to see the dolphins! I'll never forget the time I saw dolphins in the wild - it was absolutely wonderful. Your picnic on deck looks right up my street - and hurrah for your enthusiasm (which I share!) for that wondrous creature, the pickled walnut! 🙌
I grew up hearing Swallows and Amazons - we'd be read a chapter every night in bed, and over the years we enjoyed the entire Ransome canon of books. My parents had both grown up sailing, and my grandparents lived in the Lake District, making Arthur Ransome's stories so relatable. Loved every word.
It's great to hear that the Terrier is back up to speed with his watery wading! I'm so sorry about your concerns with your skin, and am sending a 'virtual' Elastoplast of love Down Under. 😘
Hurrah! Another Ransom fan! I swear I could be a child forever in his world.
The Terrier is louder and more fiercesome than ever, bless his damned paws. I've just had to haul him inside on an early Sunday morning because he's racing round the garden after starlings, barking up a storm. It's all in with him, no half measures. Sigh!
And you like pickled walnuts! We make our own to a family recipe. Love them with bitey cheese! It's always a December thing with us - the week before Christmas when one is busiest, the green walnuts are always ready to be picked and pricked. I hope I did enough this last December to keep us going for a couple of years!
Pickled walnuts are completely new to me! The squirrels and blue jays steal our walnut crop every year…but if they leave a few I will try pickling them!
You have to pick them early in the season when they're still very green and then you prick each one right through with a skewer (wear rubber gloves as your hands will turn black with stain that is almost impossible to remove). Then they should be left in the sun for 14 days to blacken right off. After that, you make the pickling solution, then bottle the nuts with the solution and leave for over 4 weeks before you eat them (we leave for 6 months to a year). It's a procedure and our recipe for that and for the solution is a family one. Maybe I'll post it as I've tasted others and they're awfully bitter.
I would love your recipe! It just may be that picking walnuts green at our place for pickling is the one way my husband and I will get to eat any!
Susan, I'll dig it out and attach it in the next few days...
That’s so kind 😊 Thank you, Prue. I look forward to seeing it!
There’s no rush, though—here, we won’t have green walnuts to rescue until August!
The Terrier is rather like me, then, in his 'all or nothing' approach to the important things in life! May he bound around with gay abandon whenever the mood takes him!
How wonderful that you make your own pickled walnuts! I have to admit that we buy them - Opies brand - I am very careful with them because of all the sugar they put into the pickling liquor, but I don't need more than one at a time. The last walnut tree I came into contact with was at a botanic garden when I was assisting Jim on a shoot for the book - it was a windy day and I had to run for cover, because those things HURT when they hit from a height! 🤣
The local farm shop has been known to sell 'wet walnuts' in season - perhaps I need to plan ahead and get pricking and pickling?
This post touched something so deep within me that there were tears. Initially, I couldn't identify what the something was, but I knew the tears were not of sadness. I've been mulling it over for a few hours now and think it was, in fact, the very opposite. The sheer joy of it all, and the relative simplicity. Good food. Meaningful conversation. Openness. Blue water. The precision of the albatross's markings. The dolphins clearly felt it too, and they WERE communicating, though they speak another language. Just so magnificent and moving!
p.s. I wonder about long sleeve swimmers (like the little people wear). Maybe it's just too hot for those! Glad you're paying attention.
I too teared up. Such strong positive feelings. I think we all yearn for such a simple, pure, joyous lifestyle. I’m so thankful that we have Prue to share it with us in such a vivid fashion. Happy sigh. 🤗🤗
I'm glad you felt the same emotions, Beth. They're such special creatures.
Oh my gosh - i had no idea this post would induce such a swathe of emotion. Reassured that people I felt might be kindred spirits are indeed. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Elizabeth, as it's so much a beloved part of my life.
I should wear a rash vest like the surfers sometimes do, but unless they're absolutely skintight (and on me, that's a sight to behold, I tell you) they bag as soon as they get wet and its awkward to swim. I do have one that I wear sometimes both in the water and on the kayak but its not a favourite thing. My only option is to coat myself in SPF's before I go in and immediatley when I get out.
Mostly I wear a linen shirt over the swimsuit whilst out of the water and risk bare skin when in.
Your prose is poetic. Gorgeous descriptions and the photos! And the video of the dolphins!! They are magical creatures.
“Maybe there is no tomorrow and what will I have missed?” ❤️❤️🙏🙏
Beautiful comments from Rachael Carson, aren't they?
Oh, Prue! Thank you so much for this awe-inspiring feast for the senses. The video of the dolphins filled me with such joy and wonder…and more gratitude to you for sharing. I know I will watch the dolphins and listen to the music of the water, over and over, . Just like I will re-read this gorgeous essay!
Susan, thank you so much for reading and I'm glad it gave you such pleasure.
These posts about your homeland make me wistful...I wish I could gather up my entire family and come live on your wonderful island! I think you'd easily have a career writing travel brochures if you chose to. But, who needs more tourists, right?
I've dealt with skin cancer several times and have an appointment in April to have another spot checked. 🤞🏼 If I'd only known back then what I know today (and that goes for a lot of things besides sun exposure!)
Yes, you're probably right. Who needs more tourists? The businesses do but then there's peace which would be lost. It's a conundrum. Some of us are called NIMBYS - not in my back yard.
Yes too, to if only we had known back then about skin protection. My dad had olive skin and brown eyes and yet he ended up with a huge scar across his nose. And about 9 months before she died, I took Mum to see the specialist and she had 9 removed across her back. She was so brave. But with genes from both Dad and Mum, I'm not sure I stand much of a chance.
Sending you all the best wishes for your ongoing skin cancer treatments, Prue. Take good care.
The best we can do is catch them early. Keep the appointments faithfully and sound the alarm to all the sun worshippers (of which I was one!) Loved to bake in the rays until my bone marrow felt warm.
Oh, Prue, you’ve made me long for the sea. I love your foodie descriptions too!
If I can convert one person to the coast and sea, then I'm glad...