DK is quite mad

Low Tide	02:20 (1.10m)
High Tide	08:33 (2.50m)
Low Tide	14:56 (0.60m)
High Tide	21:35 (2.50m)

Sea temperature: not taken, didn't feel we should get the human cork floating again
Sea conditions: rough
Weather: very windy, 30 MPH winds forecast
Joined by: Mertz, Abs and Boo Bob, her next door neighbour and his dog Blake, Legs and Mabel
Topics of conversation:
Introductions were clearly needed with such a crowd on the beach. Abs' neighbour had come to photograph the sunrise and I hope I may be able to put some of the results up here at some point. Legs has to rise early now that Mabel is able to join us because she is too curious to be left alone on the beach whilst we swim, especially in this weather. Mabel had joined us for the first time yesterday and spent the first few moments huddled in Legs's coat shaking, but after watching Boo chasing a stick for a bit she fond her own legs. It was a bit of a baptism by fire, wind, sea and dogs for the tiny thing, but she did brilliantly, even remembering to sit for a biscuit.

It was very rough this morning and so we did hem and haw about whether to go in. The Pirate, Mertz and I had gone in after lunch yesterday, when it was windy enough for the kite surfers, but the tide was low so we could swim. The beach was heaving again as it's half term now, but no one else seemed mad enough to swim. I was actually mad to swim, having been to my Mother's for Sunday lunch drinks, at which I'd consumed far too much alcohol on an empty stomach as usual and then we'd had a curry for lunch, but The Pirate says it's an old wives' tale that you shouldn't swim after eating so I went for it and didn't get cramp, throw up or any of those things you tell children.

Th Pirate didn't go in at all this morning, which was very sensible, Abs and I had a go but she fell over and I felt my legs go so we got out but off went DK, the human cork, bobbing south down the shore. I felt very nervous, especially with Legs and Mabel there! It's an optical illusion as it looks OK till you get in:

The Killing - it's coming back, that will change this blog as all we will talk about on a Sunday morning will be the last episode. It's how we all bonded in the first place - our mutual obsession with the series. Sarah Lund (sorry Sofie Grabol) was on The Culture show this week talking about it and it has just been announced that it is back on 12th November, thank goodness for Facebook in these circs. We may not be able to wait that long...

PS

We're hoping that the famous Mabel will be joining us tomorrow as she's had all her jabs, I went to see her today and she is very excited:

High Tide	06:27 (2.30m)
Low Tide	13:07 (0.80m)
High Tide	19:57 (2.30m)

Sea temperature: 12.4 yesterday
Sea conditions: rough, huge swell, big waves - scary
Weather: glorious
Joined by: Abs
Topics of conversation:
The sunrise, it was magical - we were stopped in our tracks by the sun appearing over the horizon and stood watching till it pulled itself away from the sea and that thin strip of sky snuck underneath it, separating it from the water and throwing its colours across the waves towards us. We all agreed that if we were to paint the sky exactly as it was this morning, we'd be accused of romanticism, no one would believe the tiny fluffy blue clouds, positioned exactly the same distance apart, the slate grey of the sea as the red sun changed it purely by contrast and the green glow above it all. I didn't have my phone or my camera this morning though, so you'll just have to take my word for it. There's a great passage in The Art of Travel where Alain de Botton talks about taking photos of places you visit and how the process removes you from the experience as you don't feel the need to remember what you see, I'll remember this sky for ever.
There was a great deal of discussion about the sea conditions. We couldn't really decide if it was do-able. In the end Abs and I had a go, got in up to our waists/head/waist/head (as the waves crashed at us)  and got swept north. The Pirate sensibly stayed on the shore and DK did his human cork impersonation for about 3 and a half minutes. It was exhilarating but I certainly wouldn't even have tried on my own. I got hit in the shin by a stone again and have a massive bruise - shame I'm having my legs waxed on Monday... ouchy.
Tracksuits - The Pirate's son has bought him one, it's not pink unfortunately and he's praying that it isn't covered in logos. It's hard to find ones that aren't - mine has DADA written on it for some reason, which led to the whole "DADA wouldn't buy me a Bauhaus" conversation, The Pirate took it to the next level and almost issued a challenge by saying that "Dada wouldn't buy me a Bauhaus because it might create the wrong Impression". Any further contributions gratefully received.
NIMBY's (not in my back yard) who complain about things in the village - one has really excelled himself by not only objecting to every single planning application but now he's complained about a fruit and veg stall on the street, which is run by 2 young boys who are home educated and the stall is part of their education and also about a Greek flag, which is flown in a garden on the green by way of tribute to the widow's deceased husband, who passed away in Greece. You really couldn't make it up. I'm afraid I was rather rude about him - even The Pirate raised his eyebrows.
Log splitting - Abs had an unfortunate experience with an axe, which resulted in loss of vision and loose teeth - we talked about the merits of axe vs splitters but now that I am typing this in the afternoon I can say that I really am erring on the side of the Logmatic - it's changed the way I look at the log pile. Matthew has leant us the full kit: splitter, basket, gloves, and we are trying it out it this weekend to see if we want to invest. So far so good. I managed to split a very large elm slice and a number of smaller logs in half the time I would normally take, but more importantly, nothing got stuck, I didn't jar my weakened back and was able to split logs on the 'not splittable' pile. And no, I'm not sponsored by Logmatic - but I could be...!

logmatic.co.uk

High Tide	04:12 (2.30m)
Low Tide	10:25 (1.00m)
High Tide	17:04 (2.20m)
Low Tide	22:32 (1.20m)

Sea temperature: 13.4
Sea conditions: good, calm but with a swell, which was stronger in the evening
Weather: the air temperature was fluctuating between 3.4 and 4.2, and there was a hard frost, even on the wooden walkway
Joined by: No one
Topics of conversation:
The Pirate was late...again.
Exercises for the back - DK's an expert in daily exercises and we discussed the merits of stomach crunches for supporting a weak back, I had planned on doing some daily on my return from the swim, but as DK pointed out, they need to be done before the swim, hmmm... that means less time snuggled up on the sofa with a dog on each foot checking my mail and reading the news, but I suppose it's worth it not to have this reoccur. I shall endeavour to start tomorrow - in the hope that I'll get a washboard stomach in the process, yeah, right.

The frost and it's grip on the village, we all have different journeys to the beach and had experienced frozen ground, frost on windows etc. and had I brought my neoprene gloves I would have worn them. DK wore his and even The Pirate is considering it. We are also trying to persuade him into a fleece tracksuit, the kind which associated with American coaches or carpet carriers and he is very resistant, preferring to still wear his dressing gown with a raincoat over the top, but as neither he nor I were able to do up the zip on his coat and the poppers have rusted it may finally be time for him to give in. We wear them, not just for warmth (and it's certainly not for elegance) but for ease of changing back after the swim, as it gets colder it's so important and The Pirate nearly ran home today due to the cold getting into his bones.  If he doesn't get one soon I am going to buy him one a la Vikki Pollard, in pink velour although I won't be able to call him The Pirate any more.

The strange land out to sea - this had appeared this morning and looked as if some Terry Gilliam world was coming up, far out to sea.

The last evening swim? The Pirate, Matthew and I went down this evening as the weather was glorious, The Pirate had been for a long dog walk late afternoon and got hot, yes, so he said, and so he called to see if we'd like to join him. Matthew and I had had the fire going all day, so we were toasty and although Matthew's initial reaction was 'no', he didn't take much persuading. It was beautiful on the beach and we had to pick our way between the fishermen as it was a lovely deep, high tide.

The Neopolitans

High Tide	03:19 (2.40m)
Low Tide	09:23 (0.90m)
High Tide	15:53 (2.20m)
Low Tide	21:32 (1.10m

Sea temperature: 13.2
Sea conditions: ripples
Weather: sun, crisp and a very slight frost
Joined by: no one
Topics of conversation:
The irony of by having done my back in doing something I try to persuade everyone to do, because it's good for you, e.i. yoga. I've never damaged it before and have no idea what I did wrong but having tried to brave it out yesterday I decided that swimming in the cold water wasn't going to help. The boys were very sympathetic, especially as it was my kind of sea this morning. We chatted briefly and then I wandered off, feeling sorry for myself, and took a few photos as I've usually been in the sea with them so haven't had any shots to prove that we actually do swim.  I'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out what the other topics were!

High Tide	02:34 (2.40m)
Low Tide	08:33 (0.90m)
High Tide	15:00 (2.30m)
Low Tide	20:43 (1.00m)

Sea temperature: not taken but the general consensus was "parky"
Sea conditions: calm enough to swim, but the waves were breaking nicely too
Weather: also "parky"
Joined by: Abs
Topics of conversation:
Welcome back to DK, who is feeling much better and seemed back on his usual form, especially when Abs needed a rub down.
The temperature has really dropped so much of our conversations was around keeping warm after the swim. Abs has to drive home so she needs to get her circulation going before she jumps in the car, as does Boo Bob. Movement is the only answer and we talked about the sledding and Milos's techniques of arm rotations and hand flicking. Obviously we tried some jumping up and down and running about too. We also discussed the term sled v's sledge and decided that sled was simply the american word for sledge.
As we were making our way back home Abs (with tongue firmly in cheek) asked if we use lard to keep us warm in the winter, The Pirate's rapid response was "NO!!" and then he qualified it with "I'm vegetarian!"
I found these online today, so Abs, if you are reading this, it might be worth a try.
Heated gloves