No tides here

Water temperature: 29
Water conditions: no waves, being a pool and all.
Weather: sun streaming in through the windows
Joined by: my friend Red, a small, fat child having a swimming lesson and 2 ladies from Hertford.
Topics of conversation:
Blimey, it's hot!! I'm not used to this, Red is a pool swimmer and so she IS used to it, I just followed her lead and did lengths, till I got wrinkly. It's also odd not swimming against a current and I felt as if I was zipping along. There's a sauna too and no one in it in the mornings so I lay there for a while pretending to be in Sweden again, my imagination having to work hard.
We blew all our kitty on a wonderful meal and a rather lovely bottle last night so once we felt as if we'd swum it off we spruced ourselves up and headed for breakfast, which we decided was to be our main meal of the day as it is part of the deal. A good decision, it was one of the best hotel breakfasts I've eaten: pineapple, figs and peaches for Red and muesli and seeds for me to start, then she had a croissant and I had cheese. We both followed that with scrambled eggs with mushroom and grilled tomatoes and I had smoked salmon with mine. That kept us going all day and now we are being idle and have ordered room service for an early supper so that we can return to the spa for an evening swim, sauna etc. Red is also a masseuse and has promised me a foot massage before bed, talk about spoilt!







- Posted from my iPhone

Low Tide	05:55 (0.40m)
High Tide	12:10 (2.40m)
Low Tide	17:53 (0.70m)

Sea temperature: 6.3!!! UN-bloody-believable
Sea conditions: calm, slight swell
Weather: Warm, but not as warm as yesterday
Joined by: no one
Topics of conversation:
The Canadian's son's stamina - I'd bumped in to The Canadian on my way over and so was slightly late as we'd been discussing his son, who had been disappearing over the horizon on his bike. He's doing a GCSE in something that sounds like a great subject and involves him having to cycle and ski a lot, neither DK nor The Pirate could help me to work out what it's called. He's very keen and yesterday he had cycled to school, playing in a football match, done circuit training, had tennis coaching after school and cycled home again. He's also doing photography and I've leant him a precious book which I hope will help him with his current project on movement and motion. I suspect that if he can sort out his GCSE's so that he has to spend his time skiing, cycling and taking pictures, he'll sort life out in general.
DK and I weren't late - even though we had both been to the same party, in the local, last night! It was a lovely evening and held in the honour of John, barman and prince charming of The Anchor. He's leaving to go to Australia to play rugby and we will all miss him no end. I suspect that he may have a slightly sore head this morning but he's got a week before he goes and I've just sent him a link to the blog so hopefully he'll stay in touch (otherwise I'll put the other photos up JH).

The crisis in the Catholic priesthood. The Pirate had seen a programme about the training of priests last night and had discovered that this year there are only 19 starting the course. We speculated how many there would have been 40 years ago and The Pirate explained that he had been to a college, set up for the purpose when he was doing his teacher training and that it was a huge and magnificent building the size of St Pancras station. To make the point about how very large it was he told of his shock at walking into the lavatories and seeing that the urinal stretched as far as the eye could see. He also told how he and his fellow students sang the theme to Doctor Who in the corridors, which we both then sang on the beach wooooeeeoooooo.
My mini holiday - I'm very excited. Today I'm off for 3 days at a country house hotel and spa, as the guest of a wonderful friend, who is treating me. We wondered how warm the water in the pool will be and whether I will need a cold plunge pool too. The Pirate said he can imagine us with cucumber slices on our eyelids, so I shall have to raid the salad and stage a photo.

Low Tide	04:43 (0.40m)
High Tide	11:01 (2.40m)
Low Tide	16:48 (0.70m)
High Tide	22:54 (2.60m)

Sea temperature: 4.2...? It really didn't feel like it
Sea conditions: a strong undertow, small waves
Weather: very strong wind whipping about, chilly
Joined by: The Poet today, Lyla yesterday
Topics of conversation (over the last 2 days):

DK was not with us yesterday, he was playing golf, neither The Pirate nor I really do sport and so when The Poet and he discuss the latest state of play etc. we just look at our feet. In fact today The Pirate confided that he feels that one day he may be found out. I clearly have been.

We were joined by Lyla, Bosco's daughter, yesterday - she's a swimmer! She's quite mad and charged up and down the beach being an extreme version of Bosco as we got ready to swim. She also likes to pick up large stones and drag them into the sea, then she tries to drown them and save them. She and Willow didn't really see eye to eye as Willow wanted her to replace Mabel as rough and tumble partner, but she wasn't interested. She followed us into the sea and swam in a little loop around us, just making sure we were OK but not trying to save us, which The Pirate feared she might. Bosco was clearly exhausted this morning after she'd been staying for a day.

Dry sack acting as a windsock

It was very windy this morning and whilst none of us were initially keen to stay in the water for long it was actually pleasant to be out of the wind under the water.
There was quite a lot of ribbing for both The Poet and DK this morning. DK was late and so we told him we'd been speculating about whether he'd been the pub last night or not and The Poet doesn't normally join us when the sun isn't out so we feigned shock - he'd misinterpreted the weather. He's usually at college on Wednesdays but his group are on a field trip today, this led to discussions about how tutors take the easy option with trip, although having had to fill out risk assessment forms and conform to school trip policies I do know that it's a right pain from that point of view.
The Pirate and I then discussed how different each year can be when you are teaching the same thing. With the Steiner curriculum that doesn't happen for 7 years as you stay with the class as they move but I still remember thinking I'd failed the first class when I came round to plan Pythagorean theory the second time around.
I didn't hang around chatting this morning, for some reason I really began to feel very cold and it took ages to thaw under the hot shower.

Low Tide	02:14 (0.70m)
High Tide	08:54 (2.30m)
Low Tide	14:41 (0.90m)
High Tide	20:46 (2.30m)

Sea temperature: 3.4
Sea conditions: very high tide calm sea
Weather: sunny, crisp, frost on the ground and the sand was frozen solid
Joined by: The Poet
Topics of conversation:
The tide, one of our high ones today, I'd had to walk the long way around as the bridge was underwater at each end and the waves were making strange pools on the shoreline. This meant that the swimming was good though, nice and deep straight away, a bonus in this icy weather as the cold doesn't creep slowly up your body.

No sand!

Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain by Roger Deakin. Deakin was a nature writer and filmmaker who also taught English and co-founded Common Ground, the arts/environment organisation, his writing has always been close to me - especially Waterlog and so I was intrigued by an event this weekend:

Taking the Waters

18-19 February
A Weekend Navigation
Aldeburgh Music’s new cross-arts winter weekend takes to the waters this year with a wide-ranging and fascinating exploration of the meanings of the marine, the estuarine and the waterway in film, art, literature and thought.

Starting from Roger Deakin’s modern classic on swimming, Waterlog, acclaimed writers, artists, film-makers and thinkers will reflect on the paramount importance of the fluid spaces of the planet, in this unique location shaped so profoundly by the tide and its impacts.

A day-long enquiry into the cultural meanings of water, featuring exclusive presentations from prize-winning author Robert Macfarlane on the late Roger Deakin and folk songs of the Waterways performed by Olivia Chaney.

Acclaimed writer Jay Griffiths (Wild, an Elemental Journey, described in The Observer as ‘a profound and extraordinary work’) will speak on the sea and its mysteries, while, alongside the photography of Jason Orton, writers Jules Pretty (The Luminous Coast) and Ken Worpole (350 Miles) will trace the  Eastern Coast.

Noel Burch will introduce the UK theatrical premiere screening of his pioneering documentary essay film The Forgotten Space (2010). Made with Allan Sekula, it follows the high seas global supply chain our consumer lives so depend, and the lives left in its wake. 

Roger Deakin

Roger Deakin

I hadn't had the courage to go on my own, fearing all sorts of potential for disaster after last week's destruction of a classic, but discovered that The Poet and his wife had spent Saturday there so I was intrigued to hear about it. The Poet felt that the presentations from the writers were overworked and rather turgid, perhaps not as relevant to Deakin's work as he had hoped. He summed it up nicely by saying that he just wished Roger Deakin himself (who died in 2006) could have popped in to tell them to get on with it! DK is also a fan of his writing and we all mused that as he didn't suffer fools gladly it would have made him weary - his writing has a beautiful simplicity about it. I'm not feeling so bad about missing it now but am resolving to re-read Waterlog. I loved Wildwood - A Journey Through Trees and my copy is falling apart from re-readings whilst travelling through Asia on a train and loosing my thread but I still have Notes From Walnut Tree Farm in my Amazon wish list so perhaps that is next on my growing list of must reads. I drove past Walnut Tree Farm on my way to work for about 8 years and many of those who were involved with my school knew him well - I suspect that is why I haven't actually read it yet.
The Noisy Neighbours - Following a very cordial meeting with the aforementioned neighbours it sounds as if DK has had a result, the trampoline is going! We can all sigh a breath of relief and hope that they also forget about fireworks next year. The Poet hadn't been aware of the dispute and we discussed how dreadful such things can become. I remember someone saying "it's always the wives with the knives" and I suspect it was The Poet, but as he then told this joke he may be forgiven:
At the height of the Intifada the Israelis and Arabs realised that, if they carried on as they were, they would end up destroying each other so they decided to settle the matter with a dogfight. Whoever won would earn the right to rule the world.
The Arabs found the biggest, meanest Rottweiler they could find and crossed it with a wolf, fed it steroids and then trained it to be a perfect killing machine. Only its trainers could handle it.
When the day arrived the Israelis turned up with a strange little creature with short legs that looked like a dachshund. Everyone felt sorry for the Israelis but placed their bets on the huge creature winning. The cages were opened and the two dogs faced each other. Within seconds the little dog had not only killed the beast, but had eaten it all up.
The Arabs, shaking their heads in disbelief, approached the Israelis "We don't understand. Our dog was developed and trained to be a killing machine! How could this happen, what kind of dog is that?" "Ah well.." replied the Israelis "Before the nose job, he used to be an alligator."

High Tide	04:46 (2.30m)
Low Tide	11:02 (0.90m)
High Tide	17:33 (2.10m)
Low Tide	23:39 (0.90m)

Sea temperature: not taken but it is certainly higher than 1.5
Sea conditions: Calm with rollers
Weather: No breeze at all so it felt deceptively warm as we got undressed.
Joined by: briefly by the chief LOTV with her dogs
Topics of conversation:
The LOTV's recent holiday, where they and avoided the snow and had wonderful weather, even though they only travelled as far as Portugal. She looked well and rested and said she felt invigorated by the warm weather. We told her we were going to be invigorated by the cold sea. Mabel wanted to leave the beach with her so we had to tempt her back with gravy bones.
Why there weren't any surfers and why the water was so low when the tide was supposed to be half way, we wondered about Arctic winds and surges from Scotland whence cometh the forecasted cold weather shortly, but finally admitted that we still don't get it. We did get  good swim in though, it's the first time in a while that I been able to complete more than about 10 strokes and it felt great to actually swim, with no wind it wasn't bad getting out and getting dressed again.

My Dog Tulip - the latest film that Babs and I went to see last night, I really, really didn't enjoy it. It's an animated film of a memoir written J. R. Ackerley and I didn't like the style, characters or content.

The reviews I'd read had been mixed but as a dog owner I assumed I might fit into the half that loved its insight and understanding of how a dog's mind worked. I wasn't.  One IMDB user review said: The art work is quirky and a lot of it is storyboard animation but I still feel that this will only appeal to real dog lovers . If you're not one, you might struggle to see what all the fuss is with this bloody dog!

The only thing I liked about it was the tagline: Sometimes love really is a bitch.

My dog Willow had decided that I wasn't to lie on the sofa and drink coffee before my swim this morning and pounced. She repeats the word "mmnnnnBAP!" very loudly at this close range and the combination of dog breath and ringing ears got me out of the house a little earlier than normal I must admit.

Half term is filling the village with families and whilst we have more than our fair share of Boden clones marching along the boardwalks with mummie-on-mobile in tow we also seem to have some who really appreciate the beach, I found these written in the sand on my walk this afternoon.

Valentine

High Tide	02:26 (2.60m)
Low Tide	08:47 (0.60m)
High Tide	15:02 (2.20m)
Low Tide	20:51 (0.80m)

Sea temperature: Well it said 3.5 but I find that hard to believe and said as much to DK, who took it personally as the thermometer is his and now I have to get my own bloody thermometer!
Sea conditions: small waves
Weather: sun trying hard to get through
Joined by: No-one
Topics of conversation:
I'm finding it hard to remember them all as I am still reeling with joy from having been sung to by DK for Valentine's day - no one has sung to me since I was at school and going out with a boy who could. DK sang My Funny Valentine with caveats. I'm going to ask him to record it for me....