slowly she turned

We were thwarted in our plans to travel to Boscastle today because of a failure to find any taxi who would take us until half the day was done. It was a beautiful day for a walk on the Coast Path to Port Gaverne Beach, and Susan and I were completely addicted to picking through the stones on the beaches for sea glass and pottery sherds.

We stopped at the Golden Lion for lunch, and found it mostly empty. I had a fish chowder. I was trying to eat a lot of seafood since I was in a fishing village. There was a seafood market that I walked through earlier that morning, but we didn’t end up cooking at the house. Crab seemed to be a big item.

The Golden Lion was the “Crab,” the pub in “Doc Martin.” I recognized it instantly, and it surprised me how small it was. It must have been difficult to get the cameras and all those actors in there. The little balcony where they often met for drinks was tiny.

On the way to the Coast Path, we found one of the taxis that we had tried to call. She offered to take us, but since it was after lunch already we decided to book her for the next day to Boscastle and Tintagel.

Earlier that day, in Port Isaac, we visited a couple of artist studios that were in former fisherman shops in the harbour walls. Lyndsey Bradbury is a painter and fiber artist, and her studio is named “The Pentus Wall Studio.” This exhibition site says about her work: “Detailed paintings on reclaimed Delabole slate, drawings and machine embroidered panels inspired by the sea life and landscapes of the North Cornish coast. Lyndsey’s studio is an old fish cellar built into the sea wall with stunning views across Port Isaac Harbour.”

The second studio was Stacey Sibley’s, with beautiful paintings and jewelry that she made with sea glass and silver. She showed us what pirate glass (very old sea glass) looked like, and later I found a piece! You can tell it is glass only by holding it up to a light source. I’ve been able to relive the beauty of Cornwall by following her Instagram account.

The only minus on this day was the seagull that strafed all three of us with a shower of shit on the Coast Path. We saw it coming but there was no way to avoid it. Fortunately there was a washing machine and dryer at the cottage. It is a tribute to the loveliness of the day that we all saw the humor in it though. Damn seagulls. I love birds, but they are the demons of the avian world. I bet all the other birds stand back and applaud them.

I think this evening was the first night of the pasties. Lisa and I bought them from Nicky B’s Pasty Shop on Fore St. earlier that day. They were huge. Pasty is pronounced like nasty (sorry, that’s the only word I can think of that rhymes with it), but they are delicious: think turnovers filled with savory fillings like steak, onions, and cheese. There was one grocery in Port Isaac – and you got there by hiking a steep hill and back. Lisa did it the first time to get truly necessary things like scones and wine and cheese and fruit and chocolate.