Surprising find in Cornwall

We awoke in Falmouth (where we'd gone to bed the night before : there was no magic involved) to a clear day and fabulous sea views. CleanSteve had a meeting with a Town Clerk at 11am, but Totty and I hung about the house chatting until about twelve, then we strolled down the High Street, stopping in second-hand bookshops and pausing to peer at dubiously-named 'antiques' such as blue-and-orange 1970s deckchairs.

At the bottom of the street, we bumped into CleanSteve, and pottered along the pier, taking photos. It would have been great to have the time to take a river Fal boat cruise, but we needed to get back up the Cornish peninsula, and we also planned to visit the beach. In the event, we retraced our footsteps up the High Street because I'd found a fabulous wholefood shop,and kept thinking of yet more provisions I wanted! The Japanese shop that Totty had wanted to visit earlier had re-opened, so we went in. The shop is becoming a Japanese restaurant, so much of the previous stock was up for sale. I've chosen these fans and dishes as my blip because I adore the delicacy of them. Totty was interested in a kimono for her daughter, but we both left without a purchase (I had told myself firmly I did not need any chopstick rests while on holiday).

After a leisurely salad-and-Honduran-prawns lunch from M&S, we observed that the weather had completely changed, and was about to start tipping with rain. Hastily we abandoned our beach plan, and packed the car, promising to visit Totty again. The drive up to North Cornwall was uneventful; slow, because so many tractors were on the road, trying to bring the crops in to dry barns before the rains. Around the Wadebridge turn-off the rain began, and was blinding for a few moments. The Atlantic Highway looked more like The Atlantic. But it passed, and by the time we'd located our village of Polzeath, and the caravan park, the sun had returned. The long beach, the wetsuited surfers, even the public toilet block, were bathed in its golden rays.

We strolled around the beach, had a drink on a giant beanbag at the Surf Side Cafe, and wondered how much harder life could possibly get....