A weekend of nature!
What another stunning weekend on Guernsey and indeed Herm, it is weekends like these that make me feel so gracious for living in such a wonderful place - one overlooks all the traffic!!
E had a friend visiting from the UK so we decided to make the most of the free boats to Herm, plus the wonderfully mild and bright weather, to visit Herm with Hayley and Mike. We walked from Rosaire where the boat docked, all the way around the Southern cliffs of the Island to Belvoir Bay, as beautiful as ever.
In fact it was fantastic as the tide was particularly low, the lowest I have ever seen it on Herm and while it may not have been ideal for our annual November Herm swim, it did mean that we got to walk all the way from Belvoir to Shell Beach on the beach itself, which was a first for all of us.
E, his friend Nige, and I went for the swim, no easy feat as we had to walk some distance over the sand banks to get wet beyond our waist. Meanwhile on the beach, Hayley and Mike were indulging in some Tai Chi. I was aware that a few passing visitors were taking photos - clearly amused by people swimming in the sea in November and practicing Tai Chi along the shoreline!!
I can't quite believe it is almost the beginning of December and here we were swimming in the sea without it feeling absolutely freezing. The weather is so strange this year, well in comparison to last year when it was almost snowing by now. I still see people wearing shorts and flipflops and there are still flowers everywhere.
My lovely farmer friend in France mentioned that she had been talking to other farmers, one who does the seaweed test and this shows it is going to be a very cold winter, and another who does the onion test, and this shows that it is going to be a very mild winter. So I guess even Nature is confused. You can certainly see this in the garden at the moment, what with dandelions and daffodil bulbs shooting. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months.
It really is beautiful over there on Herm. I just love the peace and quiet and the lack of traffic, plus all the wildlife and bird life surrounding you. You can't help but leave Herm feeling a little more refreshed and grounded than when you arrived. It just slows you down somehow, plus I love the fact you have to walk everywhere...you can only hurry that so much!!
Sunday and we spent some of the morning wandering around Earlswood gardening centre looking at all the trees and plants and flowers. I love smelling all the herbs and E loves checking out the "sick bay" where they put any trees of plants that are suffering in some way. I bought E a sickly pine tree as an early birthday present together with an indoor gardenia, which should continue to emit a rather pleasant smell. It has this wonderful energy in the nursery and every time I visit I can't help thinking that, like my parents' greenhouse, it would be a calming and uplifting environment for a Yoga class. We'll see...
In the afternoon we walked from Petit Bot down to Portelet, that lovely sandy beach only accessible at low tide on foot. There is this crack in the cliff face that E has managed to walk through previously and was keen to show Nige. There was a fisherman down on the rocks but other than that we did not pass a sole on the whole walk. I wonder if people realise how invigorated and uplifted it makes you feel going for a walk on the cliffs.
Mind you I shouldn't complain, the less people enjoying the cliffs, the more peaceful it is when we do exactly that. However it is a shame because they are stunning and such good exercise, you couldn't help but get fit if you walked, and certainly ran, on those cliffs a few times a week. You just need to make sure to practice some Yoga thereafter, to stretch out the legs and rest a while!!
So another lovely weekend courtesy of Mother Nature, E and friends. Thank you.
With love
xxx