The wind buffeted the van and the carob branches played a merry tune against the sheet metal roof. Not as interesting as the Phantom Violinist of Kilimani but musical nonetheless. My slumber were disturbed by a particularly strong gust so I woke up for a while but soon got back to sleep. The inside and outside dogs were silent and motionless.
The alarm jolted me awake and it was still blowing. I was unenthusiastic about getting out of bed but that’s sometimes the case. Getting going without succumbing to sloth is the key. Once I’m up and out, autopilot takes over and we’re at the end of the Promontory before I know it. Having seven dogs on the lead does result in a lot of pee/poo stops. If only they could get organised! Oskar wanted to go so we stopped. No sooner had we taken a few more paces than Fido dug in his paws and he made his contribution.
The couple with the tent and the dog were present despite the windiness of the Promontory however we saw them leave in their car as we were heading back. Kostas had arrived in his 4×4 towing a trailer full of a large coil of pipe. He appears to be getting into industrial salt production this year. So long as those who came after him don’t pinch all the salt once he’s done the hard work of watering the rocks.
I took only Isabella and Skinny as it was Sunday so more likely to have people about. The others have all been out on the second walk at least once this week anyway. We made our way to the end of the beaches and then back. It took a while since no one seemed in much of a rush. We continued on to the end of the Promontory and walked the rocks into the northeasterly wind.
By the time we’d made it back to the camping I felt I’d done enough so didn’t take my bike for a ride. I fed the cats, yet again, and then the dogs having let the others out. I made my breakfast then sat down whilst it cooked. Always fatal after an early start and a long walk! It was ready when I woke up…
The remainder of the morning and the rest of the day drifted into each other. I prepared the Doggy Dinners to be sure it was done and didn’t end up with it boiling hot at supper time. I chatted to Ursula via text, read the news and fiddled around with some small jobs including fixing the struts which hold up one of the van windows. I took the window out a couple of years ago to fix it and had an interesting time putting it back. It needs to be open but propping it ajar with an empty black treacle tin is not really enough. The struts have been reattached and lubricated so are now working again properly.
An outburst of barking lead by Skinny announced the arrival of Georgia’s cat into the Pussy Compound. I gave her a good wash with the hose and sent her and quite an aggressive Ginger cat who was the other side of the fence, packing.
I watched an episode of Foyle’s War last night which depicted the lead up to VE Day as well as dealing with the thorny matter of the incident at Slapton Sands during Operation Tiger, the D-Day landing practices in April 1944. Many soldiers and sailors were killed due to friendly fire as a result of a mix-up of the landing times. The following night, a convoy of LSTs was attacked by German E-Boats sinking two with over seven-hundred deaths. Either from hypothermia as they waited to be rescued or from their lifejackets which, with the weight of their kit, flipped them over as soon as they entered the water. The LSTs were supposed to be protected by Royal Naval ships however one had to return to port as the result of an earlier collision with one of the LSTs. The remaining escort vessel arranged the convoy in line astern offering a perfect target to the E-Boat captains. Several officers with the highest secrecy clearance were drowned and missing with full plans for the D-Day invasions. This tragedy nearly caused the June 6 landings to be cancelled due to breach of security. The event was kept secret, however, an investigation showed it resulted from a mix up of radio frequencies as well as a chain of unfortunate events. In a similar way to the Dieppe raids earlier in the war, useful lessons were learned which contributed to the success of the 6 June landings.
The camping has gone quiet with only a few people wandering about. The restaurant has customers who look mostly like staff. Another quiet week until next weekend perhaps?
I think that just about sums up this Sunday.
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