Revisit St. Just

Here are Victor's pictures of the coastal area around St. Just. (Remember, the pictures I posted were exclusively those taken with my iPad. I didn't have a way to transfer pics from Vic's high-resolution camera.)

This (above) is probably a mine chimney.

The presence of so many ruins everywhere is, to me, reminiscent of Detroit. I was just perusing a book of photographs of empty and ruined structures in Detroit. It may be a modern-day equivalent.

Behind

I can't believe that it's the last day of June, but the first day during June that I'm posting to my blog. I can't say that I haven't had time. What I can say is that I was engaged in a big project that required full weekends on the computer and printer. (Vic and I want all our favorite recipes, from countless sources, collected in one spot, so I've been working on a new way of saving and displaying them.) I did carefully crop and save many images to my Blog file, meaning to upload them. They will be the next things that I publish here, I swear.

Backache

I am, thankfully, off crutches. In truth, I spent less time on crutches than on a scooter that belonged to my mother. Also in truth, the scooter is actually a walker designed to support the knee. I used the knee support as a seat and pushed myself around with one foot, backward. But anyway. Now that I am off confinement to a scooter, my back can't handle standing. If I'm moving, then I'm OK. But standing still is a challenge that I can hope to meet soon. Victor is pretty tired of doing all the cooking AND all the cleanup after meals. It has not been the best way to enter the summer, but now it IS summer, and I will soon be whole. Well, whole--but for having a few health matters that I would like to resolve: a stress test to ensure that my ticker is strong, and a biopsy to relieve the folks who do mammograms. And I have an itchy lump on the side of my nose! I will only cope with one thing at a time.

My broken foot

Exactly two weeks ago, I received word that I had a stress fracture. Well, what I should say is: I have had a stress fracture for about a year. You may remember that, in maybe December? I said that something like that was wrong with my foot, after a nuclear medicine scan "lit up" one region...but then my condition was re-assessed. My primary care guy said "fracture," but I was told by both a podiatrist and an orthopedic doctor that I had plantar fasciitis. I said repeatedly that the pain I had was across the top of my foot. I was told that pain across the top of the foot is common in plantar fasciitis, which is a problem with a tendon on the bottom of the foot. Both docs proceeded to treat my tendon. Maybe I had plantar fasciitis as well, who knows? But my "tender foot" in England was because I had a completely untreated stress fracture (with vascular death because of how long it was untreated). I am told now that my right foot is to be completely non-weight-bearing--after I did two 5-mile hikes last month! What a difficult proposition when I work all week. I turn 50 this year, and I am heavy. Trying to be mobile on crutches means doing damage to my body: shoulders, abdomen, elbows, and opposite leg, knee, and foot. I anticipate a period of corrective physical therapy that extends over the summer. Urgh.

Missing out on Tresco

http://www.tresco.co.uk/what-to-do/abbey-garden/valhalla.aspx

Above is a description of what we'll return to Cornwall to see. I adore the Outer Banks, of course, but the recent indecency of voting away gays' right to marry mars that destination.

Let's hope England shows more enlightenment. The example of its treatment of Alan Turing recently, when it did not vacate Turing's 1950s conviction on charges of homosexuality, doesn't make the country look so superior.


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Belly dancing and Yaris

Our final dinner in England started well. We both had seven-item plates of yummy Middle Eastern noshes. However, the main courses were not complex enough in flavor to be interesting. And there was a belly dancer.

She wasn't terribly attractive, and she was rail thin. She couldn't actually roll her hips or her belly. She did a sort of funk dance, and persuaded elderly gentlemen to get up and dance. Then she wanted the young men, then the women... I firmly refused. I love to dance, but not on display.

The next morning, driving up to the airport, I snapped these 'comparison' pics to give you all a sense of the size differential, British to U.S. car. The red car is a Toyota Yaris.


The weather was awful, and the picture was take through the windshield, but I hope you get the sense: Cars tend to be Yaris sized!


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Victory

Victor remembers this boat from a prior trip that included Portsmouth. I had never been to Portsmouth before.

After we toured the docks, we walked back to the hotel. Altogether it was a hike of about 5 miles, like the one we took at Tintagel. However, Tintagel was pasture land, soft underfoot. Pounding the pavement on this trek made my tender foot and the calf above it ache for DAYS.

Anyway, back to Victory: We didn't go aboard (the cost of tickets was an annual charge with the lure being, Come back any time this year!). Even the outside was mighty impressive, although the masts have been sized down.














Below the waterline:





Rehabbing the prow:


A huge anchor next to the ship:





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad