High Tide 01:43 (2.50m)
Low Tide 07:44 (0.60m)
High Tide 14:01 (2.40m)
Low Tide 20:06 (0.60m)
Sea temperature: hovering around 9
Sea conditions: today was very shallow and had a massive undertow that caught us unawares
Weather: blustery, sunny as we arrived but the big heavy clouds soon sped over
Joined by: The Usual Suspects
I know when I haven't blogged for a while when I have to log in to Blogger, and this time it's because I've been swimming on my own for the last week, hence no 'topic of conversation' slot to fill. It's been safe to swim alone, calm and warm enough not to have concerns about cramp or currents. Owing to work commitments, doctor and other appointments I've missed the team, but this weekend I'm able to catch up on the week's events although it was too cold to hang about chatting for long as the boys took their time getting dressed, as is their wont.
I've been keeping in touch more easily with what's going on in Legs's life as a the One Woman Beckett Care System in the US as she's got a new blog: Waiting for god knows... and now that DK has found it he is up to speed too as Face Time has let them down over the last 24 hrs.

I promised I'd share a couple of shots from the canine photo shoot last weekend as Luna and Willow were used as test models by Kerry Jordan, the photographer, who very kindly sent me these. She captured their nature perfectly and they were enchanted by her. Whippets Snippets is her site for dog photography, and this is her other work: http://www.kerryjordan.co.uk

The LE and I caught up on our mutual experience of meeting the new(ish) GP at our surgery. The Pirate had amused me some while ago by saying he'd been to see her about his ear infection and carefully explained that he was big and brave and as he swam in the sea every day and was disappointed that she didn't seem impressed. This could have something to do with the fact that she's swum The Channel. The LE and I tried to work out how we could get her to hang around for ever as she is a breath of fresh air, straight talking and seems to share our sense of humour. She also made me aware that I don't have to put up with the pain of gout for the rest of my life as, apparently, one can take drugs as a preventative measure - phew. And no, it's not because I drink too much port.

I'd read the list of foods that should be avoided, all of which are my staple diet. Living without Marmite, herring, tomato, aubergine, liver, scallops, mussels, sardines, tuna (especially sashimi) and of course alcohol is not a future I was looking forward to. It seems wholly unfair that the healthily diet I thought I was eating was actually making it worse. I'd managed to cram nearly all of the forbidden foods into one day last weekend, topped off with a few glasses of wine at wonderful evening, hosted by the GGB's and including most of the smalls of the village. The atmosphere was wonderful, rather as it used to be in the old days when Jude's mum held court from her armchair and all generations floated in and out. But I'd paid for it with a gout attack at 2am. That toe looks almost normal, but it felt as if someone was roasting it on a spit all night, occasionally sticking a skewer in to make sure it was done.
On the subject of spits - the sand spit has moved and this morning it was really obvious that the precise point at which we swim is actually the shallowest now. I'd waded out into the deep yesterday whilst the others swum in the trough, but today we all made our way out only to find that the current was very powerful and the undertoad was too much for TBC and I, who tried to find another safer spot to swim in. As we were coming out a man with 2 young children was approaching and we warned him not to let them out of his sight, it was very deceptive and as the tide was turning we wouldn't want them having the same fate as The Artist either.

Safe in the shallows

I returned to the beach once I'd thawed out and restocked the hut with water, cleared out The Vicar's Wife's hut and connected up the new gas supply, which had been kindly donated by the photographer's wrangler. It feels as if it's time to think about the first Swimmers breakfast of the season soon. Once the wind has died down and the hoards have gone home and we celebrate our magical month of May in the village with coffee and bacon sandwiches, fried eggs and porridge, but no kippers... bugger.