High Tide 03:23 (2.20m)
Low Tide 08:47 (0.90m)
High Tide 15:15 (2.30m)
Low Tide 21:30 (0.70m)
Sea temperature: 11
Sea conditions: good, very clear
Weather: sunny, crisp breeze
Joined by: The Usual Suspects (minus DK) and Mertz
Topics of conversation:
The water was clear, clearer than it has been for a very long time and we could see our feet.
Welcome back The Poet, he and Sara have been on a family pilgrimage to Spain and his brother-in-law has kept the world informed of their movements through every social media and photo sharing application available, so we know all about the wonderful places they've been. Still looking forward to catching up on the human side though.
Welcome back also to The Pirate, they had been at another lovely event, the naming ceremony and marriage blessing for The Buddhist, his wife and child. The Pirate has the honour of being one of the child's Protectors, a role akin to a guardian or godparent. She now has a small group of people who will be responsible for ensuring that 'she grows up to be good' and I can't think of a better choice than The Pirate to do such a thing. We joked that he could also be called The Budfather and that the term 'Protector' had a ring of Harry Potter about it - perhaps they all have to meet yearly to conduct rituals. The actual ceremony sounded wonderful, it involved tying a red threat around all the Protectors and the child, which they held and then the thread was tied off and cut so that a bracelet was formed on each of them, and which The Pirate had added to his 2 others.
I was given a ticking off in the pub last night for not blogging often enough by the local PR guru, a regular reader, so we did her proud this morning as one of her clients is ASDA. Mertz and I were both sporting out new ADSA cosies - they are by far the best reasonably priced swimwear, and although I have a large number of swimming outfits these days, theirs are my favourite: ASDA swimwear for women Perhaps she can arrange for us to test the entire women's range, now that there are 3 regular women in the group...
I'm sorry PR guru though, I won't be blogging for a few days as I am working away from home next week. It's the 25th Anniversary of World Land Trust and we have a number of events as well as the International Symposium at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. Whilst I will be filming most of the time I'm hoping to have a chance to look around as I haven't been for years, I'm not going to attempt to find somewhere to swim during my stay though, so no blog. I suspect that attempting to film all 21 project partners in their breaks will be challenging enough, especially as I have to conduct 2 of the interviews in Spanish, which I haven't spoken properly since I was 8 - must practice!
Mertz is on holiday. He has next week off whilst I'm away and he explained to the assembled company that he was in pursuit of manly things during the week, involving walking, skimming, and cycling with other dudes. The Pirate, sitting at the other end of the row, then heard him further defining this manliness as including talking football and drinking beer and said "I don't do manly". Mertz asked if The Poet would like to join him on one of his walks to Dunwich and we all tried to work out how far there and back would be, using our favoured route. The LE is taking part in the Hampton Court Pink Ribbon Walk on May 17th, and is working her way up (perhaps that should be walking her way up) to the 10 mile mark. We are all being morally supportive and should you wish to be financially supportive of this worthy cause her JustGiving page can be found here:

Fundraising for Breast Cancer Care

As The LE, Mertz and I walked home together she told us all about her wonderful day at a local nursery and plant specialist centre yesterday (I'd asked her to look out for a particular plant for me) and Mertz said that as a start to his holiday today he is cycling to meet a friend for the day to drink beer and talk football, and that on the way he was going to stop there to see their iris display. The LE remarked that she didn't really think this fitted the brief of 'manly', but he's going anyway!
I'm particularly proud of these blooms this year from a very old and ignored peony that I found behind a bush and cleared, fed and watered. By way of thank you it has rewarded my with these stunning flowers. I'm contemplating putting in a peony bed as a result.