Getting to the Garden

Lack of TV and reading this week due to TAW (The Artists Way) drove me to doing a proper, longer Artist's Date this week! But it had a rocky start...

We have officially become a one car couple this week, even though in reality we have been for a few weeks. I told F that I wanted to get up early and get into St Ives so I could park at the bottom of the hill and go buy some beads. He didn't react overly well because he had planned an entire day of things he wished to do with my car. I agreed to drop him off with the things he wanted to deliver before going on my merry way and then when i returned we would go and look at garage forecourts (*yawn*). I later admitted that I had planned to go to the Barbara Hepworth garden as well. By this time he had calmed down because he was still going to get to do everything he wanted to.

I gave in too easily. He made very little effort to be ready and have the car loaded for 9.30 (typical laid back Cornish Man). I may not have been ready either but I had less to do than him. When I was ready, he still wasn't. I dropped him in town to drop one thing off, parked and waited for him to come and get the other things. Then I drove to the shop got some cash bought him coffee, milk and sugar so I had some change and then returned to await him in the car.

By the time I got to St Ives it had gone 11. The tourists had roused themselves and along with all the day trippers they had filled the lower car parks. I managed to park in one only part way up the hill. By this time I was very, very grumpy with him. I had been up for hours and could have been in and parked in a prime spot at 9. i could have been home for him in time for him to still do everything he wanted but no, his immediate thought had been to prioritise his things and mine had been to accept. I must learn to take a step back at times like this so i can see the situation clearly....

St Ives was still busy but not so bad you had to fight for your space to walk in the road. St Ives is an old fishing town that was adopted by artists. It has several beaches and a harbour and the hills rise steeply behind the sea front. Building into the hill has meant that it has tiny streets, higgedly piggedly houses all on top of each other and tiny little alleyways. It is full of gift shops, craft shops and art shops.

I spent quite a bit of time drifting in and out of the craft shops. I love them for their inspiration. I bought a beautiful card with a picture of the tree of life which shall sit by my altar. I bought some soap and bath treats. I bought some beads but not the glue I needed but discovered that in the summer the factory shop opens in the Summer on a Saturday, yay! I bought a baguette and some elderflower presse.

Eventually I headed to the garden by a somewhat roundabout route which requied me to have a nice chat with an artisan as a result of requiring pointing back the way I had come... The garden was much as I remembered....