Rocket Cafe@Seabreeze- Torcross on Slapton Ley

After weeks of illness and trial,FINALLY we have a day together!  Given the rains,Slapton Ley probably wasnt the obvious choice but we had a hankering for a quaint cafe and a windswept stroll. The almost biblical weather added to the ambience on the ferry over the Dart and the littlies enjoyed a bit of duck spotting out of the window.

Slaptop Ley in itself has little to offer besides a row of holiday lets,the occasional eatery and of course the tragic wartime story that looms large even now. Hundreds of lives were lost in WW2 when a ship was sunk in a training excercise just off slapton sands. Infact,I think it was the most lives lost in any single incident during the war,800 or so if I remember rightly. A resurrected tank sits on the edge of the carpark in memory of the dead.

Anyways...on to happier things...The strangely named Rocket Cafe is a gem of place. Whitewashed and trimmed in french blue,it is every bit the seaside experience. We were greeted by a rather nervy fellow who ensured we had all necessary paraphenalia for the kiddies and informed us we were still elligible for the breakfast menu,welcome news indeed! We all made use of the books and games-there seemed to be some copies of the guardian going around,but alas they didnt filter through to us.

We settled upon two cooked breakfasts-one meat,one veggie-and a basket of croissants with apricot jam for the girls. I enjoyed my food,but still recovering from a nasty virus,I didnt have much of an appetite,so was happy to dish my fried potatoes and beans out to the girls. Philip tells me,the defining part of a really good full english is the sausage. And on this occasion,hurrah,the sausage was good!

I had a really good latte and Philip had tea. A waitress was soon over to clean up a gigantic spillage,which was just as well,considering how wet we all were from the rain. Rather charmingly,the food came out on slates and both girls were fascinated with the retro ketchup bottle! I on the other hand, enjoyed the knitted tea cosies and vintage vinyl tablecloths.

Conversations were mainly child led,as is the trend of late; or in appreciation of the food. We all agreed it was a fine place to eat and excellent value,given the overall experience was so good. The four of us ate for £20 and although there was mention of cake,it came to nothing,given the fullness of our bellies.

And so,we could find no reason to linger any longer,and it was back out into the rain,for that windswept stroll. Poppy busied herself building a slate home for her pony,while Iris shook handfulls of tiny pebbles. We all enjoyed Mr E's stone skimming efforts,but I felt a dismantling of the forementioned pony palace would have yeilded better 'skimmers'...but what do I know of these things? There are some matters us Mums should stay out of,and stone skimming is one of them.

On the way home,with both girls falling into a soggy slumber,our minds turned to those things weve been pondering of late. I raised the question of why we neglect the celebrate the Motherheart of God,something thats been weighing on my mind of late.

Why do we only think of God as Father and how helpful is this,particularly in an age when so many fathers are absent or,dare I say it,emasculated? Its always been helpful for me to think of God as Mother as I was raised by and around strong women. Its also theologically apt,God is creator and what is a mother if not a creator of life?

We agreed that early church,in attempt to cleeve a new identity must have omitted much of the feminine from scripture. Certainly they would have wanted to disassociate themselves from the Pagan cultures just as the God commanded the Israelites  to set themselves apart from the Egpytian gods of their 'host' nation and the idol worship of the Canaanites. So in attempt to propell Christianity forward,how much of the feminine has been lost? And how can we go about finding it...I think more tea is needed!