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Lyndsay....an occasional housewife and full time mother. Ours is a life of seaside picnics,cooking & crafts.

Friday 20 August 2010

Worship,Wasps & The Winking Prawn

Believe it or not,we actually had a sunny day fairly recently! I cant quite recall when,but it must have been one day last week. We were all very keen to get to the beach and so decided to make a day of it,and make the journey to Salcombe. We had only been there once before,and I recalled with some amount of residual stress,my attempts to breastfeed a wriggling baby while perched on a rock. Surely,this visit would have to be an improvement.

the sea monster
On the way there,Philip and I took the chance to have our first proper conversation since his return from camp. We talked about his work and how important he feels it is for young people not to get stuck in desiring the big emotional experiences of God. Worship is something we think about quite a lot,largely because we dont really feel a part of this 'worshipping generation' that is so much about about singing and often little else. But,more of that later...

When we arrived at South sands (or was it north??) the tide was as far in as it could be! Some determined Fathers had dug out trenches so that their wives could have small cresents of dry sand to sit in. Most however were happy to bide their time and were just glad to have bagged a spot on the popular beach. Philip and Iris managed to secure the last metre square while Poppy and I carried our things.

One of the benefits of having toddlers rather than babies,is that we no longer have to cart around half of mothercare with us wherever we go. Sometimes we get over confident however and set off on these trips without the necessaries. This was one of those times,and the missing ingredient was mine! Yes,we had remembered everyone swimming kit,apart from Mums! The water was freezing cold,so I wasnt too upset not to swim-but id have felt a lot happier in my vintage swimming costume (TU@ Sainsburys!) Philip didnt help matters by suggesting I wear his shorts under my top! I insisted this would make me feel ugly and androdgenous,to which he replied "But thats how I feel all the time!" I couldnt really argue with that kind of logic and so on they went-shudder!


Once the tide had retreated,the beach was really lovely. We played in the sand,paddled and climbed the rocks (Well,they did,I read a book!) Seamonsters made,our bellies were soon telling us that it was lunchtime. So we walked across to the only available eatery,The Winking Prawn. To be honest,I was keener on the the cafe than the beach,having eaten here before I remembered how fabulous it was. The views from the patio are amazing and though the menu is small,we had no trouble finding things we wanted. We ordered the warm goats cheese salad and a blue cheese and fig chutney baguette,plus two sides of really good chips. I was pleased to see that Philip had been tempted by the local ale,as by this point,a cold beer in the sunshine was just the ticket.
The only downside to The Winking Prawn (apart from the disconcerting name)was the huge population of wasps. Now, I think of myself as someone who has respect for most creatures (I even saved a slug from being decapitated today) but the wasp is really something else. Ever since Poppy was stung by one a few weeks ago,Ive had a policy of zero tolerance towards the hienous beasts. If they touch me,they die. If they so much as hover near my child,they die. Well I have never seen a place more inhabited by wasps! Such is the magnitude of the problem,that the staff had made rather quaint wasp traps from recycled bottles. Of course,the sight of  the little fellas floating around,does rather put you off your lunch,but it did mean that I managed to avoid murder.

 Heres a rather haunting image of my husband trying to trap one of the wasps in the trap. They were so determined not to fall in that it became rather disturbing viewing. Of course,the wasp doesnt have the sophisticated thought processes necessary to regret being tempted by the sweet goo,but I did find myself feeling a bit sorry for it as it tried desperatly to avoid falling foul of the same fate that had met his brothers. Gotta wonder at the point of them though,what was God thinking? Maybe theyre like fallen bees,they used to be creative and purposeful but now they spend their time causing pain. I wonder if anyone has done a philiosophical study of the wasp?

So...we put aside thoughts of genocide and trundled over to the beautifully kitsch ice cream van. Poppy deviated from her usual honeycombe and plumped for chocolate. Philip and I would not make such a mistake! Iris didnt seem to notice that she was sharing with me and proceeded to make an almighty mess all over herself. Just as well  it was time to go. In the car on the way home,there was little time to talk of worship,sung or otherwise. For our eldest proved herself to be firmly entrenched in Freud's anal phase..." Iris,say poo poo Iris" "Poo poo" "HAHAHAH! Iris said Poo poo!!!" "Iris can you say bum bum..." and on it went...all the way home!


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