990304.2319 tamarisk farm

the last few days it’s been blowing a hooligan . the sea is something to behold , more white than green . i sit here with johann’s bartok string quartets turned up reasonably loud , but still the pound and rush of the wind is dominant . later i shall do some recording .

today my ancient scanner was unexpectedly restored to life . its nervous innards found the voyage too much to endure and it rapidly became apparent that the staff of most service centres hadn’t even been born when it rolled off apple’s production line . so no spare tubes . undeterred , a bit of lateral investigation led me to < mickey fins > , an aquatic pet shop in penzance . the proprietor and i soon established that he had in stock a tube which was : a ) the right length b ) the right diameter and c ) really bright . so it arrived at the post office this afternoon ( the mail boat braved the wind and sea , more than can be said for the gp who ducked out of his fortnightly trip to the island ) . on first installation the scanner started making alarming retching sounds , so i spent several hours with it in pieces on the floor . miraculously it now works perfectly well so i’m feeling rather pleased with myself . the box in which the tube came makes the assertion that it < promotes coral , invertebrate and plant growth > . hmmm .

i cooked my first meal of indiginous vegetation at the weekend . inspired by piers’ example i stuffed my coat pockets full of sea spinach from a verdent patch down by porth killier and steamed it with pasta for supper . damn good . when i can summon the courage i’ll start on the seaweeds . i almost felt i was doing something illicit , eating food which i hadn’t bought from a shop . another indication how very far we’ve allowed ourselves to drift from our natural roots . cause for reflection i suggest .

: cH