Little Cornish Adventures - St Ives

Did I mention I worked nearly 60 hours last week?

I must be crazy as I volunteered to do several 12 hour shifts in a row and towards the end of the week, I was thinking well ahead to my next day off and how I would spend it. During the occasional quiet moments on the ward, I found myself looking out of the window at the rare sight of blue skies and sunshine, wishing I was outside soaking in it. I couldn't wait to swap my ironed, stuffy uniform for a thin t-shirt and to treat my tired, achy feet to a walk across a sandy beach. 

St Ives is my usual go-to spot whenever I feel a bit run down/tired/in need of a day of my own company and some quiet time.

I usually wander down through the cobbled streets to Yumi, Fatface and all of the cute little gift shops full of sea-scented candles, mermaids purses and tiny wooden boats, before heading to one of the many tea rooms for a pot of tea with a view of the sea.

I was delighted to have some lovely surprise company on last Wednesday's trip to St Ives. I was planning on going on a solo adventure until my dear friend Sarah messaged me saying she'd just arrived in Cornwall and was free to meet up, ahh! We caught the number 14 bus from Sarah's house to St Ives and chatted away non-stop throughout the hour long journey until we spotted the first glance of the sea.

We picked the perfect day for our trip; it was warm and sunny with a slight gentle breeze and the streets were getting more crowded than recent months - definitely a sign Summer is on its way!

We made friends with this adorable kitty in a shop doorway seeking shade from the sun .. and then spotted a beautiful painting in the art gallery opposite featuring a very similar looking cat. I wonder if the painting was inspired by the same kitty?

Sarah is wearing the prettiest tea dress from lovely Cornish clothing brand Seasalt here, which sadly, I cannot find on the website for you. (The closest item I can find is the lovely Lottie dress!) I'm fairly late jumping on the Seasalt bandwagon. I must admit, I kind of assumed they wouldn't cater for my age group and I'd pass by without giving the shop a second thought, but now I've definitely been converted! I still don't feel I can carry off a full length tea dress as well as Sarah can (jealous! :P ) but they've definitely got some cute floral and nautical bits I'd love to get my mitts on. Keep an eye out for a future post named something like 'I Bought All of the Cute Pants, Hairbands and Candy Striped Tees in Seasalt!'

No trip to St Ives would be complete without spotting our favourite flying pests! Yes, they are annoying because they poop everywhere and steal food out of people's hands (we saw one poorly lady have her ice cream snatched seconds after buying it by one greedy gull), but Cornwall wouldn't be Cornwall without seagulls squawking and fighting over the tiniest morsel of pasty dropped on the floor. I think they're quite photogenic too!

One place you must visit if you're in the St Ives area is Moomaids of Zennor! It's a lovely little ice cream parlour which, as it's in St Ives, also has a sea view! Moomaids make luxury ice creams using Cornish produce, including Rodda's Clotted cream and they're based 4 miles away from St Ives on Tremedda Farm, West Cornwall.
Unfortunately, Sarah and I spent so long wandering around discovering little shops and cafes in the lower end of St Ives and lazing on the beach, Moomaids was closed by the time we walked back up. I was a bit disappointed to miss out of a double scoop Belgium chocolate, but oh well, I'll have an extra scoop next time.
I might make it my Summer challenge to try as many of Moomaid's ice cream flavours as I can, I think that's one challenge I could definitely complete :P They're creative chaps at Moomaids - their latest invention is Lavender and Lemon popping candy flavoured ice cream, sounds like something Willy Wonka would be proud of!

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed I mentioned 'Meat Free Month' a while back. It's something I've been thinking about recently and I've decided to see if I can cut out meat for a month as a kind of little experiment. Apart from fish, chicken and dairy products, I've kind of gone off animal products lately; partly a result of being more aware of animal cruelty and maltreatment in the food and cosmetics industry, and partly because of my own conscience. I've always considered myself an animal lover, but I've also been raised on steak pasties and roast dinners. Recently I started questioning why I need to eat meat at all. Do I need to consume meat to stay healthy and strong? I tried to go veggie when I was 14/15 but my GP advised against it at the time as I was constantly anaemic as a teenager. I've decided to give it another go and who knows, if it goes well, I'll consider it being a long term adjustment!

This tasty meal above is not my usual choice when visiting Hub Box - prior to my veggie experiment, I'd have chosen the Smokey B roll, a brioche roll filled with sliced brisket and gravy. This was my first ever veggie burger, the Betsy burger (and probably my first ever vegetarian meal out in a restaurant). The Betsy is made up of homemade falafel, layers of charred sweetcorn, sweet chilli sauce and avocado salsa, and it was lovely. My only complaint is that every few mouthfuls I could taste a hint of coriander, which I understand is a bit like Marmite - people either tend to love it, or hate it. I definitely hate it; to me it tastes like how I'd imagine necking a bottle of perfume would taste - not pleasant. Despite the soapy coriander taste though, the burger was still lovely. I felt full and satisfied without feeling like I'd eaten too much and needed a nap to sleep it off.

Whoops, just noticed there's bird poop in this pic. See what I mean about the seagulls?

One thing I love about St Ives is all of the little back streets and secret Fisherman's cottages; how amazing would it be to live in one of these houses?? Imagine your back garden being a beach!
Sadly, I've been told most of the Fisherman's cottages in St Ives are now holiday homes, but if I ever won the lottery, I'd definitely buy one and turn it into a little home for myself and some 10/15 cats. Well, I can dream ...

After lazing on the beach and watching surfers ride the waves for an hour or so, we finished our day off with some refreshing Cornish Orchard drinks at Pedn-Olva, a lovely pub/hotel with panoramic sea views.

Sometimes all you need is a beach day with one of your besties, yummy food and a Ginger beer :)

Enjoy the rest of our pics, don't forget to check out Sarah's blog and photography website!

*All photos taken on Sarah's camera by Sarah and myself. Don't worry, I'm buying my own camera on pay day so make sure you follow me for more Cornish adventures! xxx