If you thought sails were just for boats, think again. Here follows a tale of giant sails and cucumbers,,,
I knew there was trouble ahead when I came into the lounge and saw a very large bundle of cream material piled on the table.There was also a gathering of suspicious poles, bolts and what looked a bit like giant safety pins being placed strategically at the bottom of the stairs. Best plan of action was to allow the activity to continue and try to keep a low profile. I tried to ignore the banging and drilling, but eventually I was summoned to the roof terrace where help was required. Up on the top of the house it was all hands on deck where a huge sail was billowing – fixed now at two points to the roof I found myself holding a corner of the sail while other visiting helpers struggled to attach another corner to a pole with considerable heaving, stretching, wobbling on ladders and knots. Knots were the order of the day and there were bowlines in abundance and plenty of rope to secure and stretch the sail. At one point I found myself in danger of being lifted up with the wind as it gusted under our enormous sail shade, a few more mph and I could see myself becoming a human kite and floating off into the blue sky, while the ‘sail-makers’ were preoccupied with securing their knots. Anyway, after trips to buy paint and special expanding screws in strange dusty DIY stores and visits to neighbours to borrow drills that could tackle concrete, we eventually sank down under the wings of our giant sail shade – Mojitos in hand. We felt a bit like desert nomads, sipping our minted brews…and we all admitted that we liked the new ‘tent’ very much. Thank goodness for strings and things and sailing knots.
Later that night we were enjoying a meal at a favourite shack (not being rude that’s what it’s called) and my sister noticed what she thought might be giant cucumbers hanging from vines above our heads. They were half the length of my arm and I’d never seen cucumbers that size. Questions were asked about these strange marrow-like cucumbers.
No, they weren’t cucumbers….and all would be revealed said the owner, after we’d finished eating. But he gave us a clue: “you can’t eat them and you probably think they come from the sea.”
There was much pondering, of course I had a eureka moment and saw through their disguise…I’d seen a bunch of them on sale another day by the side of the road. Not much use to us as we don’t have a bath – these were ‘young loofahs’. The restaurant owner had one he’d prepared earlier in good Blue Peter fashion and showed us how, once dried, the skin could be peeled away to reveal the fibrous body of a loofah. Who would think when you spot them alongside the sea sponges and pumice stones on the shelves at Boots, that they are really ‘air pumpkins’ that have been dried out in the Mediterranean sun? Fancy keeping marrows or courgettes in your bathroom…
As for our sail… it’s still intact tonight, but come the winter tornadoes we may need to do some serious reefing or de-rigging to stop our little house being blown out to sea. I should have known living with a sailor would be unpredictable, but at least he has his sail and knots on the roof…all we need now is a flagpole!
rachelfarmer 