I is for islands…

I planned what my blip for today would be but weather conspired against me. I woke up at about 2am and it was heavy rain and blowing a hooley. I snuggled down in bed and thought this seems to be putting the kibosh on my planned blip. As always everything was magnified in the dark and I thought that if I walked up to the Mignot Plateau to take my pic then I was bound to slip on the wet road as I came back down; every possible route is either steps or a steep hill. I drifted off to sleep and was delighted to see that the rain and storm had gone in the morning!
So back to Plan A. Except that when I got to the Plateau the islands were barely visible because it was so hazy. But they’re there.
Most of the other islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey are off our east coast more or less in front of the harbour and look great. On a really clear day you can see the coast of France. But also out there; to the right of my pic is Jersey which is just over 20 miles away and not visible today. We locals say it is a good day when you can’t see ‘That Other Island’! In truth probably because some haze heralds good weather but also because we really don’t need to be reminded of Jersey.
We have a lot of friendly rivalry with Jersey and we call them Crapauds (toads). Back in the 12th century when the last ice age ended the melting ice cause the sea levels to rise. Before this the Channel Islands were part of mainland France. Because Guernsey is further out in the English Channel it was the first to become an island. As the tide was rising we chased all the toads off in the direction of Jersey and to this day we have no toads over here. Hence we call the Jersey people Crapauds. They don’t like this and have in recent years tried to call themselves Jersey Beans but outside the Premier Inn in St Helier, Jersey is a statue of a Crapaud so I rest my case…