Living in Cornwall summer is here

	this is july

July: Highways, byways and country ways

Phew... I really didn't think I was going to make my self-imposed deadline. However, the spectre of my mate Ed metaphorically holding the front page, puffing a panatella, eye-shade shrouding irritation, drumming his desk with a chewed-to-splinters pencil, was the kick up the backside I needed!

It's summer and the very early morning sun is reflecting mica-bright freckles of sunlight joyously flittering across the glittering sea. And how do I know this? Because our house in under siege from an idiotic, headbanging seagull. At 5am daily he hammers on the bedroom window; I don't know if he's got a grudge, is trying to mate or is simply narcissistic.

I'm no bird behaviourist but I think he's psychotic, because when he's not headbutting, he's chattering to himself in a very unhinged manner - whatever the problem, I just wish he would stop waking me up!

July juxtaposes with summer holidays when Cornwall becomes a destination. Sally-Traffic's Friday afternoon broadcasts relay nightmarish traffic conditions; the A303 has tailbacks from Stonehenge to Shepherds Bush, caravans overturn on the M4 and the M5 is closed through freak weather conditions. It's OK for us as we're already here and as long as we stay put for a few weeks, keep off the A roads and don't go into towns with the whimsical notion that it would be nice to park, the county comes to life with visitors having a good time.

Tourism in Cornwall is the mainstay of the economy and is promoted in a positive way. However, look a little deeper than the advertised attractions to uncover hidden gems; innovative, creative jewels inspired by single-minded individuals who will do whatever is necesary to protect their way of life, either economically or artistically. I was searching for a word to describe such self-reliant souls and all I could come up with was 'quirky'; not that they are weird, or even eccentric, it's simply that there's a certain kind of person who accept and embrace the unusual as everyday.