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Monthly Archives: August 2018

Kalettes, Happiness and A Break

We didn’t realise quite how big the Kalette plants would get when we planted them in the border! It’ll be fun eating them in due course.

Just one of the three enormous Kalette plants

I shared the August Happiness plan with you some weeks ago. Here is the September plan, this time for self-care, something many of us ignore.

self-care_september

I am taking a break from blogging for a few weeks. I have published almost every day for almost seven years and it will seem odd not to write every day but I WILL be back in this beautiful Blogging Community and all is well. 🙂

 

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Planter, A Dahlia and A Canna

I was in Penryn today and found this gloriously full planter in my favourite colours, one of the plants being Heliotrope which really lives up to its nickname of Cherry Pie.

Heliotrope

Side view with millstone and flowers

Our Dahlias are blooming.

White Dahlia

The Canna is in flower too.

Canna and Zebra Grass

Thank you all very much for so many thoughts about the the pink flower yesterday.  I think Heyjude and Arkenatum might have the right id, Crinum.  I hadn’t said that the stems were about 2ft tall and they do look a bit like Amaryllis. I really should have taken a photo of  the whole border.

 
 

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Shallots, Chickens and Pink

We harvested all our shallots a few weeks ago and now their skins have all dried, I have cleaned them up and they sit, golden and gorgeous, waiting to be used.

Home grown crop

Our new protective table cover is jolly.

Chickens

There were lots of these unusual flowers at the Meudon Hotel, great long borders of them. I’d love it if someone could identify it for me – no leaves, just long pink stalks with the large blooms on top, no perfume sadly.

What is this flower?

 

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Early Morning, A Walk and Pondlife

We have so enjoyed our night away and this silver sea was our view this morning as we drew the curtains.

Early morning view from our room

The walk through the gardens is beautiful and at the bottom of the gardens is the beach. We turned right along the South West coastal path and had an excellent stomp with beautiful views.

View from our walk

We spent the afternoon sitting by the hotel pond reading and trying to take photos of the dragonflies. I just managed by using sport mode on my camera.

 

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Glass, Pudding and A Surprise

We bought ourselves a present for our Anniversary (51 years today), a beautiful piece showing the Nearly Home Trees that we love so much.

The Nearly Home Trees

We have come out for a delicious meal cooked by someone else! The dessert we both chose was Chocolate Fondant.

Chocolate Fondant

After our scrumptious dessert we were presented with the following which we are saving to enjoy tomorrow.

Chef’s surprise

 
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Posted by on August 26, 2018 in art, Beauty, Cornwall, Food, glass

 

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Tandem, Weather Vane and Decoupage

On our way back from town, we came upon two young neighbours trying out the family tandem for the first time and what an enjoyable time they were having.

Having fun

Walking around Newlyn before going to see Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman at the Newlyn Filmhouse, we spotted a lovely weathervane.

Weather vane in Newlyn

In the cafe upstairs, before the film, we were both taken by the decoupage on the tables.

Decoupage

The film, by the way, is stunning,  offering an unflinching, true-life examination of race relations in 1970s America that is just as frighteningly relevant in today’s tumultuous world.

 

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White, Courgettes and Tomatoes

I love the white in our Suffragette garden. There is no purple left as the Clematis has all been blown away but the Japanese Anemones are lovely .

Japanese Anemones

I have picked all the ripe Cherry Tomatoes and ‘sun-dried’ them in the oven today.

Cherry tomatoes

Our lovely friend Kath, to whom this blog is dedicated, once gave me the recipe for Courgette Soup and it is very tasty. Kath and Charlie had a small house in Meyssac in Southern France and we visited a couple of times. Each time, when the villagers knew that K&C were having visitors, they were asked by the neighbours, “Which soup are you making for them?” which we all loved. We used our own courgettes (our crop has been rather small) and some from our lovely neighbour Sue’s allotment.

 
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Posted by on August 24, 2018 in Food, Photography, Postaday2018

 

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Dog Names, A Poem and A Dedication

Today, I give you a poem, ‘My Dog’ by Ian MacMillan, a poet we met several times when we lived in Yorkshire and whose work invariably makes me smile. There has been correspondence in the Guardian letters page of the  human names people give to their dogs which disconcerts some people. I think this name beats the lot.  Try to get hold of the rest of the poem to discover the wonderful name Ian gives his cat!

My Dog

by Ian McMillan (I Found This Shirt, Carcanet)

April is the Cruellest Month
might seem like a strange name for a dog,
and sometimes I think it is
when I’m shouting her name
on the high moors
in the driving wind.

‘April is the Cruellest Month!’
I shout,
‘April is the Cruellest Month!’
and my dog runs up to me,
barking, wagging her tail,
and I feel slightly, ever so slightly
embarrassed.

But then when people say
as they walk by me
on the high moors
in the driving wind,
‘Can a month bark?’
‘Can April wag its tail?’
I swell with pride
because my dog’s name
is image, and metaphor, and poetry.

I won Ian’s book, “I Found This Shirt”, in a raffle at one of his readings and he wrote in it for me with his usual dry humour.

I Found This Shirt

Signed book

 

 
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Posted by on August 23, 2018 in Humour, poetry, Postaday2018

 

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Cream Tea, Fuchsia and Clematis

When we met Daughter No 1 in Exeter the other day, we took her a jar of our freshly made Blackberry and Apple Jam. Last night M sent us a photo of the cream tea that she made with the scrumptious jam!

Cream Tea with B&A Jam

The Fuchsia that we were given last Summer is blooming beautifully after being cut hard down.

Fuchsia

The Bill Mackenzie Clematis is coming into flower.  There are dozens of buds so it will just get better and better.

Clematis Bill MacKenzie

 

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Lunch, Gladioli and Rogue Clematis

Frittata for lunch, a tasty favourite.

Mixed veg frittata

The broken Gladioli is down to its last few blooms and they are still beautiful.

Leftover Gladioli

The Spring flowering Clematis Montana is showing several blooms!

Montana Rubens

We have bulbs, due next Spring, throwing up all their greenery. The Clematis Armandii, which flowers in the winter has been flowering freely! Is anyone else finding plants not knowing which season we are in?

 
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Posted by on August 21, 2018 in Food, nature, Photography, Postaday2018

 

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