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Monthly Archives: January 2021

Dew Drops, Curls and Reading

Walking this morning, I spotted some wool, I think, in the hedge. It must be from a wooly dog as sheep don’t come along this way! I loved the way the drops of dew had gathered in the strands.

In a conversation with Judy of Newenglandgardenandthread this afternoon, I found myself quoting words (referring to technology rather than a little girl) that were spoken to me many times as a child when I was being less than my lovely smiley self!  I looked them up and found this little poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. (American poet, 1807-1882)

There was a little girl, who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead,
And when she was good, she was very, very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

She stood on her head, on her little trundle bed,
With nobody by for to hinder;
She screamed and she squalled, she yelled and she bawled,
And drummed her little heels against the winder.

Her mother heard the noise, and thought it was the boys
Playing in the empty attic,
She rushed upstairs, and caught her unawares,
And spanked her, most emphatic.

I only remember the first verse being used and I used to join in with the reprimand finding it amusing and a bit of a challenge!

This afternoon I have finished my Jolabokaflod book, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. Oh, what a story, what beautiful writing, what evocative descriptions! I was sorry to come to the end and can wholly recommend it – just have a box of tissues nearby. Being the mother of twins myself, there were parts I found completely heartbreaking.

 

 

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Mud, Dogs and Another Robin

We have avoided one of our routes up to The Great Flat Lode because there has been such a lot of rain and that makes for a lot of puddle dodging. There has been much less rain recently so we tried that route only to discover that it is a completely impassable quagmire as a tractor has been churning up the mud and the puddles!

We frequently pass this handful of hounds!

Another Robin sang for us on this walk.

 

Six on Saturday 9-1-2021

It’s very cold, it’s wintery dark too early and we are all worried about the virus but there is hope in the garden. Nature will have her way, has kept us supplied with greens over the winter and now new shoots are appearing heralding a bright and beautiful Spring.
Here are my six for this week.
1. We redid the wall border in the early Autumn, planted lots of bulbs and some Clematis. This evergreen one has just taken off and is already all over the trellis.

Clematis Wisley Cream

2  In the same border are lots of winter flowering pansies which we can see from the kitchen window. The orange ones have been much more successful than the purple ones and make lovely bright spots in the border. Lots of the bulbs are peeping through.

 

3.  I went looking for Snowdrop shoots and found a few. Some I expected to find are smothered in weeds and we’ll have to get to clearing that little patch quickly to give the flowers some air and a chance.

Snowdrop shoots

4.  The raised beds continue to supply us with Kalettes otherwise known as Flower Sprouts. They are delicious quickly stir fried in garlic butter.

Kalettes/Flower Sprouts

5.  We acquired an allotment in the Autumn (great excitement having waited several years) and all we’ve really done is clear the dense weeds. We have however planted some Osteospermum along the path and a row of Elephant Garlic which has started to sprout! Yippee.

The Daffodils in the front garden  are quite tall and almost ready to bend their heads over so flowering isn’t too far away……

6. We have spent some happy hours planning the allotment and have this week ordered lots of seeds – for Dwarf French Beans, Courgettes, Leeks, Pumpkin, Tumbling Tom Tomatoes and Kale. News of those in due course.

And, just for fun, on our walk today and in someone else’s garden,  we were serenaded by a Robin who stayed there singing as we approached, as we went by and until we were so far away, we couldn’t hear him any more. What a treat!

The inspiration for Six on Saturday comes from The Propagator. Pop over to see his posts and to read sixes from lots of other gardeners.

 

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Long View, Reflection and New Cake Recipe

When the skies cleared at lunchtime, we headed out for our walk along part of the Flat Lode Trail. What a view of the sea we get from up there!

There were many puddles from the recent and the overnight rain and there were some pleasing reflections today.

I made the most delicious cake today! It’s the Heligan Pineapple Cake, easy to make, moist and full of fruit. I had no cherries so added ginger pieces which will come as no surprise to regular readers!  I’ll add the recipe to my Recipes pages in the next couple of days.

Heligan Pineapple Cake

There is a special history of growing pineapples in Cornwall in the Gardens at Heligan. Follow this link for more information.

 
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Posted by on January 8, 2021 in Uncategorized

 

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Wheal Uny, Birds and Carn Brea

Such a bright cold day for our walk, such a beautiful blue sky and a warm sun on our backs despite our faces being very cold!

Wheal Uny

Birds on the tower

Across the valley, people scrambling up the rocks on Carn Brea

 

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Horses, January Shadows and Evening Sunshine

Near the start of our walk late this afternoon, the lovely Mr S spotted a couple of horses way in the distance.

Horses in the distance

We took a long shadow photo for our family in Atlanta, waving to celebrate the news about the Senate.(Edited 8th Jan 2021- To make things quite clear  – I was talking about celebrating the Democrats winning the two Senate seats in Georgia. I was not referring to the disgraceful and frightening behaviour of the mob in Washington.)

Down the lane and nearly home we came to the view of our lovely Town Clock bathed in golden evening sunshine and the viaduct which carries the railway line which runs from Penzance to Paddington.

 

Dawn, Street Art and Beaded Tree

Lovely peachy clouds as we drew the curtains this morning.

Our walk today, allowed, was into town to collect the bread. It’s the last we’ll do in town for a few months. I spotted a new  street art mask today on a tree outside the clock tower.

We have taken down our Christmas tree but we are leaving up all the twinkly lights, the greenery wreath on the front door and a small white tree filled with South African beaded decorations. They were made by the women, the gogos, the Grandmothers,  in Mapoch where we did our volunteering in 2007. We helped build a new classroom and worked with the children and the teacher.

You can read about some of our experiences here. 

 

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Sunny Corner, Park and Cathedral

A bitterly cold but happy walk with friends today along theTruro River where the tide was out gave us a lovely view across the inlet to the sun.

Sunny Corner

We walked by Boscawen Park and along the road as far as the sign for Malpas Village coming back to the park for hot chocolates.

There’s a good view of the Cathedral along the drive back.

That’ll be our last walk away from home for a while as we move into another lockdown. Stay safe, dear readers.

 

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Today’s Walk and Happiness Calendar

Today’s walk along the Great Flat Lode (which really was nearly flat to walk on) was also close to home with beautiful views on a gloriously bright and very cold day. We met more people on this walk that on the up and down one nearer to home and exchanged cheery greetings with them all, apparently waking some of them up! We were helping to brighten people’s days as per today’s calendar.  See below.

Through a window

Here is this month’s Happiness Calendar for you.

 

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Engine Houses, Moss and Black Sheep with Socks

A different walk round familiar territory gave us new views of our local engine houses, Wheal Uny.

Wheal Uny engine houses

There are lots of kinds of moss along our walk. I like this one that looks like miniature bracken and the way it has covered a vertical stick or stump.

Moss on a stick

I love this black sheep among a herd of white ones. Happily it stepped aside and to the top of the field so that I could catch it on camera alone.

Such a cuddly looking black sheep

 

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