1 Lovely cards and phone calls today for Mr S and my dear Dad (1916-2004) in my head all day.
2 Purple is one of my favourite colours (along with green – which with white, makes up the Suffragette colours, of which more in another post) Do click on the photo to see the furriness of the centre section, it’s so beautiful!
What’s left when the poppy petals have all dropped
Beautiful French Lavender
I wish you could smell this as well as see it – so lovely.
3 Singing tonight with the Treggies blew a touch of the blues away! We laugh, we sing and we sometimes cry! One song, ‘The Soldier’s Farewell’ is particularly moving and was, apparently, also sung by Cornish tin miners on the station as they were about to emigrate and leave their families far behind.
Tags: 'The Soldiers' Farewell', cornish, cornish tin, Dad, dear dad, emigrate, families, Father's Day, french lavender, green, lavender, lovely cards, poppy, Postaday, purple, Suffragette, The Treggies, tin miners, touch of the blues, white
1 Heavy rain all night and I went out first thing to take these gorgeous photos of raindrops. Click to enlarge.
Raindrops on a poppy bud about to open
Raindrops on a poppy
Fallen sepal with raindrops. This is my favourite today.
2 Today, Lucy and I used our Christmas present vouchers from KJ to have a massage each at St Michael’s Spa in Falmouth – beautiful smells and a great sense of relaxation.
St Michael’s Spa, Falmouth
3 While I was out, Mr S put the baby gates, the fireguard and the buggy back in the attic but he left the toys and the wet-suit that stay here on the stairs for me to see as I came in. Beautiful!
Toys and a wet-suit waiting to go upstairs until the next visit
Tags: baby gate, buggy, Christmas, christmas presents, Falmouth., fireguard, heavy rain, massage, poppies, poppy, Postaday, raindrops, sense of relaxation, St Michael's Spa, toys, wet suit
We have had the most beautiful day today! First we had a walk along the Flat Lode Trail to find a tin mine for Jake and this afternoon we went off to The Lost Gardens of Heligan to find the Giant and the Mud Maid.
I’m going to tell it through photos – enjoy! Click on the first one and then click the arrows on the right to get the whole story.
In the carry-sack
Setting off on our walk
Uphill in knee deep grass
Looking at the view
Having a shoulder ride
Beautiful honeysuckle
St Uny Engine House
Horse knee-deep in buttercups
Jake’s turn in the carry-sack
Beautiful Heligan
Just look at the detail in this foxglove flower
Down the path to the glade
The putto in the pond
The Bee Boles
Information about the Bee Boles
Jake under the Gunnera
“I’m going up this path!”
Admiring the dove cote
Setting off to find the Giant
Beautiful wild flower patch
Contrast – old leaves and new growth
Jake has just whispered to the Giant, “We’ve found you! We are friendly faces!”
The very beautiful and serene Mud Maid
Children pyjamaed and ready for the five hour drive home
And now they’ve gone home and the house feels very quiet and empty!
Tags: arts, Great Flat Lode Trail, Heligan Gardens, illustration, nature, outdoors, Pete Hill, Postaday, sculpture, St Uny Engine House, Sue Hill, The Heligan Giant, The Mud Maid, travel, vacation
1 We went to the beautiful Potager Garden, Constantine, to meet a friend, to play and to have lunch. We wandered all over the place exploring, noting landmarks so that we could find our way back and hunting dragons. It’s a magical place for children (and their adults!)
Having adventures at Potager Garden
Jake in the meadow at Potager garden
Lunch was absolutely delicious, as always. Lots of the food is grown right there in the gardens. All the food is cooked freshly on the premises and is a treat for the eyes as well as for the taste buds!
Having lunch in the Potager Garden cafe
Fritatta and salad
Ploughman’s with Cornish Blue Cheese
Tabitha escaping from the cafe!
2 There were flowers in abundance and Jake spotted the bee on the cornflowers.
Cornflower with Bumble Bee
3 This evening I’ve been to sing with the Three Choirs on a Ferry. All three of Claire Ingleheart’s choirs, about 100 of us, sang first in the courtyard in Trelissick Gardens and then we all, including our audience of about 200, walked down the hill to the King Harry Ferry where the choirs went on board, the audience on the slip way and we sang for an hour and were much appreciated by the friendly crowd which included KJ and Lucy, which was really lovely for me. Just as we finished we were all delighted to hear the beautiful sound of a pair of owls hooting to each other.
Tags: Claire Ingleheart, community, Cornflower, cornwall, flowers, food, grandbabies, grandchildren, home made food, homegrown food, hunting dragons, Inglehearts, Jake, King Harry Ferry, Potager Garden, Potager Garden Cafe, Suitcases, Three Choirs on a Ferry, Trelissick Gardens
1 Inspired by the beautiful photos of strawberries here http://dhphotosite.wordpress.com/ I went out to see how mine, grown in another old chimney pot, are doing.
Strawberries growing in an old chimney pot
Our first strawberry, just needs some sun
2 Rain until teatime today so first some soft play at Snappy’s in Portreath, with my first experience ever of bouncing in a bouncy castle! (Quite disorientating!) That was followed by rocket building this afternoon, one making an ‘ear splitting sound’ according to Jake.
Jake and his rockets
3 Tabitha had her first taste of real Cornish icecream and was determined to get every last lick.
Cornish ice-cream is the best!
Apologies to those of my readers who have liked and commented in the last few days and to whom I have not yet replied. I had forgotten how very time consuming having little ones around can be. It’s all I can manage at the moment to keep my blog going – so here is a big Thank You to you all and I’ll get back to you soon!
Tags: bouncy castle, chimney pot, Cornish ice cream, food, old chimney, rocket building, strawberries, vacation, very time consuming
1 We spent the morning being entertained at the Falmouth Fish Festival, sampling some delicious Cornish produce and thoroughly enjoying Squashbox Theatre, stories, music and fish facts for children of all ages!
Jake sampling some fresh mackerel
Grumpie’s Pies where we bought some beautiful pies to bring home for lunch with salad
Cornish Oak Smoked Salt
Reflections of the masts in Falmouth Harbour
2 Our poppies get better and better. Just look at the creases on the petals of the open one, the veining on the nearly open one and the dew drops on the bud – so beautiful. Click on the photos to see that beautiful detail.
Poppy
- Two buds
3 It’s 19 years today since my beautiful Mum died. Her love and her wisdom are still what guide me. The Forget-me-nots in my garden for her and were in bloom in her gardens for as many years as I can remember.
For my Mum xx
Tags: Cornish produce, cornwall, Falmouth fish festival., falmouth harbour, fish festival, food, grandbabies, grandchildren, Grumpies Pies, Jake, Mum, nature, plants, vacation
1 The Grandchildren are with us! That’s beautiful! Lots of lovely conversations and laughs. We introduced Jake to The Heligan Giant today and will take him to visit next week.
The story of the Heligan Giant
2 Our garden is delighting us, so many beautiful blooms. Click on any image to enlarge and see the detail, especially the poppy bud.
Poppy
Hairy poppy bud
Geum
Climbing Rose
3 The red sky tonight was reflected on the windows over the road. Hopefully tomorrow will be another beautiful day.
Red sky at night, shepherds’ delight!
Tags: beautiful day, blogging, Evening Sunshine, flowers, grandchildren, Heligan Giant, nature, plants, sunset, travel, vacation
1 Sorting out the room for our Grandchildren to sleep in when they arrive late tonight for two weeks, I saw another fairy Sculpture and remembered that I had promised to show you another of my treasures made by the very talented artist Samantha Bryan. The other one can be seen at http://mybeautfulthings.com/2012/03/09/fur-elise-fairies-and-fishnchips/
Air balloon Fairy
Brain’s Airborne Support System
2 We had a very heavy shower onto hot ground this afternoon and, for the first time this Summer, I smelt petrichor! Wikipedia defines it as ‘the scent of rain on dry earth’. My lovely Sister-in-law in Atlanta, Georgia and I discovered the word at the same time so the smell always reminds me of her.
Number 3 was going to be a gorgeous and very big spider that I found in the garden and took a beautifully hairy photo of but just now this delightful email came in from my Brother-in-law in Warsaw, Poland:
“The photo below is about two cranes who met in an injured animals’ clinic in the south of Poland. The female had a broken wing, the male some serious food poisoning. During the course of several months’ treatment they paired up together. The male gradually recovered his strength, but the female’s condition was irreversible, so she didn’t regain the ability to fly. In view of this, the male refrained from cruising off to warmer climes in the winter and remained in Poland; he also decided to start building his partner a nest, on the ground. Which, of course, is pretty unheard-of for cranes…”
Two Cranes
Isn’t that just a beautiful story?
Tags: artist, Atlanta, Balloon Fairy, bezNazwy, broken wing, brother-in-law, cranes, fairy sculpture, food poisoning, Georgia, grandchildren, Petrichor, Poland, Romantic Cranes, Samantha Bryan, sister-in-law, spider, treasures, Wikipedia
1 My lovely neighbour told me about the Cornwall Asparagus Festival which was being held just down the road in the Penventon Park Hotel. It was a delight! I watched Arty Williams Chef at The Cove, Maenporth, a local award-winning restaurant, http://www.thecovemaenporth.co.uk/ demonstrating a beautiful dish of Asparagus, Goat Cheese with a Red Wine and Caper Dressing. It looked, smelled and tasted wonderful – a real treat for the taste buds!
Arty Williams at the Asparagus Festival
2 I arrived home to find Richard Burton on BBC Radio Four reading the opening of ‘Under Milk Wood’ by Dylan Thomas which hundreds of my former pupils will be able to tell you is my favourite piece of literature of all time! Another wonderful treat!
3 There were Duck eggs, from The Cornish Duck Company, on sale at the festival as well as asparagus from the largest growers in Cornwall, John and Jenny Keeler from Tregassow Farm so for supper tonight we’ve had Delia Smith’s Sauteed Asparagus with Duck Egg and Parmesan. Beautiful! The recipe is up on my Recipe page.
Sauteed Asparagus with Duck Egg and Parmesan
Tags: 'Under Milk Wood', Arty Williams, Asparagus and Goat's Cheese with a Red Wine and Caper Dressing, Asparagus Festival, award-winning restaurant, Duck Eggs, food, http://www.thecovemaenporth.co.uk/, John and Jenny Keeler -asparagus growers, sauteed asparagus, The Cove Maenporth
1 Little sun until this afternoon so a batch baking day ready for a family visit next week. Made some delicious Lemony Pork and Chicken Meatballs (will be on my Recipe page soon) , a big panful of Ragu, and a Chicken,Lentil and Mushroom Casserole. I also made some beautiful Choc Chip Mini Muffins (on the recipe page) to try out a new recipe to bake with Jake (3 years old) when he’s here next week. Like his Mum, he loves baking too.
Baked Lemony Meatballs
2 Our lovely neighbours are home after 7 weeks away with Babel in London. It’s so good to have them home!
3 I think this mini digger is very beautiful – and when the work is finished our drive will be beautiful too!
Mini Digger
Some bonus flower pictures, micro photographs, taken this evening, with advice from another blogger, kyle78234 Thank you!
Cosmos with Fujifilm X10
Forget-me-not with FujifilmX10
Aquilega, this time with FujifilmX10
And this is my 201st post!
Tags: Babel, batch baking, Chicken, Choc Chip Mini Muffins, digger, Jake, Lemony Pork and Chicken Meatballs, Lentil and Mushroom Casserole, London, neighbours, Ragu, recipe page
