The Holiday So Far.

Lots of cooking. I made a huge vat of chicken stock for the freezer using about four carcasses from roast dinners. I love making stock and just freeze the bones until I have time to do something with them. Add plenty of veg and herbs to make a delicious basis for loads of meals. The smell is always so comforting as it gently cooks away.

Last night Elias made fresh pasta and we coated it with a pesto style sauce of freshly picked nettles (try it - it's delicious), garlic and olive oil. So yummy and so very good for you. There are so many ways to use these otherwise pesky plants.

Bowls and vases billowing with beautiful lilac, the heady scent perfuming the house and adding a drowsy feel to an already drowsy holiday.

Piles of scones, soft and pillowy with lashings of homemade tayberry jam and (Cornish) cream.

Trips out in Mermaid where we get views of the town from a different perspective. I love the fact that the river winds through Falmouth and shopping involves pretty views such as these.

We took the boat and headed off up the Helford River to Tremayne Quay where camping is in the depths of the woods with no facilities, just driftwood for campfires and nothing but woods and fields all around.

We rowed past Frenchman's Creek and thought of the novel. How lucky we are that this pretty, tranquil spot is so close.

The racket of the dawn chorus woke us early and we headed back out to catch the tide.

It was chilly this early in the day, but the promise of hot sun was in the air. There is something so special about being the only people out on the water in the quiet of the early morning.

We stopped off at Durgan, a very pretty little village on the Helford where Isabella ran in and out of the rockpools.

Isn't it beautiful?

Well that's it for now - a brief post for once - as I am heading off for another day on the beach. Have fun x