Beach Life.

Strange weather isn't it? It swings from blazing sun to freezing cold, but when it is good we try to make the most of it. Of course, in Cornwall that generally means heading for the beach.

Warmer evenings mean we can move outdoors onto our little courtyard for games of chess. You can almost hear those rusty cogs turning can't you?

The hedgerows burgeon with hogsweed & campion & cow parsley, the whole looking truly beautiful when set against a cornflower blue sea.

Walks every day along cliff paths with views such as these set me up for the day and provide inspiration for designs. The problem comes when I try to reduce the inspiration down to just one or two ideas to work on at a time.

My sketchbook has been kept close to hand lately with every opportunity to practice grabbed with both hands. I haven't done much in the way of sketching other than on designs for such a long time. Odd how things come in phases isn't it? At the moment I see things I want to draw all over the place, although the things that are inspiring me most tend to be coast related...no change there then!

This unfinished sketch is what I was working on in the above photo: a little rendering of the rocks as we waited for the Red Arrows to swoop over the bay to mark the end of The Pendennis Cup.

Sea thrift. Perhaps one of my favourites against the blue. Such an amazing contrast.

Beautiful whether viewed up close or with the headlands in the distance. All these images are views I see daily.

The purpose of this scary photo is to show you the little necklace I made from a cowrie! Rabbit in the headlights springs to mind. I truly am not good at selfies! So lovely to be able to make something so pretty from things I forage from the shores. 

Things such as this sea treasure. Nature at its best. We have so many bowls & jars full of shells such as these. Our mantlepiece has grey-blue mussels and chalky ridged limpets lying next to cowries and flat winkles; the window sills have little heaps of pebbles and shells piled where they are easy to reach for a game of Ship, Ship Sailing.

I really want to draw this. Just look at the intricacy of the florets. This is what I love about drawing and photography: I am forced to slow my pace, to absorb the finer details and try, try, try to capture them. It makes me see the world properly.

The other thing I love is that I can lose myself for hours in the process. This drawing of a hermit crab was done by firelight one cold, dreary night. I had music playing, a glass of wine and Pepper puppy for company. For over four hours I was lost to the world, completely absorbed in what I was doing and only dimly aware of the flickering flames and the beautiful mellifluous tones of Joni Mitchell drifting in and out of my consciousness. True bliss.

Trips into town for shopping usually involve one of the Falmouth Quays which run alongside the main thoroughfare. This is Customs house Quay which is my favourite.

There's always so much going on, even when it looks quite quiet. 

So, that's it for now.

I would love to hear what you think of the larger photos - too large or just right? Also, i do sometimes respond to comments in the comment section. Till next time x

Scenes From Cornwall.

I thought I would share a few scenes from Cornwall where the sun has finally arrived and all around the Cornish folk are already sporting gentle tans, though truth to say this probably has far more to do with the ever-present Cornish breeze (gales) than the presence of the sun. So, to start us off some bright forsythia which is shouting from just about every garden including our own.

From our garden we pop down to Falmouth town where, as I have said on many occasions, we are lucky enough to shop with the river running alongside us. This is one of the scenes we see regularly from the main town carpark where a little quay juts out and fields of golden gorse surge down to the sea on the opposite bank. I love the back of the buildings lining the water's edge as they look so quaint and higgeldy-piggledy as though they are climbing over one another to get the best spot. Well, in my mind anyway.

So many little boats are tied up to the quays and bob in the choppy tide as the larger vessels languish in deeper waters. The harbour is quiet at the moment waiting for the season to begin when it will once more play host to myriad boats, ships and ferries with bright sails and flapping flags hoist high on masts as they venture off in search of adventure. We shall be one of them on our little boat Mermaid and I can't wait!

We sail Mermaid all year round though it is infinitely more fun - to me anyway - with the hot sun on our backs. This image is typical of what we see as we make our way along the river toward the harbour.

A quick visit back to the garden as we are now spending so much time there grabbing the sunlight and longer days with both hands while we can after what felt a particularly long, grey winter. Not a cold one I know, but dreary enough to make the burst of colour draw us outdoors onto the courtyard for prolonged chats over pots of coffee in the weekend mornings, me knitting on one side and Davey doing the same on the other as the children race around. Evenings see us meet there after Isabella is in bed for a quiet wind down over a glass of something and though the air is chill by then, it still has a magic that I love with the birds singing goodnight and the breeze scented with hyacinths and daffodils.

A cuddle with Pecan who is in need of a new mate as we had a fox attack a while ago. We no longer have my beautiful Biscuit or her gorgeous daughter May, and even the loss of the ever-useless (bless him) Mustang who finally managed to produce some fertile eggs (!) has made me rather sad. I am very good at not dwelling on these things as there truly is little point in keeping livestock if you cannot take a somewhat pragmatic view, but sometimes it does snag a bit. Foxes are something I no longer think of as particularly wonderful as they indulge so often in senseless killing where bodies are left decimated and not taken for food. Obviously, this is nature though and I must accept it does not work on our thought process.

So, we are searching for a companion for her and my comfort is the fact that I watched two crows collect some of Biscuit's soft, downy feathers to line their nest. How pretty that must look unlike moi who is in definite need of a haircut...hmm.

Masses of pretty ladybirds appeared over the weekend drawn out of hibernation by the warm sun much like ourselves. Isabella is fascinated by bugs and often walks up holding some totally revolting specimen which I rather like to see. She is so much like me in this area and I will have to keep an eye out for empty cardboard boxes with no lids atop supposedly housing ants and being kept under beds - ahh, I remember doing this so well! Funny how the ants never stayed in their box... my poor Mum!

Luckily Isabella happily released this ladybird to wander on her way.

Well, this long post is drawing to a close (hurrah!) and I will leave you with some more Cornish coastal scenes including Porthleven Harbour on a rather less sunshiney day

A fishing trawler on its way to work, heading out around Pendennis Point and into Falmouth Bay

And a look at one of those boats I mentioned bobbing off of Falmouth town near the Prince of Wales Pier.

Well done if you got this far and thank you for reading my rambling if you did!

See you soon x

P.S. Sorry, that really was long!!!

No Grumps Today.

The grumps have gone thanks to your sweet comments - thank you - and a beautiful long day of sunshine... just the one you understand, nothing too much nor too heady a cup to sip from, but a hot, sunshiney day nonetheless where we decamped from the house to the beach returning home late in the day to collapse full of that wonderful lassitude from a day of fresh, fresh air. A day of playing



of blue skies with the fluffiest of clouds occasionally, lazily, drifting by



of searching for shells for Mummy



that last lazy amble across the beach as the sun gently lowers casting long shadows in its wake. Pretty fields across the water aren't they?



Other than these intermittent trips to the shore the week has been full of making. The holiday jar came up with 'make a cake' and oh, it was delicious ...



and also produced a label saying 'make bread animals' which produced some truly gruesome creatures once the dough had risen!



The rolls Dave also made were so scrumptious - love that word - and so good toasted,
slathered with butter and mint jelly that I have just made another batch for breakfast. Quite fancy trying teacakes at the weekend, though it does suggest a roaring fire and pot of tea to accompany them.



A cushion I sewed for Granny-Mother's birthday. I really enjoyed making this as I just made it up as I went along. No drawing first or planning out...bliss. Dreadful picture as it was a very dull day.



A cluster of houses...



a lighthouse...



and it all ends up feeling very Falmouthian - or that was the hope anyway!



That's me for now.



Have a lovely day x

Flamouth harbour.

Whew, I am so tired at the moment. A few nights of not sleeping well and I feel as though I am drugged, dragging my heels through the days with a feeling of not really being a part of it. There is no particular reason behind my current insomnia - no worries of work (though busy) or money (same as ever) or family niggles creeping into my mind in the dark of night (though I do miss Sam and Lauren and think it is high time they stopped galivanting in New Zealand and Belgium respectively and came home!). So, what to do with Isabella who frankly cares little for the needs of her sleepy-eyed mother who so desperately would like to curl up on the sofa and snooze away the day? No, she wants to see yet more boats and so it is down to the harbour we go once more.



It is filling up rapidly as the weeks progress and there is a pleasing mix of old and new, some brightly coloured and glinting in the early sun, others worn through much use, the faded paintwork partly flaking to reveal the base colours.



We sit for a while on the narrow granite steps leading down to the moored tenders (boats used to ferry people to and from their vessels) and watch the sun flashing in the ripples on the almost still surface. The tide is half in, half out and I have slightly lost track of which way it is going. Ebb or flow? It is unusual not to be aware of this in a county so connected to the sea, but I have forgotten for today.



Isabella is fascinated by the algae and barnacles clinging to the sides and as ever wants to poke her fingers into the green. The sliminess makes her shriek before I wipe it away and a seagulls answers her call with one of its own.



We walk on to find the 'lady' nestled away at the bottom of one of the many side alleys. Falmouth town is really on long street with quaint alleyways leading off it down to the sea and this ship's figurehead sits between a chandlers and a sailmakers keeping watch over the ancient building that perch either side. Unfortunately we noticed some idiots had daubed green paint onto her face - why?!!!



I love these ramshackle buildings which seem so precarious in their wibbly-wobbly way. They have stood for hundreds of years though and will no doubt long outlast me.



The light looks cold in these pictures, but there was a little sun for a change. It has been so cold and wet in Cornwall over this last week, though the late afternoons have changed into beautiful spring sunshine. Hopefully the Bank Holiday weekend will improve and my mood along with it - I do wish I weren't so affected by the this nonedescript weather, but I am and lack of sleep isn't helping. Ah well, there is always the thought of a roaring fire to cheer the days, nicely helped along by a glass of red wine...evenings only I hasten to add!



Happy May Day x