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

The Most Perfect of Days.

This is a very long post so please forgive me, but I so wanted to share one of our days out as it was the stuff of my dreams.

We rowed up the Penryn River toward the mouth of the River Fal, stopping off at the Prince of Wales Pier in town for supplies (chocolate, bread and crisps). There is something so very lovely about mooring up at a quay and climbing the steps for a little shopping! People were milling everywhere as the day was so beautiful and the views across the river just stunning with the patchwork fields so typical of Cornwall sweeping down to the sea.

With such a bright day the reflections on the water were amazing.

We headed off once more

across the harbour until land was once more in sight. Lucy rowed on one side

and Mamma on the other.

Just look at the sulphur yellow gorse and drifts of snowy blackthorn.

The closer we rowed to land,

the clearer the jade waters became.

Finally we picked a tucked away cove which we instantly named Stepladder Cove because of a very long ladder leading down from the wooded cliffs.

Elias took in the lines we had trailed in the (vain) hope of catching fish or crab for tea

while Isabella did her usual and drenched herself, clothes and all. The child did not stop running for the full five hours we were there.

Apart from when she ate of course

and even then

only for a moment.

I did a little knitting

while Davey took the older two out for a sailing lesson. they were both brilliant and tacked
beautifully. Isn't that sail pretty?

There was so much to hunt for

and shells of all kinds were thrown like flotsam against the cliffs.

We discovered a fabulously hidden bay of mussels and collected buckets-full. Dave cleaned them with Elias

while Lucy and I collected driftwood for a fire.

There is nothing quite like a beach fire

nd some salty fresher than fresh mussels.

I heated up a stone to fry some potatoes on which were delicious in hunks of bread.

and finally it was time to say goodbye to our little hidden away beach where we saw hardly a soul all day.

We sailed back, everyone full of sea air and good food, everyone tired out.

We quietly chatted about our favourite parts of the day

but there was so much about it that was good.

And we all agreed that we were very lucky people indeed to live where we do.

The most perfect of days.




Bye for now (and well done if you made it to the end!) x

A Trip to Porthleven.

The sun shone bright and I was off! A day escaping the confines of the sewing room which, love it though I do, can be too much of a good thing when you spend an endless amount of hours in it as I do. My dear friend Looby Lou, sweet baby Ellenor and I got into the car and headed for the coast - Porthleven to be precise - where the cliffs were covered in bright yellow gorse, the breeze heavily scented with the delicious smell of coconut buns.

The sea glistened and sparkled with hues of jade and turquoise.

We strolled along the sands and I managed to get soaked as I took my eyes off
the waves for a moment!

Baby Nell sang and chatted in equal measures.

Porthleven's pretty harbour provides a safe (ish) haven when stormy seas thrash about.

A myriad boats lay waiting for high tide.

The beach we walked along is the other side of this church. This is one of several churches in Cornwall that lie either very close to or actually on the sands.

It seems odd today to think how very hot the sun was, no coats or jackets were needed and even the breeze was warm.

Just so

very

lovely.

Bye for now x