Beautiful Bluebells

A busy weekend with a birthday to celebrate for Isabella on Saturday followed by a walk in beautiful Parc Lye on the Enys Estate. I have written about this place before but this year we caught it in all its perfection.

After a look around the house itself which is being renovated and I am sure is where I am 'meant' to live (!!!) we strolled through the flower garden. This area is being brought up to its former glory too, but in a wonderfully under-played manner. There are established acers, magnolias and azaleas but all are allowed to flow how they may with underplanted beds of herbaceous perennials.  

What I love is the way it all feels so informal yet has enough structure to feel restful, if that makes sense? Paths of soft shingle allow you to meander around the island beds and through bowers of honeysuckle and roses.

I took away many ideas, especially one based on this wisteria which had been trained around itself to form a standard. Such a brilliant idea and perfect for those like myself who don't have high enough walls for this vigorous plant. 

This one is in bud just now. Can you imagine the haze of scented flowers just moving gently in the breeze? Definitely something I will be trying - stay tuned for progress!

So, so very beautiful.

The late afternoon light cast dappled pictures onto the paths and Isabella raced on in search of the huge swathes of bluebells for which the estate is famed.

And after a turn in the path, there they were: the most intense purple carpet I have ever seen spread before us as far as the eye could focus.

There really is no other scent to match that of bluebells.

It was one of the few times I really wished I had a camera able to take a huge wide image to convey the depth of colour and sheer number of flowers here. This was a tiny section of the whole.

Rustic benches appeared here and there, this one surrounded by the white garlic flowers that go so well with bluebells.

Hmm, Eldest Son Tom was sure it had his name on it.

So

very

beautiful.

Oh dear...

Bye for now x

Swinging Times.

Dave arrived home with a swing. It was on sale (apparently), a little brightly coloured plastic swing for Isabella. We decided it should hang from the cherry tree and so Elias was sent up the ladder to fix it to the only branch thick enough.

 Actually there are loads of limbs strong enough for the job  but most of them would involve clambering into the duck pen and hoping not to fall into the muddy, mucky waters of the duck pond. Dave was keen; I said no. Funny that.

Bella loves it! Unfortunately, the other members of the family are too big to be allowed on it.  Much disappointment and sad faces. After all, everyone likes drifting along on a swing don't they? The branch would definitely not handle the weight and so Mr Davey put his thinking cap on. 

He looked something like this only not so cute. (Does everyone wear pyjamas and wellies on a swing?)

We'll take a moment to admire our tulips as they are so blisteringly gorgeous in the May light. Ah ha, I can spot Shirley Temple popping her purplish-red fronds above the soil. She's a peony (paeony?) we have managed to get to bloom for several years now. Perhaps we'll get more than three blooms this year Shirley dear?

So, while Isabella swung on her swing next to the magnolia, the light through the cherry tree dappling her with soft shadow and a drift of blossoms floating by, Dave built a rather large structure across one of the grass paths.

Short diversion to note the pesky ducks on the last of their rambles where they shouldn't be - i.e. outside their pen! I have discovered their means of escape and they are now scuppered. Ha!

Love the way Pecan dipped her head with the wood axe close by. Take note my girl! Clarence looks rigid with shock, poor chap.

The weather was perfect for a day of being in the garden building swings and not getting dressed.

Another gratuitous shot of the garden with the view this time from our bathroom window. Indoors my photos often have the hoover in the background; outdoors it is always the hose. ah well...

And here it is: Mr Davey's homebuilt swing. One day we will put two wooden swings on it or a double swing for us, but for now the 'children' like these. Well, this child does anyway.

Pretty isn't it? 

I do love our garden at this time of year.

Elias, Isabella and Lucy were on the swings the rest of the holiday weekend. Now back at school once more they run out for a quick go before we leave for school and then bags are thrown to the ground for another go after we return.  The best of presents it would seem. 

And I meanwhile potter around taking in the giggles and shrieks as I weed the borders or pick some flowers for the house. Of course I have had plenty of turns on the swing when I can. So soothing to drift back and forth listening to the birdsong in the evening...

taking in the last of the sun before the house calls once more.

Well done Davey x

After School.

After school - that bit of time which is usually not my favourite because... a) I am tired; b) there is much homework to be done by the littles; c) dinner must be thought of/cooked/cleaned up & d) I am tired. Oh yes, I mentioned that already. But show us a bit of warm sun and boring routines go out the window with homework taking place in the garden, sunnies firmly in place and blankets strewn on the grass.

I have been teaching Isabella to knit. She is the final one of our seven children to learn and I am proud to say I have had a hand in teaching them all. Bella picked it up in about two seconds flat showing me once again how quickly she 'sees' things. She is like me in the way she studies things, needing to know the whys & hows so that it makes sense. Once she has that there seems to be little she cannot pick up and she is now knitting a scarf (in the loosest sense of the word) for her little friend Celia.

I also love the generosity of this child. When asking her why she wanted to make something for Celia she replied that she didn't get to see her much and wanted to make sure Celia knew she was her friend. How cute is that?

We have also been studying insects after school. Nothing like getting close up to realise how amazing they are. How can such delicate wings possibly carry that bulky body through the air? 

After school the girls have also been playing volleyball accompanied by shrieks of 'mind the acer' from me! We have nurtured this particular acer for years and it would now cost approximately five hundred pounds to replace. In other words, there will be heads rolling should it get broken. Who am I kidding...when it gets broken.

After school there has been such warm sunshine turning wisps of hair to gleaming cobwebs floating in the breeze.

Violas are so pretty aren't they? I really must put more in this weekend.

After school Tiger Lily has joined us in the sun, nestling her stripy self on the warm flagstones.

Of course, our favourite thing to do after school is to head for the beach which we do as much as possible. The bag is permanently on stand-by in the car packed to the brim with costumes, towels, suncream and food.

We never forget how lucky we are to be able to do this. We can rummage around in rockpools at will, swim in the frankly freezing sea, paddle in the ripples at the water's edge and laze on hot sand on a daily basis should we so choose.

We bumped into friends and family there yesterday, everyone desperate to feel the sun on their backs (and fronts and heads and fingers and toes...you understand I'm sure). I can't quite take in how grown up our little Lucia is in this picture. It happens so suddenly.

Time flies away even if this blooming chap didn't.

I love the way the fields swoop down to the bay.

Flashy boat. Must admit to preferring our own rather scruffy looking Mermaid. Never have been interested in gin palaces, preferring my gin to be consumed drifting along in a far prettier boat than this.

After school yesterday we ate a huge platter of peppers and olives and salmon and feta and all sorts of other deliciousness. A glass of wine eased it down. After school Isabella fell asleep in about three seconds of hitting her bed thanks to being full of sea air. Bliss. 

And so the weekend is beginning and cloud has arrived. Of course. But maybe we shall pop down to the beach again today... after school. x