Just Popping By.

I am missing my blog and want to get back here, but I am rather in the midst of some cheery bunting - 40 metres of the stuff to be precise. Quite a large order. Wonder what it is for? Hmm, maybe I'll ask.

I want to get back to sorting the blog out as it is mid change at the moment but oh, doesn't it eat time away once you start playing with new things? Thank you to my dear friend Diana who helped me find my 'global settings' problem (no, I didn't know I had one either!) and also gifted me some gorgeous sock weight yarn. New things to show then...

...when I get a mo. Be good to see some new pics too wouldn't it? The tulips are up but obviously not out as the image suggests. Another photograph of Coombe to keep things going. Well done to those of you who guessed the last boat picture was of Penryn River.

To be continued x

River Views.

A few Friday images from the river to see you into the weekend.



Soft edges and ripply water.



Twists and turns



and tangled masses.



Solid shapes



and a gentle view to welcome the weekend in.



Have fun x

Mist and Magic.

This morning I woke to a secret garden, one shrouded and ethereal in its cloak of swirling mist. This was no gothic landscape though as even through the dense shifting blanket swathes of blue forget-me-nots and cherry blossom umbels sweeping on laden branches over the pond gave far too cheery a feel to the atmosphere to suggest mystery and chill. Now the mist is lifting and I wonder if I imagined the secret land outside the kitchen window as it returns once more to scenes such as these...



Something shifts at the end of the garden, its sleek black head searching for prey (or more likely a place to sleep).



A panther stalks deep in the grasses beneath the little orchard, the scarlet tulips blowing lazily in the breeze under the twisted branches of an old gnarled apple tree. The blossoms are beginning to break and the panther collapses in a patch of warm sunlight to rest his weary bones - and I am being ironic here as Fatty Arbuckle is far too lazy to ever stalk anything.



All around the fruit trees are wreathing themselves with confetti blossom, the contrast with bright new leaves giving the impression of light even when the skies are dull.



I so love this time of year and all the different blossoms it produces. Our fruiting cherry tree is huge and old. This year it is flowering profusely after a few years where it needed a break it seems.



Just so very, very beautiful and it fills the view from our kitchen window almost making the washing up less of a chore than a pleasure...almost



The ducks - the very naughty ducks, but more of that in a moment - have made a nest of woven beauty and I discovered several large eggs once Biscuit waddled off for a drink. I took them inside and left her three to sit on, but already she is bored and has abandoned them in that way of ducks. Not the best of sitters really and eggs are better hatched with a broody hen if need be.



And why naughty? Well, they were busily ambling through the garden when I looked out just now. Hmmm...



Not for long I might add!



The beds are beginning to fill with peonies and chives, oregano and poppies, muscari and yet more tulips, the myriad colours pleasing me in a way I used to dislike. It's strange how we change our ideas of things isn't it?

.

So much colour



and this one only planted at the end of February.



As a change of scene, the river this morning was just wonderful with boats emerging from the mist on milky water.



Still, quiet, magical.



Little Dennis peeped its turrets out of the shroud further along the river at the mouth to the estuary



and lime greens stood out in the strange light.



Altogether a pretty day.

Bye for now x

Autumn Colours.

Strangely turbulent skies over the bay this morning as Isabella and I wasted some time by strolling across the beach. Lowering skies that belied the sunshine warming our backs. Complete contrast to the scenes of golden hues by the river only a mile away, only ten minutes later.



I like the contrast, the shadowy clouds of dusky blue shot with ochre and sulphur



and the autumnal glow of trees reflected in still waters. Colours so gentle yet strong in the same way as the delicate reds of wild poppies



Someone else enjoyed it too, though jumped feet in the air at the grinding sound of a ship's anchor dropping out in the bay, the sound echoing in the still morning.



Lowering



Golden



The two faces of autumn. Which do you prefer?

Have a lovely day x

River Mist.

I do hope you are not yet bored by my obsession with Penryn River and the way the light varies so creating new palettes of colour, new visions of the boats moored against the banks? Today the early mist hovered giving shrouded views in much the same manner as that of a lady's face through a veil.



Blurred edges where banks meet water, trees meet sea for this is a tidal river fed by the waters flowing into the River Fal from the ocean beyond.



Delicate patterns like ink dropped into water, the velvety droplets left to disperse with the current



Soft; shrouded; hidden; veiled ... evocative imagery of something concealed and therefore also something to be revealed. Layers to uncover as in the best gothic tales



and yet no ripples show on this calm surface.



Just tranquility.



I hope your day is tranquil too x

Views from the River Bank.

The tide was out and mud was present; thick, gloopy, squidgy river mud which for once had no particular smell. Penryn River Mud is somewhat renowned around here for that pungent pong of an ebbing tidal river. I, of course, quite like it.



Doesn't it make you want to stick you feet into it? Actually, now I think about it the river was flowing gently back in, not ebbing, the drift of the tide seeming not to move and yet rapidly setting the boats lined along the banks free from their muddy moorings.



I love the way boats tilt at almost impossible angles, waiting to come to life again like some sleeping ocean creature.



This houseboat fascinates me, though I have no idea why. I have walked along the bank where the path runs high above it many times and still am no wiser about it.



So pretty in all its guises: high or low tide, rain or sun, the river is just magical.



Well, that's me for today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a post about this and all things related



or maybe I have now guaranteed it won't happen just yet - curse my doubting heart. We'll see and in the meantime...

Have a lovely day x

A Friday's Musing.

The glorious summer/autumn weather continues and brushes everything with a golden light. So beautiful the mix of hot sun and chill air at either end of the day. The marigolds are still flowering madly on long stems perfect for cutting, the petals catching and holding the sun even in the shadier parts of the garden.



My pretty Lauren has caught the gathering & preserving bug, making bramble jam yesterday which filled the kitchen with rich perfume (and not a few wasps!).



A beautiful walk at the weekend with the children through woodland running deeply on the banks of a river creek uncovered a grove of mountain ash covered in bright berries which we gathered to make into rowan jelly. It is the first time I have come across these pretty trees growing wild in Cornwall, though I dare say there are other hidden spots, and I am most excited at the chance to make this particular jelly as I have never tasted it before. I don't imagine there will be more than one tiny jar from this haul as jellies bear far less juice than jams, but those jewel colours more than make up for it.



The haze on the river this morning created soft watercolours of the scene, erasing the edges of boats and trees, and merging the whole into one fluid painting. It is so very beautiful here and the brush of chill breeze as I stood at the water's edge was as refreshing as a cool drink on this already hot day.



I am off now to my sewing room where the orders are a-waiting: beach bags and cheery bunting will make a pleasing change from all things Christmassy!



And it is Friday...Hurrah!



Happy Friday to you x