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

Powerful Perranporth

The sun is here and a trip to the ever-windy exhilarating north Cornish beach of Perranporth called loudly to me. Sand between toes ... bliss.

This stretch of shoreline is wide, a vast expanse of golden sand with dunes on one side and high, forbidding cliffs on the other. The waves here roar toward you unceasingly and the wind buffets you around in a way my north Cornish self loves. You know you have been sharing space with nature here. You can feel it in every fibre of your being.

Rockpools were few, the waters still icy to the feet but glistening in the harsh light.

 

And oh how healing does that unending blue sky feel?  It spread above me with not a cloud to mar its perfect tone; a vast summer-blue sheet just begging you to turn your face skyward & spread your arms as you bask in its light. I did so & spun around uncaring who saw. I needed this light after such a long cold winter (and who knows how long it will last).

Walking one end to the other, buffeted this way & that, it was impossible to let daily worries impose and yet again I was reminded how important it is to get out in nature to put life into perspective. Why am I so bad at allowing the time? I seem to see it as a luxury, something I am indulging in rather than the necessity it actually is. Not any more (and yes, you may hold me to this)

My hurriedly snapped photographs don't capture the intense light and cast a cooler glow than the reality.

These hollowed out cliffs tell you something of the power of the seas here. I have stood in the carpark far from the distant shoreline and watched as one wave rolled incessantly forward to cover the entire beach in less than a minute. The north coast is powerful and should never be under-estimated. Always pay the sea the respect it deserves.

And breathe...

I have no idea what happened with this image as I haven't done any editing, but I quite like it. Much moodier than it was to be honest.

Hope you enjoyed an all too brief outing with me x

Stuff & Nonsense Mostly.

It has been very chilly here in Cornwall. Yes, I am envious of those of you who were not only served a main course of sun this week, but had a side order of  temperatures up in the high teens to accompany...bah! Anyhoo, these images are from a trip to the beach during the recent holidays; Isabella and her pal Nell racing in the breeze and whipped up by it as much as the waves were. Bliss.

I am hopeful for similar weather this weekend though it is not looking likely. As I type the clouds are gathering once more. We have plans: the front garden is returning again to a veg plot as it has the best of the sun and Isabella is desperate to start planting out. Yet again, we are going to be removing the grass but this time raised beds are planned - four of them running from hedge to house, each able to hold a goodly amount of scrumptious veg. I am excited.

However, these days I like my gardening to take place in warmer weather than we have at present  I have become a softie south-coaster, my north Cornish roots once so used to hammering gales and an ever-pervasive chill now hide away under snuggly blankets rather than get frozen to pieces. I want the sun please for the raising of beds tomorrow!

 Mind you, I still race to the wild seas when the winds whip up, the white horses galloping over each other to reach the shore first. These two girlies chased the sea back & forth, clothes slightly dampened in the process of course. Has Isabella ever been near water and stayed dry?

Wish I looked cool in sunnies.

Unfortunately I have a head the size of a pin and have to wear children's glasses which tend to make me look (apparently) like something from Larson's 'The Far Side'. Not quite the look I am after really, though I have finally given in to failing eyesight & vanity and am collecting new glasses tomorrow. This is very exciting as it means I will be able to sew in public - i.e. on the beach - without pitying glances being thrown my way by those more suited to such things than pinhead here.

 Not too sure how I moved from the beach to gardening and sunglasses but there you are. Stream of consciousness. It worked for Mrs Woolf. Now there's a thought: perhaps a little fictional writing could be wrought into the weekend. It has been a long time since I did any. What thinks you? No? Oh, ok then...

Nothing like the feel of sand through your fingers is there Nell?

Is it any wonder our house / car / washing machine are permanently full of sand?

I am rambling appallingly and so will leave you with my hopes for the weekend: building four raised beds for veggies; gardening in our very lovely but very wintery looking back garden; restraining the ducks within the confines of their pen once more & generally wearing my new glasses whether I need to or not just because. No fictional writing. Oh, and there will be wine...of course. There is always room for wine in a weekend.

And you? What shape are your plans for the weekend? x

The Parapet.

So, here I am ...finally. Popping my head over the parapet and wondering whether it is wise to do so. It has been a strange year so far, this coldest of winters leading to the coldest of springs. Illness has been at the forefront of it for us with the usual coughs & colds superseded by horrifically debilitating 'flu; real 'flu that knocks you sideways and leaves you reeling for weeks & weeks. We have all had it and other things too including some unforeseen problems which cropped up during routine visits to our wonderful doctor - we are almost bestest friends by now I should think!

Add to the mix various dance commitments for the two girls & a school play with endless rehearsals for weeks on end meaning much running around when the body just wants to stay prostrate, work commitments which I have been completely unable to meet & just the usual never-ending demands we all have...well let's just say I haven't really had a lot to blog about lately though I have had many thoughts about the difficulties of working for yourself. 

Thought no 1:  It isn't quite like you read in Country Living! Yes, there are many wonderful things about it such as being able to stop when you want, being able to make school assemblies, etc BUT if it is supposed to be bring in a decent wage & not a little pin money (and there is nothing wrong with that) then you can ill afford to take the time off for eating, let alone take whole hours at a time away.

 

Thought no 2:  There is always more you should/could be doing. Work/life balance is really a myth isn't it because if you love what you do & care passionately about it (which I do) then every time you sit watching a film or making something for yourself you are thinking of all the admin/making-up/prepping you should be doing instead. In other words, there are never enough hours for all you want to do at home, with family or for your business.

 Thought no 3:  It's a hard one this - however hard you try, you WILL let people down and those people will be some of the loveliest people ever. They are your customers who you want to please & who are so important to you. They are the very fabric of what your business is about & yet once in a while there is absolutely nothing you can do but mess up. 

This has been the most upsetting thing for me this year as I have repeatedly been out of action with such short bursts of thinking we are back to normal only to find the spiral starting again. I am lucky in that almost all of my customers have been fantastically understanding, unbelievably patient and truly have made me cry on occasion. However, obviously not all can be so and truthfully why should they? They have ordered & paid for something in good faith, & I have accepted in good faith, believing that I will be getting their order to them as agreed. When this has been totally unable to happen is it not fair they should have a grievance? I always refund of course, but even so...

 It all sounds a bit negative doesn't it, yet if you asked me to give it all up, to close down my shops and call it a day would I? No, not for a moment because I know things level out and you pick yourself up once more, get enthused once again & generally prove to yourself that you can not only do this, but that you do it well. You can face the challenges & even find them inspiring, possibly liberating when you overcome them. And so, on that not-intended-to-be-negative at all post (think of it more as a reflective one maybe) I will end for now & hopefully my head will stay firmly above the parapet....

once more x

Winter's Fond Farewell...I hope!

Our one Cornish day of very little snow seemed to give Clarence & Pecan something to think about. The very idea of swimming in an icy pond makes me feel ill, but they are ducks and care not a jot.

However, the hens had never seen snow & were thoroughly disgruntled, staying in their tree until hunger drove them down.

And then it was gone with not so much a a snow day off from school. Hey ho, I want spring now and the signs have been there, though this week has opened with the Arctic chill returning. So many layers needed to keep warm when sewing or indeed, for doing almost anything.

Whatever the weather, the beach calls and I love seeing all the moods from soft golden melancholy  

to bright & breezy. 

Of course, I also love coming home to comforting food such as Mr Davey's gorgeous meatloaf with all the trimmings,

followed by a slurp or two of something lovely by the fire.

The sun has made an appearance on and off, and even felt hot once or twice. The shadows remain long throwing deep contrasts onto river scenes.

Dear Castle Beach - what would we do without you? (Have now had a hair cut and can see without drawing the curtains)!

Isabella has already been in the sea. She just cannot keep out it seems. My little mermaid was always such a water baby.

Warmth and chill tied together in a dance of seasons. Spring will win out...eventually.

We can see the promise of it

Can you?

But for now, the fire draws me close in its warm embrace, crackling and hissing and sending wafts of scented smoke. 

Keep warm x