Merry christmas to all

This was taken a couple of years ago of our house when it finally snowed in cornwall which does not happen very often, thought it was quite pretty and christmasy
Wishing you all a very merry christmas wherever you are this year

Touching base

My have i had a lot on this week or so. Started off last tuesday with an evening drive up to kent, spent a nice few hours with daughter and son in law bed at midnight, had meeting with hospital on wednesday went ok but they do not want to force mum into anything she does not want to do saying they will assess her at home to see what she is capable of before deciding on anything, mum is so aprehensive about any change in her life, so we will just have to play it slowly at the moment, she will be in hospital for a good while yet i think. We took her down to the resaurant and her eyes lit up as she saw scampi and chips on the menu little things can make such a difference at the moment, spent time showing her the family tree we have been doing which seemed to take her mind off things, left mum at 3ish had to get ready for our concert in the evening, got to mums and just both had a good sleep it is mentally and physically demanding, in an almost selfish point of view i was pleased tony came along just to see what goes on when i am up in london it is exhausting day after day just travelling to and from is bad enough, but it was good for mum to see him as well.
Evening at the concert was wonderful, it was held in The Union Chapel islington, we were expecting not to have seats so it was a welcome relief to see there were some! Walked in to find it was literally a chapel, the stage was set under the pulpit in front of these wonderful stained glass windows, and the seats were the pews great! we managed to get there quite early so had seats three rows in perfect view. Had a nice cup of tea sitting in the pew very novel at a concert no alcohol was being served in the church, not a bad thing in my opinion! Great concert and we bought the cd to listen to on the way home in the car the next day. Uneventful thursday drove back home to cornwall, touched base until friday then i was off again!
Good food show in birmingham exhausting but well worth it, had so many free tit bits along the way scrummy sausages, cheeses, crab, curry pate you name it we tried it we were there from 10.30 until 5.45, got to our friends house and had a lovely homemade moussaka and fruit crumble and a bottle of bubbles perfect end to a perfect day. Sunday we shopped till we dropped again our friends son is getting married so the outfit was bought Nicky looked so elegant so it was a good shopping trip, i bought loads as well mainly xmas gifts . It was a lovely weekend really enjoyed the whole girlie thing thanks Kim and Nicky

Quick update

Busy for the last few weeks, time has just flown past.
Mum is still in hospital seems to be a little more settled, i have to go up this week to see the head consultant to hear about her progress and to see about the after care programme, we are still trying to get mum to agree to get a warden controlled flat but without to much success at the moment, she thinks it will be to much of an upheaval so we are working on that one!
Had a great week with our daughter and two of her friends they were such good company they really brought the house to life, such a lovely couple a pleasure to have them.
Had a lovely few days away in dorset with our daughter weather was cold but dry did lots of walking, eating and drinking perfect! Went fossil hunting but the only two fossils that our daughter found were Tony and myself HA HA!
The week before we had friends down for a few days which was really nice it was great because we got to be tourists and showed them around down in the lizard peninsular, padstow and a walk on the coastal path at lundy hole.
As i said i am up to london tuesday and wednesday, we also have a concert booked to see members of the Jayhawks really looking forward to that, then back thursday until friday when i am off to the good food show in birmingham with friends going to see gordon ramsay at the show theatre, we may even get to meet him as my friends nephew works for him fingers crossed! can't wait to try all those freebie tasters and of course the wine tasting , i will come back a stone heavier, hoping to get some foodie christmas presents as well.

Arms or elbows

I am now back from my extended trip to london, what a trip! not the most pleasant i've had it must be said.
Started off really well with our daughters 30th birthday party that was a great night, we stayed outside all evening it was that warm, served homemade chilli and jacket potatoes from the bbq the bubbles flowed until 2.30am i think! will get some piccies soon.
Next stop was daughter and grandchildren it was so lovely to see the little ones big cuddles all round. Grace was so lovely she said "i have had an exciting day today" Me " why is that then did you do lovely things at playschool" Grace " no it was because you fat cat nanny came to stay and i love you" how sweet was that? I had two little girls follow me around for the whole of the few days i was there we played shops , mummy's and daddies hide and seek, would not have missed it for anything. The two elder girls had their nanny time when the little ones were in bed.
Next stop mums, she had not said a word the whole time i had rung her, but i arrived to find her in a right state, the house was in a mess which is not like mum at all, she had stopped the home help for two weeks unbeknown to anyone and not going to her day centre, cutting a long story short she just could not deal with things, she is now in hospital for a while the doctors were really quick at getting things done thank goodness, so she can now get the help she needs, and she finally said that it was time for her to maybe get into sheltered housing . So i had to stay on in london until mum was settled. All emotions shot through me at that time seeing her so vulnerable and alone i felt so guilty that she could not say anything to anybody she must have been desperate at times, but at least we can do something about it now.
Eldest granddaughter had an upset as well but thats for another time maybe, so she is going through a tough time at the moment.
Just like to thank my daughters and friends who were there for me when i was going through a tough time, you certainly know who you can rely on in a crisis at times like this thanks guys xx
Sorry for the bleak post but needed to get it down and out!

lazy days of summer

Anyone for a fresh tomatoe? the roads were laden with these little stalls all selling their fresh produce, the tomatoes were so sweet and juicy, and fresh watermelons

Views from the hotel and beyond it was very fertile i was expecting it to be dry and brown in the surrounding countryside but far from it.

As promised i will leave you with this image, me in our fabulous hotel in assos, it was such a lovely relaxing place. My afternoon tea was served just after this was taken pure luxury!! Can i please go again soon!

Well i may blog next week if not see you soon.

Surprise Surprise

It will be our daughters 30th birthday on tuesday Oh no my baby how old do i feel now !! anyway she is having a party on saturday the theme is we all have to come as her { those who know sue this will come as no surprise she has always been outgoing and bubbly} we have not told her we are going so it has been mad text messages to her friend to see if we can have a bed for the night, arranging things we will arive in the afternoon so i can give her a hand with things, reallt looking forward to it can,t wait to see her face. Had a text tonight from sue it said " getting really excited about my party but it won't be the same without my little ma and pa" little does she know he he!
I am going to stay up for the week after to see mum and grandchildren and our eldest daughter that will be nice especially after i had to cancel the last trip.

INTERESTING WEEKEND

Spent most of the weekend on the computer, not blogging! but tracing family trees both tony and i really got caught up in it all spent absolutely ages the time just flew, did not get our lunch until 3.00pm on saturday, but a very good outcome on both, got mine down to the great grandparents, found out that great grandad came to england after what we presume as being persecuted in france in the middle to late 1800s , so leads me onto finding out a little more maybe going into the french records, they also changed their surname so it was quite difficult to trace but got there in the end! it is so captivating. Tony has done remarkably better and getting his back to 1735 he has letters that were his grannys written by her brother in Kansas in 1914 which gave more details of births and more names we could then follow up. As you find some things out a whole new chapter begins ? Even got my mum involved and have told her to write everything down that she can remember so i can do more digging. A very constructive time spent together, i can recommend it for others to try i am loving it !!

Holiday part 2

Inside the Blue Mosque the pictures do not do it justice it is such a vivid blue on the stained glass especially with the sunshine pouring in.

AS PROMISED

The first picture is of the train station amazing building in the evening people rush off the
ferry and all make a mad dash to the station to carry on their journey by train.

On our first day in istanbul we took a ferry from the western side to the eastern side

you can see The Blue mosque and Hagia Shophia, both such wonderful buildings even

from a distance they stand out. The Blue mosque being my personal favourite i find it

a very tranquil place to be , it seemed even more atmospheric when we were there as

ramadan was then taking place and there was a person chanting out prayers in the mosque

itself i am not a relgious person but here i felt totally at peace for the time i was in there.

It is such a beautiful city to visit very diverse in culture and architecture and the people are
so welcoming

This was a little snippet, what i want to try and do is get some sort of order to where and what day we went to the various places so a little more research is needed on my part.

Still here

As you can see i am now not in london after all! It could only happen to me, whilst having a great weekend with my friends dogs had a beautiful walk on saturday from hawkers bay to padstow three hours all in all {no piccies] had enough trouble trying to keep dexter from saying hello to everyone on the beach also he loves his frizbee so we were kept busy exhausted would be another word lol, then sunday went to our small local woods there were so many leaves that had dropped which had covered the ground and i stupidly fell and twisted my ankle on a tree root Tony said" one minute you were behind me the next you were on the floor in a heap" end of walk ! it blew up like a balloon and my foot the next day, doctor said it is not broken but badly twisted the tendens, so i am hobbling around at the moment, thought it stupid to even attempt the plane ride, really upset and of course had to break it to mum that i could not make it, think i will now go next weekend as it is our daughters 30th birthday then stay up the week after that is if nothing else happens to me!!! Good news i can now get some holiday pictures up of turkey.

Short time at home

I will be having a quick turn around from my holiday as i am back up to london early next week due to my mum not being well, it is such a worry being down here at times, she gets quite depressed and has now told me that she has got a bad rash on her back and legs, but has left it because she did not want to go to the doctors , but needless to say the thing has got worse, so made her an appointment for today and made her promise to have a district nurse come in if needed at least until i get there next tuesday. It feels like a role reversal of mother and child at times. Feel so guilty at times as we left to come to cornwall for a better life and there she is without us up there. Have ordered her a new motored bath seat so i will be there when that comes on wenesday and will have to do a complete clean of the house I am trying to persuade her to have a home help in twice a week i think i won, but she also doesn't like her routine disrupted but things are getting worse in the house, it is a shame that the government took away the funding for home help so she will have to pay privately.
Holiday over!! will try before i go to get some phots up on the blog this weekend.
Got my friends dogs this weekend so will get some overdue exercise which is badly needed i can tell you, over indulgence on holiday tut tut ! Be nice to get them down onto the beach they love it there then maybe the woods.

Holiday is over {sigh}

Well we are now back from turkey arrived back late thursday evening.
What a wonderful time we had people, food sun all great. Not had time to download the many photographs that were taken as yet, just getting back to some sort of order really!
Out hosts made us so welcome we spent the first two nights in istanbul at leyla and ugurs home and did quite a bit of sightseeing in the city itself, then on the third day we travelled to assos about 3oo miles away on the agean sea amazing!! picture the scene only seven rooms surrounded by olive trees and the agean 1 minute from our room our own private jetty with steps into the sea where we could swim with all the fishes , drinks served when we wanted and afternoon chi {tea} served with small pastries every day AH! it was wonderful, and the food all freshly cooked they even made sure that tony had nothing with gluten in so leyla had said something before we had arrived i think, meze of seven different thing every night followed by small fish course then your main meal which was also fresh fish but all of it was superb. Oh yes and i forgot the hammocks under the olive trees just perfect for an afternoon nap after a hard day of swimming and sitting in the sun. We then came back via Troy and Gallipoli and spent our last two nights back in istanbul. Photos to follow next week. Such a lovely time thanks to our hosts for everything.

Getting ready!

Busy busy, the turkish lire the travellers cheques are in my possession passports tickets case down from the loft clothes ironed one day of work left then were are off YAY!! "are we there yet" can't wait to get going now. This is the first time we have been to istanbul without our son-in-law and daughter so it will be a little strange without a translater , i have learnt a few polite words please, thankyou hello and how are you, turkish is so difficult as the alphabet is different , our hosts in istanbul speak very good english so it will not be to much of a problem language wise, apparently they have booked somwhere on the agean sea for a few days so we will have a little of both city and sea in our week away. I am hoping to go to the blue mosque again and a few other sights whilst we are there. Really looking forward to the culture the food and the people, they were so friendly toward us last time, meeting all the family is lovely it was great to see our son-in-laws home they are such nice people.
Just a little worried about leaving the cat, our neighbours are coming in to feed her twice a day so i know she will be ok and she does seem much better in herself but can't help but worry.
We leave on tuesday morning for our flight on wednesday staying in a hotel for one night.
Off to bude again tonight for another irish music night and a meal in the pub had a really good night last time.
Seems a time for holidays as quite a few of us bloggers are away at the same time so have a good holiday wherever it may be! Will probably post before we go. This time next week i maybe soaking up some lovely sunshine heard it was about 30degrees sorry everyone in britain for that bit of gloating just could not help myself!

Mawgan Porth

These were taken on mawgan porth in early august
It was such a lovely evening, around 8pm we went for a walk on the beach
it was so nice to feel the sun on your face and the wind in your hair!

The light was just dimming in this one , there were still a few surfers but
the waves as you can see were quite small.
We shall have the beach back to ourselves now the holidaymakers have gone
I must admit it is nice to have the place a little less busy, but i do love it when
the county is alive with people. We are lucky to have such a great beach close by

Happy anniversary

Well it would have been my parents 55th anniversary today, if dad had lived, talking last night to mum she was saying that they honeymooned in ramsgate in a little b and b for a week, nowadays the bride and groom seem to want a fairytale wedding and get into thousands of pounds debt to do it, rant over!!
And the year my parents married was the queens coronation and that they watched it on her sisters tv as they did not have one of their own, and being a football fan as she is Stanley Matthews won the F A cup with blackpool i know where i get my love of football from! Thinking about my parents that they were only married for 30 yrs which is less than i have been married now, quite a sobering thought really. Mum was 28 then and dad 9yrs older, looking at their wedding photos they just look so much older then maybe it's the clothes or the black and white pictures. I expect our children think the same thing now. Happy anniversary wherever you are dad x

My beautiful girls

Thought about my grandchilren alot today for some reason, probably because i have not seen them for ages Amy , Jess at the top Megan, Grace the bottom love them all to bits, just wish i could give them a cuddle a little more often. Amy is nearly 15 Jess 11 Grace 3 and Megan 1 all different in their own way but all very special to their" fat cat nanny"

wildlife story

Sahara the arctic hooded seal made news after being rescued twice when being in warm waters in morocco and then the Mediterranean he was flown to the seal sanctuary at gweek to recover he was then released again in orkney only to swim south instead of going to greenland so now he lives at gweek. They have now put in his pool an ice making machine which provides him with 1/2 ton of ice a day, apparently he did not like it at first but is slowly adjusting to his colder environment to read more go to the national seal sanctuary website.

Porthscatho to Towan beach

View taken on thecoastal path from towan beach to porthscatho



This shows how small the crops have grown this year, that is our rucksack in the foreground to give some perspective of size


Just a beautiful view with all the different colours of the sea

This was a cottage garden on the coastal path such hard work and care had gone into it it looked stunning

People messing about on their, it was the regatta the next day boats in the harbour

A good view of the harbour at porthscatho

We had a lovely day here took a walk up the coastal path to towan beach took us an hour load of butterflies flora and fauna so beautiful and peaceful it is one of my favourite places to go in cornwall, had a few spots of rain but it stopped by the time we reached our lunchoen destination the beach and the sun came out YAY! it was great having our packed lunch watching the sea headed back to the harbour for a drink where a band were playing so had a 1/2 there, luckily we were nearly back to the car as my walking shoe fell apart the sole came away from the bottom so walked like a demented duck with it flapping all over the place. Left home at 11am got home at 6.00pm ended our day with a bottle of wine in the garden great day!

Oh for some sunshine

Thought we would have a little sunshine i grew these last year you can see how much they grew it was great going into the garden in the morning and seeing them made the start of the day happy. Trying to grow herbs now but with not to much success oregano and bay doing well.




Penny pussy cat update, seems a lot better but still not there yet.
Took the two springers out yesterday to the local woods they loved it it was really muddy just right for shona she was covered, wish i had the camera both of them were filfy still nothing a little water does not shift. felt good afterwards glad i went was tempted not to go as the weather was not to good but the doggies enjoyed it.
Tony has four days off from tomorrow so maybe we can get out and about and do something this weekend, weather permitting of course, but as blogger angela says "you have to make the best of it whatever the weather" so we will take her advice and just get out .
Looks like another run tonight in the rain! got to think of the black trousers i can't fit into for my holiday to turkey note to self I WILL DO IT I WILL GET INTO THEM IN THREE WEEKS!!!
Well all have a good bank holiday expecting lots of photos from you all.

Penny Pussy Cat

This is penny or fat cat as my grandchildren call her she is now 14yrs old, this week she has looked old and very under the weather, not coming down at 10.pm for her supper as she has done for the 13 yrs, and finding places indoors that are so different from her usual places, as much as it distresses her i think a trip to the vet is in order , it will be a job getting her in her cage with lots of spitting and claws out , it makes my tummy churn thinking about it. Bought her some cat milk today just to give her some liquid she loves that. They become part of the family don't they especially after 14yrs, will give it until tomorrow. Keep you posted.

Well did my second run last night, it poured with rain and was blowing a gale but we did it so out again on thursday, felt better for doing it today no aching legs last last time, think we did three miles.
Off to friends tonight for homemade curry , in return i am dog walking for the next couple of days as their daddy is busy building an extension, the dogs are the two springers that i have mentioned before, they are great fun they came on the run with us last night, shona just loves mud and she always seems to find some she was covered last night then shook herself and covered us all ,tail wagging of course love them to bits.

Another week comes around

Just loved the atmosphere of
this picture







Beautiful sunset taken on one evening from our house last year
The colours were wonderful






Well the computer is behaving at the moment so it may be staying after all.
Had a lovely relaxing evening last night it was nice dinner on our lap in front of the tv, watched Britain from above, all about east anglia, my home before coming to cornwall, evoked quite a few memories as a child going out for the day with my mum and dad when Harlow was all fields and having a picnic, it all seemed so far away from the east end where i grew up it was the countryside to me, i think it must have been around 1962/3 nice to think of happy days, sorry i digress, it was nice just to have a relaxing evening after the night before. Rounded off the evening with match of the day 2 perfect, my two fantasy football players did well Deco and Anellka so a good few points were earned my name has changed to the "Squaking Seagulls"

Looking out of my window at the moment and it is looking awful again, had some quite high winds as well and lots of rain, will we ever get some sun !

A good weekend

Have been quite busy last few days, went on my first proper run on friday evening, found a new route not so hilly, did about 3 1/2 miles so i was quite pleased with that my muscles the next day were killing me but at least it is a start, only got three weeks until our holiday in istanbul got to get a little more weight off for that. The place we ran was called Goss Moor, the old a30 moterway is here so the runnung path is really good and flat lots of wildlife and butterflies and birds but also cow that seem to roam free very similar to the ponies on dartmoor quite strange seening them not fensed off.
Had friends around for dinner last night the bubbles flowed i did a really nice three coursr meal for six of us started off with antipasti and dips and olives, followed by chicken in a paprika sauce ,for pud it was cornish strawberries, blueberries soaked in orange liqour and clotted cream , had wolf blass shiraz, fetzer pino grigio all very nice, we are a mixed bunch of age groups but we all get on really well they are lovely company, they left around 1.am by the time we cleared up the womens marathon came on so we stupidly stayed up until 3.am watching that hay ho we did not have to get up early.
Today i went to see Mama Mia at the cinema , really enjoyed it, a good "chick flick" as they say we were singing the abba songs on the way home in the car

Well i will be without a computer yet again next week i think as it is still not working properly so will post at some point.

Cornish news

A most horrible smell greeted the visitors to the eden project whilst walking in the tropical dome this week, the most smelliest flower called the corpse flower gives off the aroma of rotting flesh, the flower stands at 7ft tall and comes from Sumartra, it only blooms for three days then wilts, it bloomed in january as well, after the guy in charge polenated the berries with a paintbrush inside the heads. Nobody will be trying of the berries as they are deadly to humans.
what a wonderful diverse world we live in!

Has anybody been watching the Lost land of the jaguar on bbc 1 it was the last one last night just a superb programme worth the tv licence alone well done the bbc, it brought the whole place alive for me the camera work was amazing at times, i think some good has come out of the programme as the Guyanese government are now saying they will not start logging the rainforest it will hopfully get carbon credits and financial help from other governments instead, the untouched world will remain untouched.

WE ARE FIXED !!

The computer has finally been done and i can now have images again hooray so just making sure it works here goes

Watergate Bay on the north cornwall coast it is over a mile long when the tide is out , we go there quite often as it is only 5 miles away, all water sports are done here you can take lessons in surfing , kite surfing , kite buggying, anything that you can do on the water is here! We saw a pod of dolphins this year just off shore what a setting to see them it was perfect.

A SLIGHT HITCH

Thought i would blog about the the lovely week i spent last week in that gorgous weather we had down here in cornwall with some photgraphs as well , BUT the new all singing dancing computer will not let me add images to my blog ARGH!! how annoying so i think it is back to the drawing board for the computer our friend who is was in I.T. had a look but had know idea as to why it will not let us link onto some sites really thought we had it sorted last week, computers are great when they are working correctly but a pain in the neck when they don't.

Will tell you about the concert we went to last friday at the eden project went to see K.T.Tunstall she was really good did some new stuff but a lot of things we recognised "black horse and the cherry tree" came across really well , she can really rock it out for such a small person played for 1 - 1/2 hrs, she came on at 9.30pm so it was almost dark and the biomes were lit up in different colours it is so beautiful , at christmas time they have little blue christmas trees lining the paths down to the biomes . She thought it was great" playing a gig in a large quarry" Got there two hrs before she came on so we could have a look around the tropical biome virtually had the place to ourselves as another band were playing outside so people were watching them, we have been a few times to eden and seen the biomes really growing with all the exhibits and plants it is such an unusual place well worth a visit when in cornwall although the entrance is now £15 per adult which is a bit steep i think
but you can spend most of the day there and for you photographers out there it would be your own little eden you will love it it is so diverse, obviously outside the seasons bring different things so whatever time you go there will always be something to see , we left 5mins before the end to miss the crush which is advisable because it can take ages to get out otherwise, had a great evening got home around 12midnight i was starving so had tea and some hot buttered toast the simple things are always the best!

Will do a catch up at some point when i can get some piccies up and running.

I AM BACK AT LAST

Just got computer back again, it was over a week at the place, couldn't complain to much as it was done through work, so it was all payed for, result! It is so much better and a hell of a lot quicker so i am now hoping that it is back for good. Going to take me ages to catch up with whatever everyone else has been doing whilst i have been away from blogging.

A lot has been going on here as well, i have joined a fantasy football team just going to choose my team today should be fun , decided my team will be called THE CORNISH CHOUGHS so wish me luck , quite looking forward to it. The weather here has been wonderful we have been out and about a lot will update that at some point later.

Tony is at the hospital today having an endoscope and a camera [being crude here] up the other end as well poor thing at least he is being put out for the both things, he went to the loo 25 times through out yesterday , we think that all this is a routine check as he has ceoliac desease and they do these procedures every 18 months so not expecting anything bad to appear. Still a bit anxious for him never a nice thing to go under anesthetic , be waiting for the phone to ring this afternoon on tenterhooks! Our friend took him this morning and will pick him up later, the afore mentioned friend is also starting our kitchen tiling today so he will be back soon. Catch up again later bye for now

COW RESCUED

News story from cornwall on yesterdays local news , a cow has been rescued after falling 70ft from a cliff whilst grazing to near to the cliff edge in west cornwall , the poor thing had been there since saturday the rspca had absailed down to give it food and water on two occasions. The only way to get her out was to airlift by helicopter, the coastgaurds had failed to get her on a boat, so they sedated her and winched her out to safety at a cost of wait for it! £14.000 which apparently will come out of the navys training budget. She has got some sprained joints otherwise none the worse for her odeal, they think the fall was broken by a rock pool. The heffer was the second one to fall at the same place from the same herd in two weeks, natural england and the r.s.p.b own the land and are trying to improve grassland for birdlife mainly the chough, so who's responsible for keeping the cows safe? the farmer i guess. What were they supposed to do leave it to die or pay the money to rescue it , my opinion resue it , can't bare the thought of anything suffering.

what was that?

Finally that thing appeared in the sky on sunday SUN hurray! had a leisurely morning sitting in the garden,then after lunch it seemed to cloud over here so decided to head for the beach a few miles away so pleased we did it was wonderfully sunny set up wind breaks got the chairs out and towels ah bliss just to have sun on your back felt great, i know we are not supposed to just lay in the sun but it felt so good , the beach was full of happy people quite a lot of surfers and body boarders in the water everybody making the most of the day. Our local beach is mawgan porth which is five miles away, it has unfortunatley over the winter lost a lot of it's sand exposing a lot of rock where the soft sand used to be so in the school holidays the beach will be absolutely jammed packed with people you will certainly have to claim your spot early to get the soft sand. We stayed there until 5.15pm came back and had melon with parma ham along with a bottle of chillean chardonnay in the sun. what a lovely change to have some warmth. As i said have been feeling grotty the past two weeks but that one day of just doing not a lot has done wonders feeling so much better thank goodness.
So much for a great sunday the weather here is very cloudy and misty today and yesterday but still warm, forcast looking better for tomorrow.
Well back to work today have to get a wriggle on, got a good mile walk to work which will do me good to get some exercise, hopfully getting back to a diet and running soon, we have two months to go before our holiday to istanbul so have to get in trim for that. quick post today will do more tomorrow.

Update

This one was taken again near zennor, but the rock formations are very different! they have been formed by the wind and water,






Quite a dramatic picture taken from a long way up the coastal path near zennor















Well been without a computer for the past few days, but i can now say i have a faster runnning system the guy has added some update or other, and the fan that was overheating has now been done as well , it is really running so much quicker, can't believe how much you can miss a computer, so it has been good to be back blogging bit sad really when you could be doing so much more but the weather has been crap so doing things indoors has been the only option.


Still not feeling great finished antibiotics but still left with this dreadful cough please let us have some sun to make us all feel better! Our friends have been in gerona for a few days and i get texts saying it is 31 degrees still sitting outside at 10.30pm been on the beach today gee thanks who needs friends like this .
Weather should improve as the thequaksoflife is off on his holidays again next week he usually knows when to pick a good week it is uncanny how many times he gets it right have a good time anyway pete.

New York

Above: Taken on a boat trip going to Ellis island
With the New York skyline behind

TOP: The most iconic statue in the USA
Imagine all those immigrants seeing this for the first time when going to ellis island wondering if they will become u.s. citizen's.

We went on a trip to new york in may this, this was supposed to happen last year for my 50th birthday but tony fell ill, but as they say "everything comes to those who wait" it was a most fantastic holiday we were there for 6 days, did almost everything on my to do list, have to leave some things for another trip don't you!

Stayed at home

Well decided to stay at home after all, thought it would be rather silly to go to essex , very disappointed not to see the daughters, grandaughters and mum but would not have enjoyed it, i will now probably go up in a few weeks time.

Not long to go for the last episode of Doctor who tonight so it is dinner on my lap in front of the tv. Did anyone see the drama Criminal Justice last week on bbc 1 ? I thought it was very good and well writen, and the casting of the charactors was excellent. Did not show our police in a very good light or the prison service for that matter, a good watch though .

Maybe post after Dr Who

It never rains but it really pours!!

Decided to sleep in the spare room last night, did not want to keep hubby awake with my coughing and spluttering, just got to sleep at 1.30am then awoke to DRIP DRIP DRIP oh not again this time the roof was leaking , so at 1.30 i was moving the armchair getting little pots to catch the water black bin liner to save the carpet, did hubby awake NO! t it did stop after a while but could not believe it water water everywhere! finally got to sleep sometime. So we will now have to get a person in for that. wasn't my day yesterday was it?

On the kithchen front it wasn't the dishwasher but a faulty pipe behind the cupboard, the chap has done that but it needs for the cupboard to come out and the pipe tightened up some more and the floor to dry out, but it has ruined the floor covering so will see if we can get some compensation on that, but at least the leak has stopped.

Seems all doom and gloom at the moment sorry, doctor said i have a really bad throat infection so i am on 8 antibiotics a day for 5 days to see if that will clear it, i had said that this was going on since we got back from holiday on and off apparently these things can take months to shift gee thanks makes you feel a whole lot better i don't think! See how i feel tomorrow then decide if i will go to london or not maybe the tabs will kick in by then.

Happier sight today the sun has finally come out in cornwall , all the windows open get some fresh air in the house, so i think it is time for tea in the garden

Will post again if i am here if not will try when i am up in essex next week . Happy blogging everyone x

Oh hell!

Panic stations, saw a dark mark appearing on my kitchen floor not a good sign! on lifting up the lino oh my god a big leak from the newly fitted dishwasher, i had a new kitchen fitted in april , so the pipework must be dodgy somewhere, must have been leaking for a while i think , the floor will need replacing and maybe a cupboard luckily we had not got new flooring, the guy who fitted it can't come till monday but rang the kitchen company directly and they are coming out this morning at see what needs to be done why does nothing ever go smoothly these days urgh!

Not sure i will be taking my trip next week, got this really bad throat again, off to the docs later hoping they will give me some antibiotics, tony went on monday with the same thing, we just can't seem to shift this virus we have had since coming back from new york, brings you down after a while . I shall be so upset if i can't come up to see everyone, have not seen the two oldest grandchildren since the end of febuary, still may feel better by saturday, be positive!

CORNISH CHOUGHS

Local news , conservationists at St Just are pleased to say that a pair of choughs have reared two chicks. A programme started in 2001 to get native choughs to try and breed again in cornwall getting local farmers to make a habitat suitable for the chough, well it worked, these are the first pair to rear young in 150yrs amazing eh! the sight is obviously secret but they had a camera on the nest the young are six weeks old nearly ready to leave.

Arthurian legend says that the red beak and legs of the bird are the blood spilt of arthur in his last battle. And cornish legend says that choughs on the land will bring a very good harvest. Great news all round , shows we can work at one with nature when we want to .

Happy news

Where has the time gone again!
Heard some great news yesterday, my best friends daughter gave birth to a little boy jamie sam 6lb 9oz almost two weeks early but all fine, so i will be up in essex next week so will be able to see him ah can't wait.

We went out friday to a quaint old pub in bude with friends, there were 10 of us in the end, had a lovely meal we had heard the portions were large so just went for main courses, i had homemade steak and kidney pie yum and it was delicious and very large, tony had lamb, the choices were very good, tony is ceoliac, our friend is veggie and one very fussy eater so i think everyone was catered for very well. Meal over then the group played in this most tiny space, fiddle ,mandolin, 12 string guitar, bass,and mouth organ they were really good , not youngsters by any means but they played so well together traditional irish folk songs with a few requests thrown in, they played until 1.am nothing to pay for the entertainment it was a great evening, we then went back to our friends house for cheese and biccies finally got to bed at 3.am . Saturday had a late cooked breakfast then back home at around three then collapsed for two hours sleep, can't hack these late nights any more! good laugh though. We sang so much we now have sore throats.

Been watching glastonbury on tv, neil diamond was very good , amy winehouse was a joke, she needs some help, such a talent when she wants to be . It is a good way of seeing bands that you would not maybe go and buy a cd of. Sooner watch it on tv than to be there.
Tony and our daughter are off to watch neil young next sunday at an open air concert in kent good luck to them with the weather we have been having lately.
We have also got tickets to see K T tunstall at the eden project at the end of july, the atmosphere there is very good especially when darkness comes with all the bioms lit up it is quite an amazing sight, we also saw Peter Gabriel there last year. So you can see we love our music willing to listen to anything. Oh yes and an elbow concert in october. give them a listen they are really good.
Post some new york piccies soon

All clear!

The above picture was taken in new york in may from the top of the rockerfella centre at 8.30am you can see the buildings are fantastic . We had a wonderful time there will post a few more pictures another time, just really experimenting with the blog at the moment seeing how things are laid out. Our camera is a not a good one but it does the job. Really enjoying this blogging !

Had hospital appoinment and everything is fine and healing well, i can now start back doing things again, went back to work yesterday just a few hours, then probably back next week , then i am off up to essex to see the family the following week, can't wait to see the grandaughters , daughters and my mum who is now 82 so will be busy up there giving mum's house a spring clean. Will catch up with a few friends as well. Found a cheap flight from london to newquay and i mean cheap, one way it cost £1.21p amazing no taxes, only taking hand luggage as i leave clothes at mums, could not believe it!

As from next week i will start running again it has been a while, my friend has got us into a charity race in september not sure what for yet but it will be 10k so will really have to get started, looking forward to the challenge though gives you something to aim for, put on so much weight through not exercising so it will be good to start again, we go out in a group of 6 people all different abilities but kim and i are about the same , my record so far has been 5 1/2 miles so i think 10k is achieveable. The hills in cornwall are a killer especially where we are.

Another busy few days

Spent saturday morning shopping, so many people, i do try to avoid saturdays where at all possible.
We had arranged to be at my friends by 5.45 but tony in his wisdom thought he would try to get our holiday photos on dvd [new york] as a slide show so we could bore a friends that evening, the air was turnung blue uploaded new software took ages then it wouldnot do what he wanted after all that! he did manage to get it on but no slideshow by this time it was 4.35 he decided he needed a shower and a little rest before leaving ugh! he does try my patience at times bless him! finally left at 5.35 "oh are we late then?"men aye!
Had a great time and a good laugh ,our friends sister were there as well , so next friday we are off to bude to spend the night with them, going to a pub for a meal where they have live music so that should be good.

Today i have to go to hospital for my check up for my eye op, everything is fine so not expecting any problems, will then get the ok to start doing things again , will blog about my new found sight another time, all i will say it is amazing for me a new world is opening for me. Shame i can start doing the hoovering again drats! for the past two weeks i have had a little house husband he can't wait to stop hand things back, he has done well should give him some credit after my little moan about being late. Wish me luck guys will let you know tomorrow how things went

Almost forgot WELL DONE TURKEY on friday on the edge of my seat, please let them beat the germans on wednesday in the semi final PLEASE!!

photograph

Taken on a lovely walk around gunnards head near zennor at the end of april this year, the rock at the end is supposed to represent the gunnard fish, maybe? Our walk took about three hours all in all with a lovely lunch break at zennor, the climbs were a bit tricky at times but the views were amazing the colour of the water that day as you can see was beautiful.

Hey my first photo yay , will do some more another time hope you all like it

A great evening

Had a lovely evening last night, went to friends just down the road, we were celebrating their two springer spaniels 11th birthday, well that was our excuse anyway to get together. We had a three course meal and cheese started with homemade crab cakes, then pork cooked in cider with apples, pud was a brulee but only three ingredients double cream lemon curd and icing sugar it was divine, and in my case washed down with a lovely bottle of chablis, ariived home at 12.45 luckily i did not have work this morning but poor hubby did.
The two mentioned spaniels are great they are so well behaved, i actually dog sit when their owners go away on holidays, i love it next best thing to having dogs of my own, they are so affectionate love them to bits, their owners arn't bad either!

We are off tomorrow to friends at Launseston for dinner and maybe spending the night. These are my best freinds who we have known for 25yrs , they have only recently moved down last year so it is lovely for me to have them here it is great making new friends but you have history with your old ones, but then again you are making your own history with the new ones does that make sense? i know what i mean! There is always a special someone who you can rely on to tell anything and everything to and lynda is mine, we have been through so many highs and lows together, she is the sister i never had.

Early tea tonight got to get ready for the footy at 7.45 come on turkey, croatia are a good team , but turkey could just do it if they start well and not leave it to the 73rd minute again! it is good to have a team to follow especially as england did not qualify this time .

Thats it folks !

FIRST TIME BLOGGER

After reading other peoples blogs for over two years i thought it was about time i did my own.
Thanks to my friend petehttp://thequaksoflife who helped with the setting up, being totally useless at these things a big thanks goes to him. Your a Star or is it starr!
Now i am finally here you somehow get lost for words but here goes anyway.
Cornwall has become our home being here 7yrs after living in essex for more than 25yrs it was a culture shock to start with, less cars less people small shops took a while ,but now here we certainly would not go back, it is now lovely to visit our family and friends and come back to the beautiful scenery , dartmoor one hour away and local beaches only 4 miles away , when i am more adept at this computer lark i will attempt to get some photo's on the blog may take a while though ha ha!
Been a funny week, our daughter gave us a surprise visit all the way from kent only told us the day before, fathers day and our anniversary, and i have had a eye op which will elaborate in another post, that was why she came, we had such a great weekend, weather superb and all so unexpected, Pete also was down so went out to dinner with him tuesday b b q monday with friends and daughter out tonight and out saturday, next week NOTHING always the way, but had a wonderful week.

Well first post over