a little piece of cornwall

My journey continues in New Zealand

2010-03-30T14:02:00.014+01:00

My journey through New Zealand really begins after picking up the hired car, off we set for Rotorua, stopping on the way to the Waitomo glo worm caves fascinating and very beautiful, especially the gondola boat ride through the caves where it is completely dark and silent and to see the thousands of glow worms shining brightly up above, no photography was allowed of any sort as not to disturb the fragile glow worms.

We then headed for our destination for the next two nights Rotorua arriving around 5pm to the beautiful lake view hotel. You could do almost anything on the lake, we plumped so a sedate pedalo (not very adventurous i know) but seeing the lake from a different perspective was really good. Walking along the lake front were at least 20 to 30 seagulls waiting to pounce on their next victim and i actually got dive bombed by a couple so i made a hasty retreat!! Well that was the exercise for the day!! Found a lovely little cafe bar and sat out for a well deserved S/Blanc (cloudy bay) whilst writing my journal. But we began to notice a strange smell emanating all around, rotten eggs, then the penny dropped ah! we were in the Thermal Wonderland of Rotorua!!

One of the many black swans on the lake.

This is a recreated Maori boat.
The carvings on it are so intricate.

Can you imagine seeing this in the water, Amazing

Our trip for the next day was to the,
Waiotapo Thermal wonderland. We spent so much more time here than planned, but you just could not go for an hour, we did the whole walk in the end ended up staying nearly three hours. Breathtaking scenes of our earths core and the bubbling noises of the earth moving with billowing smoke coming up every so often giving of that lovely rotten egg smell !!!

A Pied Stilt picking little things from the ground, how it survives in this place i don't know because the ground is hot in some places!

One of the many different coloured lakes that have formed in the area and it was really that colour

Different rock formations that have formed over thousands of years.

This was known as the Frying pan and Oyster pool, quite stunning.

Giving a swirling feature to the lake.

There is that smell again!!!

The steam was overpowering as i stood here , you had to just step back!

The edge of the Champagne pool

The Devils Home, aptly named i think.

One reason for going was the Geyser that erupts at
preciously 10.15.am every morning, hopefully that will continue,

if not there maybe something going wrong around the region!

The evening trip was to the Tamaki Maori village. Where an evenings entertainment awaited us.

All dressed in their native costumes, telling stories through music and dance.

This chap was amazing, his eyes were so wide and

as for his tongue WELL !!!!!! No photo i'm afraid but will

leave it to your imagination!!!

The entrance to the village where our chosen chief from our coach

was welcomed, we had been given written information beforehand

about what to expect and not what to do! Never laugh, imitate or smile

whilst the dance is being performed as it would be very disrespectful to

the Maori chief of the village. It was such a shame because the heavens opened

at this point, thunder and lightening too, so the dance was cut very short.

We were all then welcomed to the village where a Hangi feast had been set for us, traditional

meats that had been slow cooked in a oven in the ground covered by volcanic rocks

and cooked for 7 hours, never tasted lamb, pork or chicken like it, delicious.

You can see just how wet the ground was!

The grounds of the village.

As i said the journey really began here, the scenery gets more dramatic as we go further around but this was certainly a good opener. Miles and miles of green pastures hills, mountains are to come.

City of Sails / Auckland

2010-03-19T13:16:00.008Z

The next part of the holiday begins.
I wrote a journal whilst away, i shan't bore you with loads but will drop a few snippets in along the way.
"Leaving San fransisco with my last views of the financial district and the Bay Bridge. Sad to leave the place i adore, but looking forward so much to the adventure ahead"
"Airports much the same the world over boring and tiring. Saturday 23rd Jan whole day lost in transit due to crossing the international date line"

A free room upgrade was given and this was the view!!
View of Auckland harbour and bridge

Auckland known as the city of sails, you can see why
with all those boats in the harbour.
Fact 1 in 5 own a boat and 1 in 3 have the use of
some sort of vessel.

City of Sails strikes again! How many ?

Took a harbour cruise this was a suspended

swimming pool at the Hilton hotel

View taken on the boat trip. The Sky Tower

dominating the skyline. It is 328 metres high

and the tallest man made structure in N/Z

It was the weekend so many people were out

on the water. Love the angle of the yacht.

Another view from the boat, love the building with the ring

on top of it.

The sky looks very overcast and it began to drizzle,

but i still managed to get sun burnt on my nose, chemist

next stop sun factor 70!!! very deceptive weather, no wonder

the lady on the boat said" free tea and coffee and sun cream"

did not think i needed it, how stupid.

A different view of the Sky Tower at night.

Sky City has many bars, resaurants and a casino.

What a view eh? Loved it!

Tony on the other hand would not step on it, chicken!!!

Stunning view of Auckland from the tower.

Taken at dusk where the lights of the city were

just coming alive.

Sunlight on the city a welcome sight after the grey

overcast afternoon that we had.

Just had to be done, sitting people watching with

a glass of S/blanc and after a long wait a mango

brulee with a difference, delicious a piece of art on

a plate! The wait was well worth it.

Auckland a very clean and relaxed city, harbour based activities being the main attractions, great place to chill out after a long flight. There is much more to the city but only having a couple of days you can only do so much. But a most enjoyable stopover with lovely friendly people wherever we went.

My Holiday of a lifetime

2010-03-02T10:28:00.004Z

Well i know it has been ages since i last blogged, but i have had a great reason why.
I have been on holiday to far distant shores for five weeks in total, a holiday of a lifetime. San Fransisco, New Zealand, Sydney and Singapore !!!.
Had a wonderful time, exhausting but worth every minute of the travelling.
As you can imagine there were many pictures taken 2500 in total, but we are slowly picking out our favourites.
I have decided to break them up into smaller parts or we will be here for another year looking through them.

Started off in San Fransisco on the 20th January 2010.
I love this place city so much, been fortunate to be there in summer and now winter, both having different aspects in the different seasons.
We left uk in the freezing snow covered land and arrived to a very large storm in America , it was pouring and the wind was howling, weather forecast for the three days we were there AWFULL ! Just togged up in the wets and off we went to explore.
Did a trip on a coach so we could get to see the famous bridge and Golden gate park.
Got thoroughly wind swept as you can see. Got back to the hotel where an open log fire was burning and a welcoming wine tasting was arranged, "ah i've arrived"
San Fran is such a diverse city wonderful shopping malls the sights obviously, but you also get the rough sides with many beggars and homeless people walking with their whole life in a shopping trolley, sad! But i still love it, riding on the cable cars from Powell to Market street down those famous hills! Great food, certainly great wine , we were like children in a sweet shop looking in the supermarkets stocked with our favourite Californian wines! Seeing the bridge and Alcatraz in the bay is magical to me whatever the weather.

The famous cable car there are now only three left in the city

View of Golden Gate park from the bandstand where it was dry

One of the many painted building in the city

My favourite photo , i was wet windswept but i didn't care
"I am in San Fransisco"

The weather was so bad, but it still has a magic about it!

Another wonderful view

Taken from the cable car

One of thos famous hills with the sheer drop down with a view of the bay

The many skyscrapers that adorn the city

New Zealand will come in the next post.
Hope my followers are still there?

A trip on the london eye

2009-11-15T15:51:00.006Z

Well i am making a conscious effort to blog more i am afraid to say facebook and farmville have taken over the past weeks shameful !!.
Anyway these are a few photos taken on the London Eye a couple of weeks ago. It was a birthday treat for my eldest daughter who had never been before she really loved it, we made a day of it and went out to lunch afterwards to a restaurant in covent garden called Wahaccas, a former masterchef winners restaurant superb food mexican food all freshly cooked to order all washed down with a lovely margarita, delicious! We finished off the day by shopping and ended up at Gordon Ramsays wine bar to end our day. It was lovely to spend time with both my daughters at the same time, does not happen as often as we would like so it was very special for me to have that time with them.

View taken leading up to the eye

Loved the shape of this building down below us.
As can be seen it was quite misty.

Some of Londons great buildings

Got snap happy with Big Ben took so many.

One of the most iconic buildings of London

Another one !!!!

The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben from above

in the pod.

I just loved the angles and workings that could

be seen whilst in the pod on the eye itself

View from our pod onto the other, with a view of the

Thames in the background

From our pod the other one looked like it was

suspended in mid air

Quite a good view with the buildings down below.

Good job i am not scared of heights!

An empty pod shell

My favourite picture, to me it just captures everything

the eye is, an amazing piece of engineering

Just another angle from within the pod.

Planning to go on the Eye again at some point at night this time views would be wonderful.

Been a hectic couple of weeks seeing family and friends great to catch up with people who i had not seen for ages, crammed so much in one week, but loved every minute.

Sue our youngest daughter went home yesterday after spending a week with us, the house is so quiet today miss her already xxxx but we had a nice relaxing time together plenty of chats and hugs and laughs, so thankyou Sue .

Amalfi Drive seems like a dream!

2009-10-20T15:10:00.008+01:00

My trip to Italy seems a long time ago already, but i can still remember the beautiful scenery of the Amalfi drive.
We had such lovely weather that day unlike some who went the following day , so we were very lucky to catch some glorious views! We had an early start at 8am but it was worth it seeing the sun on the water overlooking Capri and the road was not to busy thank goodness as anyone who has done this will know that the road is very very narrow in places with sheer drops on the left hand side, quite breathtaking at times! The drive took us to the beautiful town of Amalfi, then onto Ravello.

One of the many little villages set in the hillside
With the 5star hotel at the edge! Mega money to stay!

We stopped here for a coffee break just an hour into the journey
i passed on the coffee just wanted to admire the view.

This was just a rock formation honestly!
But it is now known as the Madonna holding flowers
once you were passed it you could see nothing from
the other direction.

A better view i think of the formation

Just loved the colour of the sea here, and the boats getting
ready to go out.

We are now in Amalfi.

This picture i am very proud of, after i looked
in the guide book this was in it.

The original 13th century road in Amalfi

Again this one was also in the guide book.

In medieval times it was named the Valley of the Mills

The beautiful cathedral

Dedicated to the Apostle Andrew

One of the ceilings in the cathedral
I left the flash on and promptly got told off, so

felt i should not take anymore inside.

A beautiful view from Ravello looking down with

the mountains in the distance.

A view of Minnori taken n Ravello

View from the mountains from the coach.

As you can see we climbed and climbed to one of the highest points.

One of my favourite days of the whole holiday such contrasting views from the high mountains to the hillside towns ans the sea of course with its wonderful colours.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE

2009-10-14T11:46:00.002+01:00

So pleased you liked the card we sent, it is usually you that makes me cry with your cards, got my own back ! We will have some bubbles to celebrate when i am down.
Just wishing you a very happy birthday!! Sue thought this was just your sort of humour.
With all love as always Mum xx

Beautiful Sorrento

2009-10-13T13:59:00.006+01:00

Well as you can see we really did not have a great time , the scenery was awful, the food bad and well the weather that was bad as well!!!!???? But i may be joking, had a most wonderful time.
Packed so much in one week but still had time to do nothing but drink coffee and people watch down at the harbour.

This iced coffee was just divine and so well presented
the brioche was great to!

our view from the restaurant whilst having our coffee

My pizza was gorgeous thank you for asking!
We were staying in the Neapolitan riviera where the famous pizza
was invented.

The famous villa where Sophia Loren , Gina lolla Brigida
stayed and Tom cruise got married!

With this view i can see why it was chosen! Stunning!

On one of our many walks down to the harbour front

and there were sooo many steps, Lynda did really well

as she had a swollen foot at the time.

Another little narrow street

Sorrento with its many tourist shops

but you can avoid these if you just go a few streets behind

the main area.

Still lots of people!

A view of the Marina Grande

With a view along the Sorrentine peninsular

Taken from the other way with the Marina Piccalo

at the end. Our boat for the day was moored just offshore!

Same view

This was just a snippet of Sorrento it was so beautiful we may go onto Amalfi next time then Pompeii and Herculaneum which were fascinating .

As my trusted guide book said " Amalfi the coast for falling in love"

Brrrrrr who turned the teperature down!!

2009-10-04T15:14:00.002+01:00

Well arrived back on friday night and was greeted by my daughter with a lovely smile and a hug, she had text earlier in the day " i know you don't want to come home you two shirley valentines but i am really looking forward to seeing you" made me smile! spent the night at her house then made our way home to cornwall on saturday after a lovely lunch at Toys Hill in kent (home cooked ham egg and chips). My friend dropped me off at Launceston and Tony picked me up from there. So we had a great run back only 4hrs from kent, unlike our trip up which took nearly 7hrs the dreaded M25 again, got caught in a bad accident where everything just stopped for over an hour and half so frustrating and tiring.
Had a super holiday our hotel great and the food really good met some lovely people so if you are reading this now P and M i didn't write anything bad LOL we hit it off straight away which was great we met up in the evenings and had a good laugh and a gossip!! such good company so thankyou both! In fact we are all meeting up with our respective daughters in december!
We did not do all we had planned but we certainly made the most of our week there in Sorrento and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves from the moment we arrived to the time we left.
Just chilling out today in more ways than one its blooming freezing after being in temeratures of the high 20's sitting here typing with my jeans and two jumpers on brrrr. Will get some pics up during the week it was so beautiful can't wait to share the sights. Shame we can't get smells over the blogs because they were fantastic too lemon, orange and olive trees i can smell them now.

Pasta, Pizza and Pompeii

2009-09-23T14:21:00.005+01:00

My case is packed and i am ready to go to Italy on friday!!
My friend and i are off to Sorrento for a weeks holiday, been planning this for a while but only booked it last week due to my friend having a foot operation, which i can report was a great success and she got the all clear last week.
We will be doing a couple of trips whilst out there one being Pompeii and one to the island of Capri, with maybe a boat trip thrown in. This is our hotel just about a mile outside of sorrento, seems a little more quiet than some we looked at in sorrento itself , apparently overlooking the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius . Although the weather does not seem to great at the moment over Italy we are hoping for at least a few days of good sunny weather. Fingers crossed!!
We will drive up to my daughters tomorrow and spend the night there, that way we will be the right side of the dreaded M25 we can then make our way to Gatwick after the morning rush hour. We are parking at my friends sister-in-laws so no airport charges either!
It shall be great not to have to think about cooking as eating out is one of my favourite things to do in Italy (or anywhere for that matter!) you can sit and people watch ,even if it is just sitting with a lovely cappachino or ice cream. Mmmm i can just taste that ice cream now.
It will be an adventure i'm sure Lynda and i are not known for our sense of direction at the best of times LOL we even managed to get lost in a car park once that is another story!! Our families do get a little worried i think but we are big girls now and can look after ourselves JUST!
So Bonn voyage people for a week or so. The camera and charger are packed in readiness!

Rainham Marshes

2009-09-18T16:37:00.006+01:00

On a visit to essex to stay with friends last week they kindly took us to Rainham Marshes, we had never been before so it was a pleasant change. Not to much activity bird wise but still a lovely walk. We were very fortunate to see a water vole swimming about in the streams, but my dear hubby had gone wandering off again!!! with the camera, i was not amused! i must admit to feeling very privileged to see the vole beautiful creature.

Our friend said "bet you can't guess what this was built for?"
It was a wartime look out station for german submarines that tried to secretly get up the Thames river. Who would have thought it!

Again something from the war if you enlarge the picture you can read all about it!

Description of the numbers in the above photo

Wildlife at last on the pond. The small ponds where the frogs had been in the early summer were mostly dried up due to lack of rain in the area.

They are still quite cute!

I am informed by my friends that this is a little grebe

well a baby little grebe stood watching it for ages diving in and out of the water

it was really enjoying itself!

Mummy little grebe

A giant frog in one of the many streams

And again

The visitors centre has not long been built, very well equipped with telescopes dotted around that you can look through, very informative staff as well. Well worth a look in fact there is an open day tomorrow which looked good.

Took a surprise trip up to eseex last week left on the thursday and back sunday. The surprise was for the eldest grandaughter who was 16 and the family were having a bbq for her, we kept it a secret from her until we knocked on the door the afternoon of the said bbq, her face was worth the 300 mile trip (priceless in fact) she was gobsmacked. Had a fab time just family and a few friends great food and good weather. So happy belated birthday Amy! Can't believe she is 16 makes me feel very very old!!!

A wonderful week

2009-09-04T13:28:00.007+01:00

We all had a wonderful week apart from the weather being not as good as we had hoped, but we packed loads in. We played stupid games listened and sang along to their music and laughed so much your tummy muscles hurt, they are now so grown up i can't believe that they are beautiful young ladies. It was great so thanks girls.

Nothing like walking bare foot in the sand

Just about to go body boarding Jess and I
at Mawgan Porth beach

Jess how can you resist that smile !

Captured unawares love this one of Jess

Amy, after not surfing for two years just got

up on the board and surfed like she hadn't

been away!

As you can see the sea was quite rough,

The following day we went to flambards theme park and the sun shone.

There were a few big rides as you can see, but not being to adventurous Amy missed out on going on some as none of us would go on with her. But we had a good day. Apart from the rides there is an indoor part called the blitz , where you can take part in an air raid when you here the sirens going off, very effective the actual floor shook with the noise of the aeroplanes going over, there were different exhibits as well, unfortunately you were not allowed to take photographs.

The log flume where we all got soaked

as you can see it was quite high, great fun!

They all went on the racing cars tony thinking

he was Louis Hamilton!

The concentration was apparent! Amy did really well

considering she had never been in one!

All of us in the hall of mirrors. Quite a scary bunch

This was fun with me screaming at the top of my head

as it went around the corners, much to the girls delight

they found it funny!

These were helicopters that were on a monorail that

you had to pedal, i must admit i was a little scared as you

peddled off the station and looked down into the ground
it seemed like there was nothing between you and

the ground!!

Here you can see the monorail it seemed quite high

On a rainy day Jess receiving a guitar lesson from

grandad, she managed to play part of

"Scarborough Fair" after only a short time,

well done Jess

My beautiful granddaughters relaxing on the couch after dinner

We did finally get the car fixed it was the sensor after all and not the cam shaft thank goodness.

Took the girls back on the thursday took nearly 6 hours, 31/2 hours to the M25 then guess what a traffic jam AGAIN ! hate that road so much with a passion.

Got to stay up for a few days to see other daughter and some friends. Got to see our best friends daughter who is over from florida have not seen her for 10 years, she now has a daughter of her own who has a brilliant floridian accent, very sweet.

And finally you can all have a laugh, i was pestered by daughter sue to go to her combat and kick boxing class " oh we never do things just us two" i could think of better things to do together i thought. This was after a bottle or two on the friday evening and we had to be there by 9.30am next morning, i got up slight hangover but made it, and actually quite enjoyed it, it was certainly a good work out, boxing gloves on i started battering all that built up tensions away great therapy. And if anyone upsets me well i can now give a good kick box! I do have a picture but thats for me to keep !!! maybe one day.
Had a good time the house seemed so quiet when we got home no N Dubs no Lady Ga Ga to sing along to. So thanks to the Breadstick queen (Amy) and the choritzo kid (Jess) we had a fab time

A week over or is it !!

2009-08-27T12:57:00.002+01:00

The week with the grandchildren has been brilliant, but it may not be ending today after all.
Last night on our way home from being out getting the eldest grandaughters nose pierced (yuk) it was sanctioned by mum and dad by the way! the car showed a warning light on the dashboard, hubby took it in this morning to the garage, they seemed to have fixed it BUT twenty yards down the road the light came back on, back again and on closer inspection they have now said the cam shaft is nearly broken , not good , can't borrow another car as the garage will not let tony drive it out of the county so i think we will be stranded for another day, but that means i shan't have to say goodbye just yet to the young ladies in our charge. Best laid plans and all that!! Hey Ho.

Getting ready!

2009-08-19T13:59:00.004+01:00

I promise it is there my heron, been seeing him on and off for two years around locally i now think he has a mate, i have been trying to capture a picture of him for ages, they were taken from our spare bedroom skylight so they are not very good but hey i got him or her finally, hope to get a closer view another time. It was one of those moments when you think nature is great and right on your doorstep.

Well next week we have the two eldest grandchildren with us for a week, off to pick them up today staying one night at sues then back tomorrow, can't wait to have them here and revert back to my childhood for a week going to take them to a theme park (flambards) yay i have a reason to go on all the rides. Please let the weather be ok fingers crossed, the eldest Amy wants to try surfing again and Jess bodyboarding so we will be in the water even if it is rainy, can't get much wetter can we LOL ! The beds are made their bag full of goodys are ready just need them here now bless em! probably shan't be saying that after a week.

So my overnight bag is packed my packet of malteesers are packed, my journey is never complete without the malteesers!!! And off we go leaving around 4ish to miss the traffic on the good old M25.

carnivals and jazz in the park

2009-08-18T14:21:00.009+01:00

Well it has been a funny week or so, been quite busy with the house trying to get the spare room decorated after the ceiling dipped when the men finished the roof!!! it looks great now it is all done, finally got hubby to get rid of an armchair that will fit nowhere except this room YAY it took some persuading i can tell you, got some new furniture wardrobe, chest of drawers and a bedside cabinate looks good now its all done.
Any way i digress. Here are some piccies of the jazz in the park at Pencarrow house which we went to last weekend and the weather all be it a little chilly stayed dry. Beautiful place will have to go back when its open, the gardens are lovely and full of colour. The jazz was fun had a boogie to keep warm and great atmosphere and good company thanks K and P and Josh

The wonderful grounds of Pencarrow

These were taken around 7pm you can see the shadows lengthening

Loved the vibrant colour of the hydrangeas

They have extensive grounds as you can see
all so well kept too

Would like to go back again to see more of the grounds

This is the house itself not to imposing or to grand

These next ones are from the St Columb carnival, great fun to watch and great fun to take part by the looks of things, our carnival week was ended by a big firework display on the recreation ground. It is a big event here it seems to draw the whole community together which isn't a bad thing young and old take part in different activities throughout the week.

The old carnival queens reunion it was so funny!

Everyone playing their part so well HaHa

They certainly had a sense of humour, click on to read it is quite funny!

A lot of thought went into the costumes

Great one for the kids how they walked all that way
in this costume is beyond me

The Lion the witch and the wardrobe was the theme

Brilliant eh?

Just some fun costumes

The band led the prosession off

Along with the steam traction engine, which is our neighbours son
saw us and sounded the horn jumped out of our skin it was so loud!

As well as all these activities i went to see Steve Winwood in concert he of ex cream, traffic,blind faith fame. Stood about five rows back so had a really good view did some good tracks old and new "higher love "being my favourite of the night. A good week even if it was a little hectic.

Happy birthday mum

2009-08-11T16:33:00.002+01:00

Today would have been my mums birthday, as you can imagine it has been a strange day today not all bad i must admit.
But i can't help but miss her today i miss her laughter , her sense of humour but most of all her love!!
This was one of her favourite songs so

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM

Out came the sun

2009-08-07T16:27:00.001+01:00

Watergate bay

Well for the past couple of days the sun has come out makes everyone feel better to get out so we did i actually got to go in the sea today body boarding such great fun and great exercise.

Last evening we were at party in the park for part of carnival week here in St Columb, and tonight we are going with friends to jazz in the park at Pencarrow house so busy little bees we are at the moment. And finally tomorrow we shall see the final carnival parade in town , so hopefully will post some piccies after the weekend activities.

Lazy days of summer/Turkey part 2

2009-08-04T14:08:00.007+01:00

Picture the sun, the blue sky and the beautiful green warm sea with the fish swimming all around you, this was the place! Xuma (zuma).
Our day started around 10am had breakfast and ordered our taxi we were meeting the others at xuma, arrived at the gates and we were greeted by a lovely young chap who directed us to the entrance where we paid our entrance fee 50 turkish lire which in english money is around £25 each, which seems a lot but believe me it was worth every lire. Found our chosen spot right on the edge of the water a tad cooler there! towels were brought out to us just time for a dip in the sea i think ah bliss! Then the other part of the family arrived just in time for a iced drink "i'll try the frozen kiwi" it was so refreshing. We read our papers and books along with a few more dips in the sea , by which time it was lunch, just choose from the menu we were told, i had chicken slow cooked with cinnamon, parsley and lemon served with rice, tony avocado and chicken salad! washed down with another frozen drink. The facilities were wonderful you could even go for a massage or indian head massage, we passed on that though. There was nothing left to do but to chill out again ! Time just flew by nearly time to go but just time for a glass of wine for sue and i chi(tea) for the others and frozen peach for tony. What a relaxing day bit expensive but worth it, we all enjoyed doing our own thing on that day.

Sue and i after our glass of wine just the one i promise!!
Love sues dress all summery and cherry like!

Just so relaxed the both of us, it was lovely to laugh about
nothing in particular

The turkish side of the family all reading their papers
this was a daily ritual for both of the men, they did come
up for drinks and food at some point though!
This was the view from the sunbeds

Tony and his frozen kiwi drink under the shade of the trees

You could not help but admire the view it was beautiful

and the sea was so calm that day and wonderfully clear

you could see many different little fish swimming

View from the other way looking towards the hills

You can see we had steps down into the sea

It was a superb day, one that we probably would not have gone too if we had been on our own, it is not well publicised in the tourist places and we were the only english people there that day. The day over we all crammed back into father in laws car for the short trip back to the hotel.

So thanks to all for making it a special day! Same again next year is it?

Sights of Yalikavak/ part one

2009-07-31T14:22:00.009+01:00

It seems so long since my holiday in turkey!
The hotel was about a mile or so from the main town and its beautiful harbour , there was so much too see along the way. The windmill was the meeting place for many people including us, it is a great landmark, very effective in the way it has been done.

Again along the harbour was this statue, carved and chiseled out of stone, everywhere was kept immaculately clean and litter free

I could say this was our boat for the week but i may be fibbing, the speed at which it was getting was amazing cost a pretty penny i would imagine (i can dream)!!!

Again walking from the hotel down to the harbour. There is something hypnotic about the mosques when they are calling people into prayer, the sound can be heard from a good distance, seems such a contrast to the hustle and bustle of the tourist places that are around.

This one was taken from our hotel looking the other way from the harbour, as you can see the mosque lays amongst the hill and stands out, again the contrast is amazing the mosque looking down on the tourists down below.

Thought i would do this in separate posts. I must admit the holiday was also so different on different days so it makes sense to separate them. On the beach days we all at about 5 oclock would have a sut misir, which translated in english means sweet corn on the cobs but they are cooked in milk and water they were absolutely delicious served hot from the great big cooker , we ate them as we walked up the hill to the car, lips and mouth covered in it yummy i can just taste it now!

Fixing a hole and wishing i was somewhere else!

2009-07-28T18:02:00.004+01:00

Well today there was a great big hole where my roof used to be! GULP, all the tiles off crashing banging and the cat going loopy, what a day, asked if they wanted a drink? workmen drink of course they did . two coffees two sugars, one tea SIX sugars, i thought he was having me on but no that is what he took! They took until around 3pm then the heavens opened i began to panic but they had just covered the whole of the roof with tarpaulin whew !!! Got a day off tomorrow as the rain will be appalling down here in cornwall so they can't work.

Got to thinking i really want to be somewhere else at the moment!!

These were taken in turkey in july when the weather was 37degreees and sunny all day.

View from a foreign window

2009-07-22T14:40:00.006+01:00

Just a few views from our holiday in turkey, i have to admit that these were taken by hubby, he commandeered the camera for the whole of the holiday!!

I thought the three here should stand on their own as they were briiliant.

Taken from the hotel room at 5.am the moonlight shimmerimg on the sea.

This is of a beautiful sunset where our daughter was staying high in the hills of Yalikavak the views were stunning

This was taken i am informed at around 5.am when hubby went to open the window
of our hotel room. A liitle dark as you can see but beautiful none the less with the moon shining on the sea and the hills in the background.

The holiday was really lovely and relaxing for all of us i think we all needed to recharge the batteries after a very difficult few months. Will get some more piccies uploaded soon so you can see how beautiful it all was.

Foye/ watergate bay

2009-07-01T14:26:00.005+01:00

Taken on a walk from Mawgan Porth to Watergate bay

Foye harbour, Polruan on the other side of the harbour

Really pleased with this one. Yacht in Foye harbour

Same yacht different angle

Thought i would leave you all with a few shots of cornwall before i set off on holiday tomorrow to turkey, off to pack now can't wait to see daughter and son-in-law . Although the flight is at stupid o'clock tomorrow shan't arrive until 03.40 turkish time, just want to be there now. Think of me on the beach with cocktail in hand and the warm sea just in front of me AHH

Bournemouth concert and trip away

2009-06-30T16:01:00.014+01:00

Our day began around 10am, we were planning an earlier start but due to our friends inviting us out the night before and two bottles of wine later, decided to leave a little later!!

Coffee in the flask sandwiches made we set off. The journey took longer than anticipated took over three hours, the traffic was really bad, and it didn't help getting lost in bournemouth LOL. We reached our hotel around 1.30pm unpacked then went for a nice dip in the swimming pool, spent the next hour unwinding by the pool.

Seemed like we were wasting the short time we had in bournemouth so off we headed for the sea front, our hotel was way up the cliff great view when we reached the path down of the pier and seafront, did not seem that far so walked all the way along and had a lovely ice cream.

Seemed like i had stepped back 40 years with the pier, candy floss and the smell of donuts all around, it was just like the holidays that i went on as a child with mum and dad. The sun had brought everyone out to bournemouth that day. Had a walk on the pier then headed inland and got a little lost again LOL we were trying to find the winter gardens but somehow missed them found the lower gardens instead.

The time was getting on so we decided on an early dinner found a lovely italian place where i had a stonebaked pizza with parma ham Mmm delicious,Tony had a steak as he is now not allowed pizza (he is ceoliac) nice glass of pino grigio to help it along. Brought us to around 6.00pm, headed back to the hotel for a shower before the concert.

Our concert venue was only 5 mins away, got to our seats and the main man arrived on stage at 8.00pm he was brilliant did some new material but did so many old songs that the crowd were singing along to including me (luckily i was being drowned out). he did the first hour or so then we had 1/2 break he came back on and played until 10.45pm so i think we had our monies worth. His voice may be a little deeper but my god can he still sing. Excellent concert !!
On leaving the concert hall i was not ready to retire to the hotel i had spotted a cocktail bar earlier in the day so we headed for that, all the lights were on on the pier as we sat sipping a pina- colada , well me anyway tony had a glass of red. Another little walk and we found a little bar still open with seats outside i am making the most of my night away so another glass of wine was had before i went to bed at the hotel. A good day.
Day two not so good weather had changed for the worse very overcast but still warm, so after breakfast decided to head for town again, my god i did some walking in the two days i was there thought cornwall was hilly but it has nothing on bournemouth!!! both feeling a bit jaded we sat for a coffee whilst a young man was playing an obo very relaxing. Tony decided he wanted to make a move so we picked the car up and headed to poole but guess what we got lost again, the air was blue by this point as you can imagine, we never did make it so we headed for the A35 instead and homeward bound we came, bit of a shame really but i did have a good concert which was the main reason for going, and a night away with no cooking YAY !!!

The little beach huts all so well kept and most being used

This was how crowded the beach really was. Everyone enjoying
the day out in the sun

The end of the pier, a real old fashioned one. No i didn't go on it!!

Taken from the cliff top near our hotel the walk was a lot further than it looked must have been a mile or so. Lovely view though! And it was a glorious day

These were taken in the lower gardens the plants in the background were very unusual i thought, almost like palm trees.

This was the our getting lost point you could see it from a long way off, we just headed downwards most of the time. No i didn't go on this either!!! i probably would have done if there had been more time. ( thats my story anyway)

The terraced lower gardens were very pretty so many different plants and flowers. The upper gardens were much the same, very well maintained.

A little friend

2009-06-26T12:45:00.003+01:00

Thought this little squirrel was quite cute, it has been visiting our bird table over the past few weeks, i know they can do so much damage in the gardens but i have not got the heart to frighten it away, it will always be a welcome visitor to my garden.

Well i am away for the night tomorrow having my belated birthday present, tickets to see James Taylor in bournemouth, the things were booked in February but we only got the tickets on tuesday, so has not left to much time to book anything most places were booked for the saturday night managed to find one though, so off we go tomorrow early to make the most of the day, then back sunday evening.

Even more good news we are off to turkey next week to meet up with daughter ,son in law and his parents in bodrum for a week, the weather there we were informed by daughter that it is 38degrees hot hot hot !!! our hotel looks good right on the sea, so a few dips in the sea will be called for i think, getting the sun factor 30 as well to cover up with. Will be nice to catch up with sues in laws they are lovely

Hope my concert was worth waiting for? let you know monday!

boscastle and bude

2009-06-25T11:39:00.006+01:00

The day was very overcast as we made our way to boscastle, it was blowing a gale and the rain started to pour down, but sue our daughter wanted to go to boscastle , so off we headed, packa macs at the ready!!
Boscastle has been totally rebuilt after the great flood of a few years ago, the building work in most places has now been completed and has been done very sympathetically being done in the same style as before. I remember there was uproar when the council were going to put in a modern bridge, but a change of heart due to local opposition was taken and the old style bridge was built.
As you walk out of the village you walk up the coastal path where a magnificent view awaits , we sat on a bench and watched the goings on of the little harbour for a while until the rain really came down so we headed to the nearest shop. We have been in all weathers to boscastle each season brings us something new to see.

The first two photos are from bude but i loved them both so thought i would put them in as well.

The beach huts looking out to sea

We were driving along on our way home
from boscastle heading home for bude
on reaching the crest of a hill we were
confronted with this most beautiful view
have not got a clue what this area is called
but we were all amazed! click on to enlarge
There were some surfers in the water a little
further along the beach

Now onto Boscastle
The old buildings are used today as
shops some a little bit touristy but
still worth a look at least they are being used
and not going into disrepair

Taken sitting on the coastal path bench
before the heavens opened. The walk takes
you way up onto the rocks if you choose to
but we thought it may be a bit slippery
that day, we have done a long 7mile walk
the views are spectacular

Again taken on the path but looking back
into the village this time

Similar view with the waves crashing on the rocks

Boscastle is still a working harbour today

you can see all the lobster pots

The fishing boats in the harbour

It was so choppy that day.

something about the sea that is quite

captivating especially when the sea

is rough watching the waves crashing

The sea wall has been rebuilt after the flood

but as you see it has been done really well

loved all the different coloured stone very

effective

If you are in cornwall make a point of visiting boscastle you will love it, yes it is a bit of a tourist trap but once you are out of the village there are some wonderful walks you can do around there.

The shops are worth a look around but you can shop anywhere go for the views! Although there is a wonderful pottery shop there where every piece of pottery is different, we have bought a few lovely things there everything is made in the shop. He lost a good deal of his stock in the flood so it is great that he continues with his business today.

Royal cornwall show

2009-06-24T13:37:00.007+01:00

One of my favourite things to do in early june is to go to the Royal Cornwall Show. The show is on a show ground with 1oo's of acres to walk around, our day begins there at around 10.30am and probably does not end until around 6.00pm, very tiring but worth every aching step !

This is the biggest show in the south west farming calender, farmers and public come from every part of the county and further in some cases to show their animals.

You can buy anything from a brand new tractor to an alpaca or a new B M W car to a baby rabbit !! the choice is yours. There is also a show ring where different things are always going in, this year we had a human cannonball LOL

My favourite places are where all the animal are, the piggy pens are the best they are so cute, then we venture into the cow sheds where you have to be careful of where you are treading LOL, the size of some of these animals are amazing, but such gentle giants.

Then we have the food and drink marquee , you can try different tasters smoked duck was superb , for lunch i had a fresh Cornish crab sandwich, tony had a gluten and wheat free curry, followed by fresh strawberries and clotted cream is your mouth watering now?

Anyway here are a few photos of the day.

An old gypsy caravan

In cornwall we still have steam rallys

quite alot the smell is great when they

are working

So much work is put into getting the

animals just perfect for the show, as you can

see this cow was having a blow dry to get it in

peak condition

Thought this was unusual , there are so

many different breeds of animal here

"All this waiting around has left me so tired i've

now fallen asleep in my water bowl"

My favouirtes the piggies Top and Tailed

They all seem so stressed out i don't think!!

A fine specimen, think this one

won first prize

Hope you have enjoyed the trip out, we did not buy that BMW or a rabbit but i did come home after having a really lovely day with some fresh homemade sausages, cornish potatoes and srawberries

Beautiful story

2009-06-23T12:27:00.001+01:00

Pictured: Two white tiger cubs find a surrogate mum...Anjana the chimpanzee Mail Online

I just could not let this go without posting it, my friend sent me this email from her daughter in america, but as you can see it was published by the daily mail as well. The pictures are sooooo cute.

Blogging one year on !

2009-06-19T11:54:00.008+01:00

Yes this is me as a little girl!!

found it amongst mums photographs

My word cannot believe my blog is one year old today happy birthday!

So much has happened in that year, looking back at some old posts today i cannot help but be a little sad at the most most obvious thing that happened , losing my mum so suddenly, and our daughter having a miscarriage at the same time as mum passing away, april was by far the most terrible month of my life, but hey good things happened as well, going to turkey was a highlight, but the most important thing was having my eye operations last june, my it has made so much difference to my life, being able to see bus and train signs for example, and the airport used to be a nightmare with their high viewing screens, not any more YAY!! being able to see birds flying and the vivid colours of the spring flowers this year has been truly wonderful for me. I know in myself i have become a much more confident person due to the fact i can now see much better than before, i will be having a routine check up soon, so will see if i will be able to learn to drive but not expecting that really, but you never know!

It has been a pleasure to read all your different blogs over the past year and giving me support with all your comments. And for also giving me inspiration with all your photgraphs especially

trish and pete thanks guys!!

Wildlife and countryside of bude

2009-06-17T13:40:00.004+01:00

Seems ages since i was there in bude only a few weeks ago though!
These were taken on my days out in bude and a couple were taken in stratton which is where i was dog sitting for the week. I was quite pleased with myself really for getting out and about not knowing the area that well , good old public transport was used quite a bit and very efficient they were to.
Along the canal which has been regenerated to a very high standard, you can now walk for miles , one way leads to the sea, the other takes you along the canal past a nature reserve i spent two afternoons walking along, took my lunch one day glorious weather sitting watching the world go by. There are also a few galleries and tea shops were an ice cream was purchased toffee and caramel yum!!

The lock still in use i may add there were many little boats moored along
the canal.

Three of my lunch companions

I loved this little house very serene i can imagine myself here
on a summer evening with the sound of the water and a glass
of wine!

Was really pleased with this one , again taken along
the canal

Tried to compare this one with the other pretty house on
the canal from before, i know which i prefer,
no comparison really! Old and modern

Another little friend, there were so many, all
basking on the grass then off they would go for
a cooling dip in the water.

I love this one, taken in stratton a few minutes
walk from the house, the colours reflecting in the sun
are really lovely.

The same stream taken from the opposite side of the road

Could not resist this one of Kayla how beautiful

is she?

Taken from the kitchen window they used to come every day

for breakfast and dinner

I was fascinated stood watching for ages instead of

getting breakfast or dinner!

I must admit i loved every minute of my little break, it gave me confidence to get out on my own for a change, you get out of the habit when there is always someone around, i shall be doing it more often from now on!! My friend said two days after i had left, veta my guardian angel for that week was found wondering up the lane Terry seemed to think she was looking for me aw bless, thats our theory and we are sticking to it, how great it is to be loved!!!

one of my favourite songs

2009-06-13T10:28:00.001+01:00

Such a beautiful song i love it a very powerful song i think.

I have been trying to get videos on my blog for ages and getting so frustrated with it, so finally with help from my personal blog adviser pete thankyou, at last i can do it LOL YAY!!!

Three lovely girls

2009-06-06T13:01:00.007+01:00

As you can see these were my three wonderful companions for a week, they gave me such love and comfort , they seemed to know i was upset at times.

Holly, Veta and Kayla all different in their own ways but all gorgeous none the less!!

Holly in her younger days used to almost talk, They used to ask "who done it?" reply was an ooh ooh sounded quite funny. Veta the clever one and my little guardian angel for the week can open doors. Kayla just wants to have fun she a girlie girl.

Pictures a little grainy but click on them and they are much better!

Had a wonderful restful week in a little place just outside bude, just what was needed, will post some piccies of the countryside and a few more places i visited another time.

I will not be around for the next week as i am going up to see the family and spend time with the grandchildren, can't wait to see them and give them a great big hug .

Holly is now almost deaf but loved tony
playing his guitar, must have been the vibration
it's certainly not his playing LOL!

Veta, she was my favourite if i had to choose!
She liked for me to almost straddle her body
and loved to be stroked that way.

How can you resist those beautiful faces
when they wanted to play.

Again in the garden waiting to play

Watching tonys every move

Don't disturb me you can have the settee when

i've woken up!!

One seat left for me!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

The most beautiful things in life cannot be seen

or even touched they must be felt within your heart.

Helen Keller

Those who do not now how to weep with their

whole heart do not know how to laugh either.

Golda Meir

Suitably refreshed

2009-05-27T15:26:00.002+01:00

Well i am now back from my little trip, got back on saturday afternoon.
I must admit it did me good to have the break, everyone left on the monday so i had the house to myself apart from the three beautiful doggies (photos to come tomorrow) sounds really horrible to say it but i really needed to be alone with my own thoughts for a time, can't say that things are back to normal in my head (my head is never normal) but that is to be expected i guess, it is still quite emotional. Anyway had a fab time, lots of walks, lots of wet kisses and licks and plenty of cuddles on the couch in the evenings, cooked what i wanted when i wanted it, had some wine watched some tv and just generally unwound felt so much better when i returned.
Will post tomorrow with all the piccies and there are quite a few.

Taking a break

2009-05-13T13:03:00.003+01:00

Well i'm off on my travels again, this time to look after my friends three rough collies, i leave tomorrow morning, have to see how everything works at friends house ie: cooker and heating etc: and most importantly where the doggies have to be walked during the day. I won't be blogging for a week or so as the friends are not on the internet don't know what i will do without it!!! Have to take a couple of books, although i am not a great reader, still maybe time for a change . Should be nice in bude weather permitting, but all seasons of clothes are being packed wet, dry, cold, hot. It will be a change of scenery and i will treat it as a little holiday, could do with a break. Hopefully i will take some photos of bude and the lovely doggies of course.
So see you soon

Seem to be coming out the other end of the tunnel

2009-05-11T17:52:00.004+01:00

Today has been a good day not had to many of those in the past month. We went down to the beach with our lovely daughter who is down with us for a week., its been such an emotional ride for us both with her coming to terms with her own problems as well and mum going it has been horrible. BUT i think we are turning a corner, all be it a small one, it was a glorious day today so we all headed for the beach just sat and talked a lot did us both good i think, sun was shining not many people ,a lovely ice cream and to finish off a glass of wine overlooking the beach, ah a little bit of sanity at last , small steps seem big ones at the moment, but we will get there.
Love you lots little daught!

TWO GLASSES OF WINE

2009-05-06T11:36:00.003+01:00

When things in your life seem too much to handle, when 24 hrs in a day are not enough, remember the mayonaise jar and two glasses of wine.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty jar of mayonaise and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. "yes " they replied. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open spaces between the golf balls. He asked the students again is the jar full "yes" He then picked up a box of sand and poured that into the jar. Of course the sand filled up everything else. Is it now full a unanimous "yes" The professor then produced two glasses of wine from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty spaces between the sand.
The students laughed , the professor said"NOW I want you to recognise that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things, your family, children, your health, friends, and your favourite passions; things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would be still full". The pebbles represent the other things your job, car, your house. The sand is everything else; the small stuff. "If you put the sand in first there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you" Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children, take your partner out to dinner, play another round of 18. There will always be time to clean the house and take out the rubbish. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the wine represented. The professor smiled " I'm glad you asked . It just goes to show that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of glasses of wine with a good friend"

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Go to the sea the ebb and flow are like your own unrest

The stillnes that follows laughter is like having a great
weight removed from your shoulders

R.I.P. MUM

2009-04-29T07:00:00.000+01:00

Just a small post.

Hoping that you are up there with dad and all the family that we miss so much. Love and miss you always xx

Mixed emotions

2009-04-21T09:57:00.006+01:00

I have written the start to this post three times already. How do you start to say you have lost someone so close without it sounding morbid? you can't !
Mum passed away two weeks ago today. It has been a rollercoaster of emotions for myself and the family over those two weeks, we cannot even lay her to rest until the 29th april beacause of the easter break and the crematorium being fully booked, so i have come home to cornwall for a week just to unwind a little if possible, but it seems worse here not being with the girls!
Just had a phone call from the minister who will take the service so it brings everything back to reality again, seemed a very nice chap wonderful to talk to so that was some comfort.
Had to leave doing the post yesterday so i am trying again today. I think all the dreaded paperwork is now finished can't do anything else.
My one consolation is that mum died peacefully in her sleep in her own house and not in any pain, but it certainly does not ease the pain of her going she will be missed so much by us all.
The little routines you had when they were here like telephoning at a certain time, ringing to say we are home safe, did you see that great football match, silly things you would have said, i cannot believe i shan't be doing these things again.
Not sure if i want to be on my own or have people around me its such a strange emotional time at the moment, but i'm sure things will ease with time.
In times like these you know who you can rely on to always be there for you so all my love and thanks to my family and friends xx

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Words are often inadequate to communicate all that we feel in our hearts

Being a local tourist

2009-04-04T17:28:00.023+01:00

This was a walk we did a couple of weeks ago on a saturday afternoon.

Our trip took us from home at St Columb Major to st Mawgan a 6 mile round trip, we decided to walk on road as the way through the woods would have been rather muddy, not such a pretty route but still well worth it.

The route is quite hilly at points so you really work your leg muscles. You take for granted sometimes where you live and not really go to the places close to home, we made it to St Mawgan not many people about nice and peacefull, this old chap with camera in hand advised us that the church was well worth a visit so we popped in, nearly got locked in as the door was very stiff slight panic thinking we may have to spend the night LOL spent some time there walking around the grounds very relaxing.

St Mawgan has won the best kept village in cornwall for two years running it is very pretty. Stopped for our chocolate bar and a drink then proceeded to make our way back home seeing all the wildlife on our travels the baby lambs were adorable i stopped there for ages just watching them play about. We stopped at our lacal farm shop on the way to pick up some fresh eggs they were delicious i made scrambled egg with smoked salmon for lunch when we arrived home, my little treat for doing the walk. Being a local tourist for few hours was really good especially seeing the church.

The fruits of our labour fresh eggs

Tony had to carry them all the way home!!

View of our local church at st Columb walking back home you see the church from every angle as you walk

"what shall we get up to next then?"

"Oh i think we should go and play over there" "but mum said no"

"com on then you want a fight"

Our farmer has a sense of humour, can you see
the welington boots stuck upside done in the ground! Click on to enlarge!

Taken in St Mawgan this stream runs
all the way from St columb Major

Taken in the churchyard in St Mawgan, quite strange ,
a little eerie i think!

St Mawgan in pydar church

"anyone for dinner then" they were all
tucking in to their lunch as we walked past

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Learn to find joy in the simple things, the quiet things and the things which are free

Cornish news/ habitat destroyed

2009-03-31T11:08:00.008+01:00

Heard on the tv last night about this could not believe it was so close to home on my doorstep in fact! All that hard work destroyed by a few mindless people! Lets hope the birds will return at some point soon.

20 years ago the disaster

2009-03-27T12:18:00.009Z

Saw a programme last night called Oil Spill- the exxon valdez disaster it was a programme that made you think afterwards, it did interviews with people that are still there 20 years after the event and how their lives are still being affected really sad even now. One fisherman still collects oil from the seashore today. The footage of the wildlife was really distressing made me cry all the sea birds and otters and the fish of course. One fact that stuck in my brain was 50 MILLION gallons of oil were being carried on the tanker that fateful day , that is just beyond comprehension!! The captain left his post to go to his quarters and left the 3rd mate who was inexperienced to navigate the change of direction into another shipping lane, the tanker takes 3miles to stop so it was to late to avoid the rocks and she went aground, which ripped oped one side where all the oil was. the captain said in his sos "we are aground will be here for a while and we are leaking a little oil" !!!! my god what an understatement that was
Twenty years on have we learned anything about distroying our planet i think maybe a little but we are still a long way off. As i say it affected me a lot so felt the need to share it.

Hitch the Chaffinch

2009-03-26T14:32:00.007Z

Sorry pictures not too clear, but this is our friendly chaffinch If it is not i'm sure Pete will let us know! This little bird comes around every year for the past three years ,chirps away quite happily then BANG he decides the window looks inviting and proceeds to fly head first or should i say beak first into the window over and over again he starts around 5.30am at the kitchen window where the bird table is and we do not have any curtains to pull there. all our front curtains are drawn at night so as soon as we are up he starts at the front windows, he is on the go until dusk!! when the windows are open i am scared he will get in as he did last year, quite strange behaviour, but we think it may be a territorial thing. Spring would not be the same without old hitch {named after Alfred Hithcock} in case you are wondering!

Well had bad day yesterday had the dentist in the afternoon, to be honest it was not that bad the guy was very nice and put me at my ease, he could see i was very nervous, the shaking may have given it away i think LOL upshot is nothing to bad to be done just a couple of things but he said we will do it gradually thank goodness. Job centre earlier in the day, found out that i cannot claim any job seekers allowance so i signed off again, that was a waste of time filling all those endless forms in, still have to try these things! sent away for another couple of job application forms. Maybe not a good time to look anyway as i have a few things lined up in april and may, going up to london for mum end of april, then middle may i am off to bude to look after my friends three lassie dogs for a week while they are away at their sons wedding, should be a nice little break and a change of scenery it is beautiful in bude, quite looking forward to that. We are off there on saturday to spend the night and have a lovely meal knowing terry it will be delicious, be nice to be cooked for.
Started my running again and it seems to be working lost two pounds last week, when i am running i tell myself "thats another glass of wine you can drink" my goal is to lose a stone. It is an effort to actually get out and run but once i am there i quite enjoy trying to beat my last time.

Our thought of the day:
Life is a challenge meet it
Life is a song sing it
Life is a dream realise it
LIFE is a game play it
Life is love enjoy it

Polzeath to Daymar Bay

2009-03-19T13:41:00.009Z

Well i had a day of two parts yesterday. First half not good, had interviews at the job centre it was not that bad really, the lady was quite helpful and a very nice person, i think i will get my national insurance paid for but will have to be on the job seekers thing me jig, so have to sign in every two weeks, and actively seek employment, so job application sent off today to work in newquay zoo as a gift aid assistant 25hours a week that will be a shock to the system if i get it!!
Next stop dentist to register for a check up had a major panic attack just walking in there, filled the form and it said "do you get anxious about visiting the dentist" i put yes extremely! so it will be a lovely wednesday next week the job centre and dentist OH JOY!! PANIC
Any way bad stuff done with , we had some lunch in the garden then went for a little walk on the coastal path to Polzeath to Daymar bay, really lovely afternoon the sea mist was over the bay but on the path it was beautiful takes about 40 minutes each way so it was just about the right distance for an afternoon stroll passing through fishing cove field on the way, reached daymar with the intention of going on the beach but saw 8 extremely large dogs seemed like a group of some sort, tony being petrified of dogs we thought better of it!

As you can see the fence is
coming away from the ground
some work needed before the
summer starts

Looking back at polzeath
from the coastal path

Liked this one, it is a guy taking
photographs of the surf
he looks a little isolated on the rock

This is my new house (i wish)
loved the shape of the top windows
it was overlooking the sea too!

From a distance this rock looked like
a splattered frog!

Well i am off to london tomorrow to give mum a surprise for mothers day, a few things need doing at her house so tony will be busy on saturday while i take mum out for lunch. It will be good to see her face when we arrive.

Thought of the day:Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death
can erase our good deeds. BUDDHA

St Patricks Day Part Two

2009-03-17T13:20:00.004Z

Sorry just could not let the day pass without my all time favourite van morrison song
I know i am a sentimental fool BUT i love this song sooo much
YouTube - VAN MORRISON - Have I Told You Lately? - Live In London: ""

I have now lost count of how many times i have seen the great man in concert, i think it must be nearly 20 YES really!! over a twenty year period

Happy St Patricks Day

2009-03-17T12:37:00.006Z

As it is St Patricks day thought this was appropiate. I have seen this guy three times in concert before, a memorable one was at the Jazz Cafe in london we had a front row table on the balcony, his voice is quite breathtaking at times so pure and powerful i am a great fan.

Brian Kennedy - Life, Love & Happiness - NMETV Latest Music Videos and Clips

A few changes needed

2009-03-12T15:54:00.002Z

Well had some news that the company we work for is going on a short week, [they are a building company] it does not affect me to much as i only go in for a few hours a week, but hubby will be only doing one or two days per week, we saw it coming but were hoping that it would not be so soon. They are talking of maybe returning to full time after a few months if things pick up, but i think they are being a little optimistic.
So adjustments will have to be made don't get me wrong we are not on the breadline yet thankfully, unlike so many people! maybe now the weather is getting better we may be able to get out a little more during the day and explore places we haven't been to. just hope we don't kill one another by the end of it LOL

Thought of the day:
It is a beautiful world despite all it throws at us.

unconditional love

2009-03-11T14:22:00.005Z

IS IT REALLY BED TIME ALREADY?

THAT WAS A LOVELY DINNER
JUST TIME FOR A NAP!

OOH I AM SO HAPPY IT IS DINNER TIME ?

IS IT NEARLY DINNERTIME AUNTY JAN

my two favourite doggies

dexter front shona on couch

CAN I HAVE A CUDDLE

My two favourite dogs who i look after they are so affectionate

always there to greet me loads of cuddles were given on my part

They will not start eating their dinner until you give the command

"GO ON " if you didn't know this they would be waiting forever to eat

bless them!

Pony adopts sheep

2009-03-10T15:40:00.007Z

cornish nature loved this little story about the little pony adopting the lamb so sweet. Just click on the news section on the left side bar.

And our little thoughts for the day
as it was blowing a gale and teamimg down last night this was quite appropriate

It is the same moon that is reflected in the puddles
as it is in the fountains.

Life is filled with little detours, the secret is to enjoy the scenery

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play,
than you can in an year of conversation. PLATO

check this out

2009-03-07T15:06:00.003Z

breathingearth
Saw this on bbc news this morning, thought it was quite unusual and fascinating please read all the information that goes with it. You just need to click on the country you want to view to see the statistics it is well worth a visit. We can all do a little towards global warming!

Deliveries and James Taylor

2009-03-06T10:36:00.002Z

Well i am having to wait in this morning for a new washing machine as my old one gave up the ghost! Three things went at once in the house , the kettle which tony dropped in the sink { he would have been in more trouble if he had cracked my new sink} the microwave and the afore mentioned washing machine. Delivery should be AM but we will see.
I am also looking after my friends dogs this weekend been up there this morning and greeted with such love will be up there four times during the day and walkies of course! it is nice because i go at their dinner time at 5.3o and stay until around 6.30 and have a cuddle on the couch with them, gives me some relaxation time it is quite calming giving them strokes and cuddles, i put the tv on nice cup of coffee in hand ah bliss!
As a present for my birthday i had tickets to go and see James Taylor so my favourite james song is:
YouTube - James Taylor - You've Got a Friend (Beacon Theatre 1998): ""
The words of this song are brilliant

Another year older!

2009-03-04T11:41:00.005Z

As it is my birthday thought i would indulge in one
of my favourite places in cornwall.
These were taken a couple of weeks ago
The view is wonderful from the coastal path

BEDRUTHAN STEPS

Our little thoughts of the day:

Cherish your dreams, for if your dreams die
life becomes like a wingless bird

True friendships continue to grow regardless
of distance or obstacles

Birthday weekend part three

2009-03-01T19:25:00.003Z

If birthdays can be like this i really don't mind how old i am LOL and it is not even the day yet.
Had a great day shopping and having a lovely pizza lunch yesterday, bought some new clothes very pleased with them, the morning started quite gingerly as sue and i both were still feeling the effects of the night before but by lunch time we were fine only fresh orange juice for me at lunch. Got home around 3.30pm to get ready for the evening as people were coming for drinks and nibbles at eight. Had my own personal hairdresser and make - up person to hand {thanks sue} had a fab evening everyone had a good time i think, got to bed around 1.30am it was a good night.
Today we went for a long walk on perrenporth beach to blow the cobwebs away, beautifully sunny all be it a little blowy, we walked for two hours , our legs were killing us afterwards but really nice.
Just about to have dinner now ooh more wine LOL . Birthdays are fun !

A lovely day

2009-02-27T19:17:00.002Z

Well sue arrived last night on time ,so we had a nice evening watching masterchef which we had taped. thought i was bad at crying but she beats me hands down , we both had a good cry when the winner was announced well done Matt!! oh what to watch now at 8.30pm week nights!.
Went out today for a beautiful lunch at St Mawes part of my birthday weekend which starts here, although the day is not until next week. Anyway we arrived for a 1.pm lunch i had hand dived scallops with baby leeks and saffron followed by sea bass with small potatoes and kale with pancetta with just room for chocolate mousse and a passion fruit sorbet YUM!! it was mainly a fish menu apart from the confit of duck which sue had and was delicious. All washed down with a bottle of chablis. We then walked it off with a hour or so along to Anthonys head on the coastal path {we only remembered the camera after we had left home} it was a great day, we are now about to have some nibbles and fresh cornish cheese and i think maybe some bubbles to end a nice day.
Off for a girlie day in truro tomorrow shopping and lunch, sue does pull all the stops out when it comes to her "little ma" thankyou so much you make my time with you very special xx

My little town with it's traditions

2009-02-24T13:27:00.003Z

BBC - Cornwall - Villages story Hurling at St Columb

The link tells you about another years event but the principle is the same every year.
This great tradition has not been stopped by the Health and Saftey brigade, although it is dangerous to participants and onlookers alike. As you can see everything is boarded up , to any passer by you would think we lived in a really dodgy area !! We got given the silver ball to hold the very first year we were here it is supposed to bring good luck. Good luck to everyone taking part be it Town or Country in 2009

Home ! but for how long?

2009-02-19T12:04:00.004Z

Sue taken at her 30th birthday like mother like daughter always got a glass in her hand !!
THANKS "LITTLE DAUGHT" FOR ALWAYS BEING THERE

Had phone call yesterday afternoon from mum at the hospital to say that she was being sent home today !! without any warning and no phone call to me to let me know what was happening, as you can imagine mum was in a bit of a state not about the going home part but all the clothes and bits and pieces that she had accumulated over the past few months in there. Left messages with social worker no reply, so had to ring daughter sue again to see if she could get there in the evening to calm mum down a bit, which fortunately she did she is my life line i can tell you! so today i have been trying to get things in place like home help and such. Thought i would have a bit of rest bite for a couple of weeks but the old tummy is again in turmoil just wish sometimes that was someone to say its ok but at the end of the day it has to all be done. You think you are ok but it does take it's toll at times. Sue booked to come down next week for 5 days long before i got stuck in london so i am really looking forward to that she always has a knack of making me feel better.

The thought for the day
Drag your thoughts away from your troubles
by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage
MARK TWAIN

Favourite songs and concerts

2009-02-18T12:36:00.001Z

YouTube - Marc Cohn+Jackson Browne {1992}

I am so pleased i can now upload videos from the net, thanks to my own personal blogger help desk PETE !
Got to thinking of all the concerts i have been to over the years, Jackson browne being one of my all time best concerts ever been three times now he sings with such passion and feeling, whilst browsing i came across this with marc cohn who i have also seen, he litterally made me cry at the concert with a song called "things we handed down" i will try and find it at some point, but for now click on the link and listen ti "crazy love" a van morrison written song

Little pearls of wisdom

2009-02-17T15:17:00.002Z

After two weeks away from home i finally got back last wednesday, the extended stay did have it's benefits got to do more things with sue my daughter i am usually flitting from place to place when i am up so we had some good quality time together. Good news on mum she is progressing well and should be home very shortly, so i think i may have to go up again to finalise her coming home, but on the whole a successful trip. Even got to go to the cinema we saw "Slum dog millionaire" really impressed well worth a watch.
Whilst being at sues i got to reading a little book that she had been given as a present it was a small book of tranquillity, calm and Patience some beautiful quotes and little thoughts so we will be having a thought or two of the day whenever i post thought this one was quite apt after the weather we have been having
How calm , how beautiful comes on the still hour when storms have gone, when warring winds have died away And clouds beneath the dancing ray melt off and leave the land and sea sleeping in bright tranquillity. THOMAS MOORE
If speaking is silver then listening is gold. TURKISH PROVERB
It is who is in your life that matters not what is in your life

Happy valentines day

2009-02-14T16:31:00.001Z

This is one of my favourite tracks by the man not one of his own but written by ray charles i believe

YouTube - VAN MORRISON - I Can't Stop Loving You

cabin fever

2009-02-05T13:03:00.002Z

we i am still here for a few more days, think i am going home by train either sunday but probably monday, the snow should be clear by then. Weather here ok now very slushy and slippery, so i have been confined to barraks , jusy walked yesterday to the local shop, did the ironing and cleaning of the house got to earn my keep somehow. Feeling trapped a little now sue and hubby out to work all day so cabin fever is setting in

stranded

2009-02-03T10:30:00.002Z

well i was due to be home in cornwall yesterday, getting a lift from my friends but here in dartford kent the snow came and kept coming we must have had at least a foot and a half if not more everything came to a standstill my daughter cannot get to work yesterday or today. we had a wonderful day yesterday met some of her friends and we went out for a snowball fight great fun and much laughter was had by all, i felt like 15 instead of 51 it was so funny, after that we slid down to the localpub for a most welcome pint of ale or two followed by in my case ham egg and chips, got home around 2.30 had a lovely cup of coffee with baileys and sat all curled upon the couch watching a film with sue and some cadburys mini eggs HEAVEN so being stuck has had its benefits. Not sure when i willget back at the moment my friends have left for cornwall but rang tony and he said it is really badathome sohe would not be able to pick me up from my friends house and as they live in quite a remote area i am not sure if they will get through to their house,so i am am well and truly stranded in dartford at the moment until i find another way to get home tony not keen to come at the weekend so will see about flights or trains back next week, trains seem to be a little bit hit and miss from the west country at the moment so hay ho i am here for now. going out to build my snowman soon in the garden lol!

Updates and OOH Teddy

2009-01-27T12:20:00.003Z

Aunty doreen has had her tests which seemed ok, but i found out last night from my cousin that she has pneumonia and some after effects of carbon monoxide poisoning which is still in her system from about a year and half ago can't believe it is still there, i urge anyone with older relations to purchase a detector for them. Anyway she was due home so we thought, but she had told the doctors that there would be someone looking after her at home as my cousins both work full time there is no way that they can be there so i am waiting to hear what is going on thought it was to good to be true. So i will be on tenterhooks when the phone rings
I am getting a lift up to kent tomorrow as i have meetings with mums hospital to see if she will be coming home next week, been trying to get things in place for when mum does get home she needs a telecare necklace which is an alarm in case of falls but they won't do that until she is home as she has to be taught how to use it, as i am not sure when she will be home so i cannot make any appointments with them to come and fit it! so i think i will be a busy little bee going from place to place this week!
Last week we went to exeter to see Teddy Thompson probably doesn't meen a lot to some of you out there , he is a bit folky, bit country ,bit rocky play his stuff quite a bit. thought we would leave around 1.30 to do a bit of shopping and have a meal out before the concert, bought a lovely new jacket electric blue tired of always wearing dark colours really pleased with it. shopping done we headed for a meal we did an early bird special in a ceoliac friendly resaurant two courses for £13.95 really nice i had leek and feta gallette with truffle oil, tony had beetroot and tomatoe soup followed by slow roasted blade of beef with garlic mash cor it was yummy! The concert was great got to stand right at the front three foot away from the stage oh yea the support act was Tifft Merrit american singer songwriter she was excellent Pete you would have loved her! Teddy was great did all my favourite songs and i managed to get the setlist as well! it was good to get out and forget the worries for a while. a perfect day

Poor aunty Dot

2009-01-20T10:56:00.002Z

Had a phone call from my cousin to say that my aunty doreen has been taken into hospital on sunday evening with swollen legs and could not breath properly, it was such a shock i only spoke to her the week before never said she was feeling bad. It sounds quite bad the hospital have got her breathing sorted out, but of course they would not say to much over the phone as the nurse said " i don't really know who i am talking to" which is fair enough. so my daughter is going in tonight to gage a little more information and to see how she is. Aunty has always been there for me and mum can't bare the thought of her not being around, been crying and worrying the past couple of days. I am booked to come up next week for a meeting with mums doctors so we will see if i can wait until then but if not maybe earlier! It is such a bad time at the moment what with mum and now aunty have to stay positive though.

A little walk

2009-01-18T17:46:00.004Z

WATERGATE BAY

Thought we would have a little walk today to try our new walking shoes which we purchased last week cost a fair bit but should be worth it our last pair lasted for 20 years!. Our little walk took us to watergate bay the sun was shining but the wind was so biting we did not stay to long, but we noticed that the sand had been washed away in many places leaving so many rocks and stones everywhere, in view of all the activities they have at the beach like kite buggying i doubt if they will be able to take place unless something is done to even out the beach.
We have both been under the weather this past week or so sore throats and colds so we just needed to get out for a while in the fresh air it certainly blew the cobwebs away! At least we have not got the full blown flu that some people have had touch wood

Hubby also bought some new BOSE speakers for the dining room they are quite small and fit on the wall so they don't look to obtrusive which was my compromise so we had a musical evening last night to test them out, we played david gray "white ladder" Pink floyd "dark side of the moon" and VAN THE MAN MORRISON " common one" the remastered version that sounded really great.

Family trees

2009-01-14T16:14:00.003Z

Reading petes blog today about the 1911 census being released got me to thinking about my family roots, we have done quite an extensive search on my maternal and paternal sides of the family. anyway in happens to be that my nans side originated in Callington cornwall and also from essex
Now i have lived most of my life in essex and now cornwall without knowing any connections to these places so my theory is :-
1: are our lives mapped out for us even though we don't know it, is it an inbiult sub-conscious we have that draws us to these places?
2: We have already lived before and are acting out the same life in different times?
3: Or is it just fate?

I can hear you PETE chattering and laughing "load of old rubbish" but who knows for sure nobody?!!
Oh yes and we do have a ghost who resides with us here is it one of my long departed ancestors must be said she seems quite friendly!

Padstow Harbour

2009-01-06T21:04:00.003Z

Padstow harbour was frozen over today due to the freezing temeratures. go to "sites i visit" to see the photgraph. So the sea froze over !!
The temperature coming home from shopping at 5.30pm was ~4degrees brrr baby it's cold outside! off for a nice hot chocolate now, hope you all keep warm tonight

Cornish news

2009-01-05T13:37:00.003Z

South west water are considering a trial to see if water quality can be improved ay Roadford reservoir devon/cornwall border by introducing beavers. Apparently their dams trap silt and act as a natural filter and as the beavers work 24hrs a day it is a sustainable source of clean water. The down side to this beavers do great damage to trees one source said that tree canopies will be reduced but any fallen trees would encourage new saplings to grow, and will be a much better wildlife environment when we have beavers around.. A spokesman for south west water said" If we don't do this we face more investment in concrete and chemicals as well as energy to provide clean water over the next 30 to 50 years" Well this has got to be a better solution than any chemicals surely?
Beavers were hunted to extinction in england and wales during the 12th century and disappeared from the rest of the country over 4ooyrs later. They were hunted for their fur and throat glands, which were said to have medicinal properties. Thankfully that has stopped now! Each creature has a useful part to play in nature in my opinion.

Reflections of 2008

2009-01-02T16:08:00.003Z

Taken from our house a view of town and church when the snow was falling

My word another year gone already.

Good things, bad things happy things and sad all happened in one year, probably all these things happened to all of you in one form or another, but here are some of mine.

March: i was finally told i could have my eyes operated on after so many years of being told they were not operable i can tell you it was the most amazing thing for me to be able to see things so well , just to see things that other people take for granted truly wonderful.

May: My holiday to new york i finally got there after a year in the waiting, it was great and well worth the wait

Bought our first digital camera!

June: My best friends daughter gave birth to a son, it is wonderful to see him grow he is so gorgeous such a happy little boy.

Had my other eye op done what a difference that made as i could never see to much from that eye hey i can now !!

Started my blog , still really enjoying it

September: Another holiday to turkey, it was great to get some sunshine.

October: Our youngest daughters 30th birthday, great fun was had by everyone at her party where we were all dressed as her or what reminded us of her.

Went for a long weekend to dorset, such a beautiful county most impressed.

Not all things were so good but i guess you have to have some bad things happen to make the good things even more special.

Most worrying thing has been mum who is still in hospital but how will she manage when she does finally come home, such a dilema for me. an ongoing thing for this year.

It has been wonderful seeing my grandaughters growing up they are all special and give me great pleasure.

And all my friends old and new who each in their way have made this year special

And thanks to all you bloggers out there for sharing so many thoughts and photographs

Lets hope 2008 is a happy and healthy one and may all our hopes and dreams come true

Merry christmas to all

2008-12-22T19:57:00.002Z

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

2008-12-01T14:14:00.003Z

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

2008-11-22T17:40:00.002Z

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

2008-11-04T15:44:00.002Z

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

2008-10-10T16:16:00.005+01:00

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

2008-10-09T18:48:00.003+01:00

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

2008-10-06T18:29:00.003+01:00

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

2008-10-01T15:52:00.006+01:00

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

2008-10-01T15:10:00.005+01:00

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

2008-10-01T11:37:00.002+01:00

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

2008-09-24T14:54:00.002+01:00

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}

2008-09-21T13:45:00.003+01:00

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!

2008-09-05T13:02:00.003+01:00

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

2008-09-01T15:38:00.002+01:00

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

2008-08-29T11:32:00.005+01:00

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

2008-08-28T15:06:00.004+01:00

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

2008-08-28T14:51:00.002+01:00

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

2008-08-27T13:56:00.011+01:00

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

2008-08-21T14:43:00.002+01:00

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

2008-08-19T14:13:00.002+01:00

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

2008-08-18T10:51:00.004+01:00

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

2008-08-17T18:58:00.002+01:00

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

2008-08-14T11:20:00.003+01:00

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 !!

2008-08-13T18:21:00.003+01:00

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

2008-07-31T13:23:00.002+01:00

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

2008-07-28T09:12:00.002+01:00

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

2008-07-17T15:00:00.004+01:00

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?

2008-07-15T11:52:00.002+01:00

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

2008-07-11T14:38:00.006+01:00

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

2008-07-05T21:13:00.007+01:00

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

2008-07-05T18:20:00.002+01:00

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!!

2008-07-03T14:09:00.004+01:00

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!

2008-07-02T10:28:00.002+01:00

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

2008-07-02T10:14:00.002+01:00

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

2008-06-30T13:49:00.004+01:00

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