Happy Christmas

A Garden Frost

Dawn over the next hamlet of Trebarvah



A frost on the Parterre at Ednovean Farm



Each morning we venture out quite early to feed the horses and the other morning it was one of those rare frosty mornings. I took a few minutes to climb to the top of the farm to take a picture of Mounts Bay as the light broke and afterwards to take a few snaps of the garden tinged with frost



Frost and a light covering of Snow over the hills behind Mounts Bay (taken at Dawn) I was a bit too optimistic of the light but do click the photos to see the rare snowfall behind Penzance.






The Italian garden



Looking back towards the house across the frosty lawn

The reason we were out so early in the frosty dawn Diva and friends eating her breakfast

Buzzard or Turkey

The land rover that Admittedly could do with a bit of a tidy up and Passenger


As life has been a little out of routine lately it finally dawned on me that we had no Christmas lunch or anything else for that matter and with house guests for the next few mornings I would never secure that sought after parking place at M&S, unless i went today. Early.
Shopping completed I drove carefully home of the unusually icy roads for Cornwall. All went well until i pulled on to the Marazion bi-pass and a Buzzard came fast out of the road side bushes.......... as i braked the bird spotted me and tried to pull up but inevitably there was a clunk and as the landrover halted, there was the bird, on the bonnet wings askew peering in the window at me. A few cars sped past and then magically there was no one, just me and the recumbent bird. After a few minutes it became apparent that i was the only one there and would have to DO SOMETHING! A glance at the fearsome beak and talons told me that this bird was not to be messed with and it showed no sign of moving anytime soon and so i found Charles new beige jumper on the back seat and gently gathered the bird and put him/her in the car too before continuing home........... Bizarrely I now had one live Buzzard and one dead Turkey ready for Christmas.
My new passenger was happy to sit on the back seat blinking occasionally and soon regained an upright position. Charles's hasn't mentioned the new-beige-jumper but took the opportunity to photograph the bird as he has been trying to photograph the birds of prey for some time.

Which left the sticky problem of what to do with the bird in the inclement conditions when it had lost a few vital hours of feeding. .............Phone the RSPCA! and in time a very nice lady came and examined the bird and has taken him/her to a bird of prey centre leaving an addressed envelope for donations.............I only went for a Turkey!

Sootty

Sootty 27/5/1988 - 20/12/2009

Sadly we lost Sootty yesterday to a vicious attack of colic after a valiant struggle attended by the vets of Rosevean Veterinary practice through the morning. Our thanks to the vets for their prompt compassionate attendance

A winter treat

There was another stunning sunset last night at Ednovean farm. As we brought the brood mares back from the fields my eye was caught by the shape of Perranuthnoe's church silhouetted against the sea with the pink glow of the sunset reflected on the water.




A view from the terrace at Ednovean farm in the final moments of the day

The "oily" currents that form in the bay in settled conditions show as tracks across the water glowing in the sunset.




I walked (scurried) along the footpath towards Trebarvah across our end field and took this in the gateway that forms the junction to footpath 24 and 25

A view over Mount Bay from Ednovean farm footpath

Across the fields from the Ednovean lane

Back in the garden I just spotted this boat on the horizon almost floating in the sunset

A magical few minutes and then back to the stables to give the horses their tea!

The December garden

The garden in December is always a still place full of the memories of the tranquility of Summer. tested by the gales of autumn and now settling down to a certain stillness - a silent waiting for the spring to come again.

Yesterday the low light of winter caught the romantic turrets of St Micheal's mount, seen here, framed in the courtyard gateway at Ednovean Farm and spring felt a little bit nearer. A promise, a silent promise of growth and abundance to come, as we wait through the shadows of the shortest days sent inside by the failing light earlier and earlier each day with the shrill calls of the Blackbirds echoing about us.

Red sky at night

The red sky Over the roof of Ednovean farm

"Red sky at night shepherds delight,

Red sky in the morning shepherds warning"

So the old saying goes and today it proved true

The bottom of the barn that is Ednovean Farm and holds the Blue room framed against the sunset, with Perranuthnoe church just seen and the lights of Mousehole on the other side of Mounts Bay





Perranuthnoe Church tower framed by the sunset over Mounts Bay from Ednovean Farm garden last night



The last sultry glow of red from one of the paths that wind through the garden

................Shepherd delight"

and with the morning of clarity and brilliance came the sunshine, to the joy of the horses that we put in the field in front of the house this morning.





Dolly a young thoroughbred filly examining Mounts bay this morning (Santa brought her rug early because of the weather last week!)



The high sweep of moors to our right




Belle grazing in the front field at Ednovean Farm just below the garden with Perranuthnoe village below

To see more of the horses day why not visit http://danilonpuraraza.blogspot.com/

Dawn

Looking towards ST Micheal's Mount from Ednovean farm garden yesterday

The days grow shorter now with the unwelcome meeting of the dawn into my day but sometimes, when the rossie light from the east reflects across the sky on to Mounts Bay it's magical and worth the early morning just to see St Micheal's Mount tinged with pink and the Clock tower of Perranuthnoe's church touched by the golden light.



The golden light hitting the church clock

If we do not have guests then it is always tempting to linger for a moment watching the young horses scampering around the older ones with mischievous intent. They are generally well tolerated by the old mares though as they watch the antics with good natured tolerance.




Sorry for the blurry photo but is shows Amie in super bug mode!



Amie buzzing around the field



Dolly modelling her new rug


Dolly, last years foal, got an early Christmas present in view of the recent weather - her very own mack otherwise know as a New Zealand rug





Well perhaps chewing the rope is more interesting than having your photo taken after all

Out of the rain

Olley cat supervising the proceedings from a hay bale with sodden rugs hung to dry overnight behind him

After another day of freezing rain, that follows one of the wettest Novembers on record, one of the nicest times of the day remains evening stables, when everything is finished for the day. Then as dusk suddenly falls, the stables are filled with a contented munching, as mangers are rattled and twisted this way and that to chase the last illusive oats and nuts, to hard to reach corners, hooves muffled by fresh bedding.



Sootty who missed his daily constitutional today because of the weather and I forgot my pin number when shopping..........Ah hum




Dani the Spanish stallion shrouded in mane



One of our foals Amie drying out and enjoying a hay feast for the night - you can see the tide mark under her tummy from the rain today

And for us the the early long evenings offer a relaxing soak in a hot bath cocooned within the thick barn walls that until the 90's was also home to the horses.

The closing days of Autumn

Faced with a raw and elemental Cornwall, Olley has taken a wise option and selected a sunny window sill until conditions have improved to the extent to be suitable for a cat. Day after day recently the gales have torn at the land and tossed the sea into a foaming frenzy and day after day Olly has slept - contentedly soundly, dedicated - a one cat mission to shut out the world. A world that has not been our gently tranquil parish but a snarling moaning torrent of noise always at the edge of our hearing - the pulsating beat of the sea from below the village, the steady hum of the wind in the phone lines and the thrashing of a thousand branches dancing in the hedgerows.




Yet still we have constants in our days - the Robin that visited the stables throughout the summer bearing Oats and Barley carelessly discarded by the horses back to his brood conveniently positioned just beside the stable entrance gate. Day after day hour after hour - the frenzied workload of the tiny aviator flitting into the bay tree to be rewarded by a burst of cheeping that brought to mind the rapturous applause of a theatre audience. Now that Autumn is fading he still darts in and out of the stables on his own personal mission to populate the world with plump Christmas robins.



And in the house cocooned in the blissful silent peace of the three foot thick walls I cheered myself up within the first Hyacinths of spring on the stairs windows sill to sweetly perfume our journeys to and through without overpowering our consciousness.

And in the garden the Banana tree that was almost given up for dead after last winter when it was destroyed to the ground. Well today it has sprouted again after a cosseting mulch of Sooty's best discarded bedding and dose of extreme neglect for the Summer - so a gardeners hopes spring eternal and Olley is waiting until Spring!