A hint of spring

There was a hint of spring in the garden the other morning with the fresh daffodils pushing from the ground............very soon they seemed to say, very soon.




The tables don't look so cold and lonely beside the courtyard





Everywhere in the garden the plants are starting to make new growth

The new wind turbine that has appeared on Mounts Bay

The pink light of dawn on St Micheal's Mount from our car park

A journey back to summer

With the weather still threatening my mind turned to a super disk of photos that was as a gift from two of our regular guests that stayed with us in the Summer. they have given me permission to post the lovely memories of their holiday here. For more images click here for

Mike Mc Nally

why not visit his lovely site and click West Country for some great arial photos too!- I'll post some more over the next few days though!

A fabulous weekend

Well it's been a fabulous weekend here in West Cornwall with deliciously warm sunny days - so you may wonder why the pictures were taken after dark! Well lunch in the garden takes time (albeit wearing a woolly hat and puffa jacket) and we must get in training with the promise of spring just around the corner. As you can see from the lovely old pump painting, has got to come nearer to the top of our list before the season gets under way but there's always tomorrow, today was too beautiful.

I did drive down to Longrock today taking the bypass and I was pleased to see three buzzards circling high overhead - I hope one is "ours"returned from Buzzard hospital where he was treated for malnutrition and a broken beak. as always I couldn't resist the short cut home through Marazion - now if only I'd taken the camera with me I could show you the happy melee that makes up a local Sunday beside the sea in Cornwall. As I drive through , I love to look at the light catching the silver water of Marazion marshes as I cross the railway bridge - they cut the channels through the reeds at this time of year; then to watch people enjoying the beach on a Sunday afternoon, with cars parked beside the sands just to watch the sea or stroll on the sands. Some days the para sailors (if that's the right term) and the wind surfers ply their dangerous hobby but today it was the turn of the family strollers beside a tranquil sea making that perfect arch of rippling water that it does sometime around St Micheal's Mount. To the landward side, the birdwatchers bristling with camera equipment bustle to and through before the road reaches smaller world of the sand dunes before entering Marazion. No cafes open today with their tables spilling on to the pavements or the pubs in the square, with the diners sitting outside. No, instead today I followed the narrow winding road up between the cottages and the galleries to rejoin the A394 towards home..........alas no camera but as the sun set and the Blackbirds set up their strident lament for the day the moon joined the sunset and was caught for a minute in the spokes of the old pump and just the shortest trip to the house to locate the camera, as a perfect weekend ended.


Ednovean Farm this evening as the sun set with just a perfect sliver of sea behind her on the horizon

Socket A and the DVD's

As the season aproaches it starts to become time to tweek the house, re-arrange, re-decorate and re think and it is at that moment that the gentleman of the household comes face to face with socket a (to be aligned with bracket b etc)

To start at the beginning our DVD collection at Ednovean Farm has become embarrassingly large spilling out of the artful old Apple basket and sundry other containers to resemble uncontrolled heap. A piece of furniture was definitely needed to meet the need but what? A little cabinet caught my eye in Telegraph Home, reduced no less, who can resist a bargain? and even better it was in the sale. Very soon the deed was done and said cabinet, promised to hold 120 DVDs was on its way to Cornwall. .............and that is why Charles is crouching in the hall with that anathema of male life:- the instructions. Admitted the writer of aforementioned instructions, with economy of purpose, had manage to omit the English language altogether, reducing the remit to one piece of paper contain a series of hieroglyphs and oblong looking shapes. Helpfully we found a bag of screws, quite a lot of polystyrene and some pieces of wood contained in the box and so several hours later and only six screws and means to hold the door nob on short, Charles had completed the object! A DVD cabinet.

We hurried off to the guest sitting room bearing our prize and proceeded to stuff DVDs onto the newly created shelving, which be warned is slightly unbalanced with the door open.....................Well we now only have fifty left over so the Apple basket was brought back into commission to take the overflow..................I have mentioned to husband the possibility of buying second cabinet...................!

The cabinet is rather shiny for my taste at the moment but I intend to give it a paint finish in Farrow and Ball colours

A day lent

The Cornish have a saying for a day like today - they call it a day lent - I tend to think because it is a period of respite from the bad weather or is it a case of out of the frying pan in to the fire tomorrow? And sure enough the weather men are growling over their charts again so lets wait and see! But today a mist of dew carpeted the lawn, the sky was blue and the birds sang and I rode over to St Hilary with Danilon our Spanish Stallion to use the school near there, set against a beautiful tree lined valley. Eventually tired but happy we made our way home through the familiar streets of Goldsithney and across the A394 but the morning in the luke warm sunshine was blissful - definitely a day lent.

The thaw

The entrance path from the car park with the lovely old granite sets caught in the low light

Yesterday the thaw arrived here in West Cornwall and with it the postman, who had been confined by 'elf'nsafety to his depot along with the other post men for the last week. Still we were lucky at this end of Cornwall for as the snow receded here, it was falling thick and fast further up the county, bringing chaos to the roads.

Today we woke to the welcome return of the sounds of the sea and with it a balmy 9 degrees reminding us of the promise of spring. The brood mares were able to make there way along the lane once more to join their friends and formed an orderly formation across the front field grazing on the luxury of green grass newly exposed.

I took this snap of the parterre courtyard in front of the house, newly emerged from its white blanket, before setting of to see if we still had a garden this afternoon.



A survivor!! Agave Americana that I left uncovered and slightly battered it has survived quite well

Olley's seat overlooking the Parterre of course - Olley was snoring underneath the Dining room table though.

The lawn is back looking back towards the house

The view to the Italian garden that I snapped the other day covered in snow

Bulbs emerging

I shouldn't have taken this really as it was into the light but I think the effect is interesting behind Perranuthnoe late this afternoon

One of my objects or things that I tend to place about the garden.

Small triumphs

As the icy, snowy grip of winter holds us captive, every day brings a series of small triumphs to our lives - get to the corn merchant to replace the horses shavings - triumph; Lead our stallion Danilon our around the carpark with his legs magically sliding this way and that for ten minutes - triumph; sortie to the village shop for essential supplies - triumph. Just living life, brings a feeling of achievement in the daily markers of success........simpler somehow and relished for each positive moment. Meanwhile our group of horses have settled into their new daily routine and although the severe weather warning triangle that has hung over the weather map for Cornwall, for days has now magically vanished, today, the day still started with steady powdery snow.

The thoroughbred brood mares, Diva and Belle with the diligent accompaniment of Dolly, have long given up the treacherous transit along the lane to join Lizzie and April and potter off to shelter under a hedge each day, mournfully swathed in rugs from head to toe while their stables are cleaned patiently waiting to come in again. Meanwhile, Lizzie and April don't believe in too much fresh air either and as their stable opens straight into the field they are free to choose and and choose they do to stay indoors for the day, hooves tucked into the deep straw only occasionally venturing out from under the overhang to look over the gate- but not too often.



Powdery snow has fallen through the day on the gardens at Ednovean Farm




Charles with one of last years foals Amie who was born in June - confined to her stable by the treacherous ice along with Annie and Archie

and so our day finishes with a feeling of satisfaction for small things that have mad our lives comfortable only to start again tomorrow

walking in the snow

Fallow fields at Ednovean Farm

Another crisp and dazzling day here in West Cornwall, and we were tempted to go for a walk for the sheer joy of experiencing the the magical countryside. The snow crunched deliciously underfoot as we set off across the front field towards Perranuthnoe with the vague idea of perhaps stopping fro a drink at the Victoria inn or visiting the beach cafe. Alas as i slid gently through the bottom gate and looked at the expanse of ice between us and our destination a more prudent course of action was called for and so we turned and climbed the footpath(24) back across the field towards the junction with 25 and turned left at the top of the hill towards Trebarvah.



We stopped at the top of the hill to admire the view back across the fields towards Perranuthnoe and St Micheal's Mount framed as yesterday by the hills behind Penzance dusted by snow.



and of course the lovely old church tower of Perranuthnoe church at the heart of Perranuthnoe village.


We scrunched briefly on to the lane passed the cluster of houses that form Trebarvah before turning through the farm yard there where it was business as usual.

Farm vehicles between the two farmsteads of Trebarvah

A reminder of how hard the work is to produce the vegetables in the supermarkets and of course of the farming industry of West Cornwall

We spent a moment admiring the particularly lovely view back across the fields to Perranuthnoe but instead of taking the footpath back to the village and that icy road home we continued towards the cliffs...........

as the snow came in again the Victoria inn could be seen glowing pink at the bottom of the terraced fields............

and the beach at high tide, strangely deserted. but as the snow thickened we turned back for home revelling in the steady creak of our footfalls as the fresh snow crushed gently under our feet

A White world

Today's post is way too long .............but I hope that you will enjoy scrolling quickly through to explore Ednovean farm and gardens from every corner in the snow this morning and some of the lovely vistas revealed from there, etched in white.

................. The first is taken from across the lawn towards the Italian Garden



and the view through the garden gate to St Micheal's Mount




Mounts bay blanketed in snow




a garden pot an cacti.............not sure if the cacti will survive though!





Perranuthnoe across the fields

with the lovely old church tower framed by the Cordylines



the village again across our front field as the light improved

Perranuthnoe church against the sea

a small allee of Cordylines




the long shadows of the morning across the lawn

The Italian garden the shelter of the hedges are providing welcome shelter for the birds

I'm not noted for my discipline in selecting the shots - ones good twos better................!

or maybe three..............

definitely five!

Let's go in for a minute - the discus thrower

one of my favourite sheltered corners tucked behind the Italian Garden

A viewing seat in the Italian Garden

The little sheltered sundial garden below the Apricot room



and from the steps in the shelter belt to the left of the Apricot room terrace - Perranuthnoe framed by the garden

Looking back to the house from across the garden

and now back to the main terrace in front of the Blue Room and the Garden room

Back into the courtyard in front of the house

Looking across the parterre to a sheltered courtyard where guests like to sit in the summer

the central plaque that we laboriously carried back form our holiday one year!

and now

From the entrance gate across the car park to the house

a view across the roof towards the village church of Perranuthnoe

Looking back out in to the lane from our car park - fingers crossed for our Date palms please

The side of the house

and through the entrance gate to the front door - Ian Lowe our garden designer positioned the hedge so that the Parterre and Second set of Date palms wouldn't be revealed until guest had walked a little further

A pot positioned to make a short vista from the front door across the courtyard

A view across mounts Bay from the top of the farm - to see the horse please visit my other blog Dani's blog

Ryan on Uni holidays who struggled to work today, in the car park/stable yard.

Charles only went as far as the muck heap!