Goodby November

Yesterday November roared towards the winter with what the weathermen described as the worst day of the week - I read in perranlady's blog that gusts of 67 miles an hour were recorded at Lands End. So it wasn't my imagination as I struggled across the field with the Brood mares Hayladge that it was a tad breezy! The girls with horses logic had decided that the front field was the place to be yesterday but would like their hay taken down the hill to the village out of the wind - every other day they have opted for the more sheltered "long Field" that runs back towards the lane but no yesterday in view of the gusty gale they would like to eat in the front field perhaps they were keeping an eye on the construction of the Huf Haus the other side of Perranuthnoe, where a crane teeters precariously in the gale, surreptitiously watched by most of the population - why should they be left out! Ollie and Spud of course retired to the house Spud idly dangling his tail over the landing looking totally relaxed an confident after his home search.

But the first dates are coming up for spring now the Minack Theatre has just published its list of plays for the year - do check to see if there is anything on you would like to watch if you are staying - it is well worth the visit with a view to die for and don't forget the picnic

Porthleven - the far side!

Sunday glorious Sunday and with the chill but captivating sunshine I was able to return to Porthleven and walk the far side of the harbour. As you would expect somebody had still let all of the water out leaving the boats marooned on the shiny silt but in contrast to my visit earlier in the week today the sea had an oily calm in the far harbour.




The houses were reflected in the widening channel of water spilling in with two beautiful swans substituting for the traditional seagulls - well it is Sunday after all.




The boats waited in orderly disarray




The fishing pots were stacked as few fisherman will put to sea on a Sunday still in Cornwall




and the massive brooding structure of the harbour

The beautiful granite structure was well worth the visit alone

A few fisherman

The harbour started to slowly fill hiding the shiny world of channels and silt and as i waited for Charles by the designated phone box i couldn't help but turn my atttention to watch passers by glancing at the bill board - pixels of village life mounted on a wall - long forgotten events but still recorded in the sraps of paper.........

until beep ..........Charles arrived with the trusty landrover and it was time to go home to feed the horses and bed - a half an hours adventure at Porthleven!

All's well

All's well over Mounts Bay this morning with clear skies and a rising surf! I took this snap of the mount on the way into breakfast so quite early but look at that clear blue sky.

The olives are ripening now on the little trees that stand in pots on the Garden room terrace - I couldn't bear to pick them so a photo will have to do.

A waft of eucalyptus

A bronze of a horse standing in our hall

The spring flowers were dancing bizarrely in the autumn hedgerows this morning tossed by the wind and the sure smell that Christmas was approaching - the scent of newly harvested Eucalyptus on the breeze as we passed the flower farms tucked away in the small sheltered fields as of Rosudgeon.

Danni's morning exercise complete it was time to start thinking about our weekend guests, tidying the debris in the garden that builds up every time I look away. Charles was under threat that the lawn needed mowing but luckily for him the blacksmith has come to shoe Danni so they are tucked up in the barn out of the wind. By tomorrow i will race for the supermarket stopping to choose the flowers in an agony of indecision, will it be a red or Apricot or Pink .......maybe clear white and they will find their way on to the dressing tables ready for shhh a birthday i believe. The fountain to fill and the gravel to rake all ready for the weekend and the heady smell of Eucalyptus says it will be Christmas soon.

A delicate dew

Looking back from inside of the Italian Garden at Ednovean Farm

There was a fabulous dew over the grass this morning and I had no trouble remembering whether I had remembered to switch the water off to the horses trough as I could clearly see my footsteps across the lawn. Last night i crept into the Italian garden as the sun set in a cloudless, clear sky, to cover up a couple of our succulents from the frost that was forming in my imagination and i was immediately struck by the romance of the enclosures, shadowy compartments sinking into the night in that timeless fashion of formal gardens - or half formal as ours stays decidedly wild in places!



The raised viewing mound that gives a surprising view over Mounts Bay beyond the tops of the hedges.

Last nights clear sky from our courtyard looking across to the lights of Penzance





This morning all that remained was a fabulous dew frommy perceived threat and in the early light Spud and I set off to collect the reduntant covers from the plants

with the sun starting to slant across the lawn - no the lawn doesn't slope i've tilted the camera again - I think my left arm must be stronger that my right - maybe it will be thought of as a trendy Pic!

April and her colt foal Bodkin

and the Brood mares enjoying their breakfast of Oats and Hayledge above the village as another day starts at Ednovean Farm

A cloud of sparows

I watched a cloud of sparrows land on the palm trees this morning to feast on the new berries from the recent flowering - if I watch the gravel closely I can often find the baby palm seedlings that germinate from the seeds dispensed by the birds.

The morning was unsure to start with - one of these days when the cat looks out of one door and after due thought, trudges back through the house to demand to be let out the of other one because with a cats logic the weather might be better on that side. It is very much the same when planning a day out for our visitors, if the weather hasn't moved on the Penzance coast then a trip over to the St Ives side should do the trick. But today By our breakfast time (fitted in after cats, horse and house guests if we have any) the sun had manged to filter through, casting shafts of light across the room and picking out the grapes on the Dining table to prick my conscience that i really must not waste them. I normally buy the grapes for the weekend guests breakfast and if they aren't eaten make them into a great pud by whipping cream and then folding in some yogurt - next slice the grapes and line a quiche dish, top with the cream/yogurt mixture, sprinkle with brown sugar and then refrigerate for a while to get to know itself!



We were entertained this morning by Spud galloping around the floor, sliding on the rugs and generally bugging poor Ollie who is looking more and more like an enraged Colonel each day!





The problem with the younger generation by Ollie Cat

Hedgerows

The Cornish lanes have been lovely this Autumn and I have started to learn where I am gong to see the "best" strands of berries garlanding the banks. From Danni's back this group didn't seem too high but when I drove down to Goldsithney to collect yet more cat food from the village shop
they seemed way above our landrover..........and I don't like heights! It is The little things mark our route each day and make it special - for instance I was disappointed when I drove to Penzance, around the bypass, the other day to see the traditional Gypsy caravan with the two coloured Vanners tethered beside it had moved on at last. Every time I had passed i admired the old gentleman sitting beside his camp fire with a wisp of wood smoke stretching upwards, the plump horses going about their business of mowing the verge totally oblivious to the traffic speeding past, sheltered by the trees.It was the familiar sight of picture books but surely not real life. But now they are gone, moving on with the old horses leaning into their harness to find new grazing and closing my window into another world. Until the next one opens of course.

Monday

Looking across the garden towards Perranuthnoe


I opened the door this morning to a wall of all encompassing bird song, delightful in the low light of dawn that each day is moving precariously nearer to the time that I have to be out and about feeding the horses. Each day the daylight grows shorter and we enter the womb like state of winter, relishing the time we spend wrapped within the Barns sturdy granite walls.

But back to this morning where the world was shrouded in a mist, cocooning us against the world in a gentle blanket of swirling white. The mares had arrived at the bottom of the garden for their breakfast Diva and Dolly had newly applied a thick layer of mud and as usual Diva refused to eat with the other horses but stood looking mournfully at me until I carried her food over to her in a tub - no wonder she didn't run very well on a racecourse a crowd of other horse would have been hell for her!

Spud-the-new-cat continues to eat us out of house and home and making occasional forays up into the horse's barns overhead beams between meals, often sitting looking down into Danni the Stallions box or wailing mournfully to be rescued because like all cats up is so much easier than down. And that was our gentle day today at Ednovean Farm in the quiet rhythm of winter, a season for just waiting and watching and following the moods of the day.

A walk around Porthlevan Harbour

I hitched a lift with Charles to Porthlevan yesterday afternoon with the idea of taking some photos around the Harbour while he did his chores. Naturally my "great outing" turned out to be a dull afternoon and somebody had even let the water out of the harbour leaving the boats sulking on the glossy mud at the bottom of the harbour but as our German guest say "It is good to change the wallpaper" and i set of along the massive granite construction that has defied the seas and the winter gales for generations
But first i amused myself with a little window shopping - spotting this gorgeous little shop on the hill above the harbour filled with gentle colours and hand made crafts - it even smelled nice - check out the sculpture of a shoal of herrings in glossy tin sweeping across one wall.

Tearing myself away I ambled back towards the harbour and spotted this enticing courtyard just glimpsed under and arch way but no i was there to take a photo of the harbour

The tide was turning and the sea threshed about the outer harbour walls in the far distance with willowy sunshine trying to break through the clouds. i passed Locals gathered in knots mostly with a dog or two, to gossip or watch the haunting waters in the relentless rhythm of time and tide

I spotted the famous Ship clinging to the far side of the harbour peopled by good humoured men in woolly jumpers, with ceilings lined by beer mats

Before turning back along the granite quay lined with orderly houses, I peered dubiously at the unmercifully steep steps into the harbour

but did manage to creep down at least two to take a photo of some of the orderly lines of boats

but I felt the advice that "No jumping off this quay and steps when boats are coming in and going out of the harbour" was slightly waisted on me!

Charles pulled up promptly with the land rover just as I reached the end of the harbour - one more minute and I would have walked to the far side but I happily clambered back into the car and as we took the road our of Porthlevan towards Rinsey I took this one last shot of the sea relentlessly rolling in to the defiant harbour and Village of Porthlevan

A view beyond

Perranuthnoe set along Mounts Bay

I went out to a wild blustery morning with sharp chilly sunshine and white horse dancing across the bay and my eyes were instinctively drawn beyond the garden down into Perranuthnoe village, with the church tower jubilantly crowned by four pinnacles sheltered from the gale.

Our encompassing Olaria hedge that Ian Lowe recommended has formed an unobtrusive if vigorous windbreak sheltering the garden







although our palms were forming the first line of defence this morning as Ian had intended "combing the wind" as he liked to put - i wonder what it is like on St Micheal's Mount this morning with the sea surging around? I think thy are on their Winter opening hours now of Tuesday and Fridayhttp://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/plan-your-visit/admission-fees/ so tomorrow is the day if you are in Cornwall!

A soft morning

We woke up to a "soft morning" here in Cornwall and every bird in the garden was celebrating the day. It is curious how the gentle rhythm of the rain can be almost hypnotic as we go about our daily chores in a world cocooned in low light that only extends to the boundaries of the garden. I hope that it clears for the City of Lights parade in Truro http://www.trurocityoflights.co.uk/ this evening though - the nearest I've ever been is the evening television but it is always nice to watch!

The start of Christmas!! - I think I'll wait until December before i buy a tree but nice to watch and the birds are singing today to!

A wlcome hall

Our hall table where guests sign in and collect one of our brass tagged bedroom keys

I thought i might start an occasional post on "the elements of a home" the little things that sit together almost unseen and make a home special. I started with the table in the guest sitting room the other day and tables seem a good place to start i supppose.



So here is our hall, our guests first port of call - the flagstone floor came from Trader Grey in Longrock I remeber he bounced them off of a pick up wearing flip flops. They were so heavy I couldn't move them at all - now they form a lovely traditional floor that only needs an occasional polish with Johnson's traffic wax or sweep with a broom. The walls are painted with Farrow and Ball's Menagerie and the traditional prints on the walls are by Lionel Edwards from blocks destroyed in the war. The elegant Georgian table was Charles's mothers, now topped by a Laura Ashley lamp, with a sleeping ceramic cat by Tamsin Watson of Tamarin Ceramics and the black pebble was the perfect one that fitted my hand from Stackhouse cove memory of a hot day. In fact our hall is full of memories and fills with the start of peoples holiday too - a busy place and first port of call!