A retrospective of our year at Ednovean Farm

First light and we wake up to a rare snow fall here in Cornwall

I thought it might be fun to put together  a retrospective of our year here at Ednovean Farm and with diligence and discipline, I went through my files with the aim of selecting only on or two photos, to represent each month. Well that was the idea but alas as I trawled through the year more and more photos found there way into my little desktop file until it bulged with seventy photos so, in truth I may have to make several posting to complete my mission!
Still lets start with January when we woke up to an unexpected snow fall and then move on through the spring for this blog and then I'll follow up with Summer and Autumn with subsequent posts....................

Winter and Spring 

starting with
January

The sun setting over Perranuthnoe

A surprise snowfall blanketing the courtyard, in the early morning light

February days

Sunshine in the spare branches of the Luquat
 set under a warm wall

The sun now higher in the sky warms our home and
the Euphorbia comes into flower

The sun creeps higher and touches the fountain
that forms the centre piece of our courtyard garden

March! and spring has truly arrived

Daffodils are grown commercially in #Cornwall and these are just at the
end of the lane where we live - not quite our garden but
 natures garden ever the less

Back in our garden and the business of tidying and taking care
of the winter casualties continues - our log pile to a back ground of
pretty Tete a Tete Daffodils

Spud cat admiring the sunset from the
 lower garden fence

back in the house our B&B gets busier with Daffodils
accompanying the Breakfast table

April days and we start to think of Summer

I planted an old urn (a sale room find) with  a glowing white
Hydrangea, to form a view point out of our hall window,
in the little courtyard behind the house

Irises and box balls springing into growth in our car
park

The fountain plays on

A relaxed selection of pots and self seeded herbs soften
the top terrace of the main courtyard on the approach
to the front door

Well that was our spring last year in pictures - I think I will divide the year up so that I wont make each blog too long - in the mean time do drop in to our daily Facebook page to see my album of the garden year a Ednovean farm

Post by Ednovean Farm luxury Bed and Breakfast Cornwall.

A few moments from my January day

On a day that started with a rainbow

Just a few moments from my January day today, starting with the rainbow that I took a quick snap of as I cam out of our front door hoping to get a better shot from the top steps but alas it melted into the rain. Our day continued.................

The austere light struggling through the clouds throwing the bare trees into sharp relief........................

The moments of dazzling sunshine playing on the old farmyard................................

The entrance to our home I loved the glittering sun shining off of the gravel
and casting strange dazzling rays of light across my little world

and the final gentle glow of the sunset - a moment of peace in the courtyard garden and quiet reflection across Mounts bay with the final glimpse of a fishing boat setting out to sea around the point for the night

The sunset glimpsed from the courtyard

The courtyard entrance gate silhouetted against the sunset

The final moments of the day watching a fishing boat setting out to sea

We live at Ednovean farm with too many horses a cat called Spud and welcome guests for Bed and Breakfast in our home  

So its goodbye form Spud and Me for now - have a great day - sorry Spud cat is a little bit blurred in this one but maybe he is thinking about the weather yes that was the same day too!

Spud Taylor Esq Mouser extraordinary

Summer dreams today in the January couryard

The path that welcomes our guests to the sheltered
courtyard gardens

This winter we've been glad of the sheltered courtyard gardens around the house formed in the year 2000 by garden designer Ian Lowe and maturing now with the years.  Even on a dull day (as above) i always find something to look at in the formal layout created from the old farmyard, the formal layout comes into its own stripped down by winter, dissected by the formal pattern and strictly geometric box hedges and topiary softened by the burgeoning Date palms

Each time we excavated anything at the farm I always hoped to find old flagstones or cobbles and each time I find the deep sticky clay suggested to have originally traveled in front of ancient glaciers and forming an infill between the two granite headland either side of Perranuthnoe. i was a little bit luckier with the granite sets that form this path though - after years of scanning free newspaper adds for just such an item, the day before the path was due to be laid there they were "For sale granite sets!" They form a wonderful welcoming entrance leading to our Parterre d courtyard in front of the house don't you think and the old worn stones catch the light at certain times even on dull days giving the garden a feeling of permanence.

In the summer time the courtyard glow basking in the warmth and light and giving secluded breakfast areas and tranquil memories to dream of yet  when a rare winter frost comes, the structural planting gains new life.

A summer day and the courtyard shines

The geometric patterns of the box

Strictly formal

or wildly romantic?

basking at the end of  a Summer day the heat held in the old granite walls

Looking down on the fountain

Winter frost is rare in West Cornwall

Back to yesterday from my trip along memory lane though - here's  where benches sit under old stone walls waiting to catch the suns rays and host a basking cat and plants wait for warmer days but i hope the little look back at Summer has cheered the day along for you all. We need it sometimes don't you think!

We have lots of separate side rooms (and I didn't notice
the piece of polythene blown in by the storm until now!)

I'm not sure my Agaves are enjoying the worse winter for twenty years!

The Date Palms have enjoyed the mostly mild weather
 though

I'll leave you with one of my favorite plants gleaming in the sunshine
yesterday, after one of those recent vicious showers

Spuds best advice

In case of inclement weather

select a cosy spot

and spend the day dreaming of better days to come

Just some pictures of Spud this morning flying mission control otherwise known as a requisitioned Dining room chair. His first launch at 6.30 a.m was delayed when he encountered rain on the runway or door step but he was bravely able to mount a sourty into the outside world by 7.00 am - it may be brief this morning! Check out our facebook page for my new January garden album- it should still be at he top of the page - I put one there each month - you'll find the older ones to go back through if you click the photos box and then select albums. Have a great day!

As I was Driving passed Marazion Marsh

Marazion Marsh

One of my little habits in life or something a can never resist is to wind my  way home from my weekly shop via Marazion and take a second to swiftly glance sideways to the sinuous stretch of water of Marazion marsh to my left.  And then for an added bonus the beach and Mount to my right, revealed and concealed by the gaps in the dunes,  before climbing up through the village and home. The other evening as i practiced this little ritual, there was a gorgeous golden light over the marsh - this was at about 3.30 and they had been clearing the reed beds, stacking the cut reeds in perfect stooks in an even more perfect timeless scene, with the stretches or glistening water winding away through the golden reeds. I didn't have the camera with me of course and to add insult to injury the workers were leaning on their pitchforks watching the bonfire at the end of the days work with the smoke curling gently away towards Marazion. And that I thought was the end of my wonderful window into a bygone age, a curious flashback to another world and I put the vivid picture to my memory store and scolded myself for failing to get such an evocative scene to show you. Still, when Saturday dawn with such perfect light I popped the camera in the car with my shopping bags "just in case" and turned that way home again scorning the bypass again,  well "just in case" Oh how lucky I was! Firstly to find a parking space between the two stretches of water on a side road and then to find they hadn't burnt all of the reeds but had left the curious patterns to decorate the marsh. Do follow through my pictures below to join my little walk and I do hope that you enjoy them.

I crossed the railway bridge on foot and picked up the pavement that runs beside the road, still gritty with sand and sea weed thrown up by the recent storm and stopping every few feet as another picture pulled at my imagination,  until sadly it  was time to take the road home again and race back to my car. passing the gathering bird watchers walking to take their spot, tripods under their arms ready for the evening show.

My first glimpse showed me they were still there

Crossing the railway bridge I was rewarded by a view across the bay to
Cudden point

I loved the colours and textures

Yesterday was a good day

We woke up to a wonderful day yesterday with Perranuthnoe basking in the
early morning sunshine

Yesterday was a good day or to put it another way the best day yet this year with warm mellow sunshine flattering the landscape. I took so many pictures yesterday - it was as though somebody had finally turned the lights on, so I've decided to decided them into two blogs. Starting with some views towards Perranuthnoe from the farm and out into that oily calm sea. Before moving on to my visit to Marazion marshes.

As the sun climbs higher the lower garden reaches for the light

Looking out from the garden gate down towards
the village

The sea birds spend a lot of time strolling around on the
 front field these days