Winter days in our courtyard garden

Is it me or does the winter seem quite long this year? I know I'm already dreaming of summer now. One thing that never fails to cheer me up is our Mediterranean inspired courtyard garden that we made in the old farmyard just looking at the Date Palms always cheers me up every morning as I open the blinds.

The fig trees that line the courtyard are bare now of course but they already have fat buds forming to give a gentle hint of the spring days to come and let me dream just a little bit of the warm mellow summer days to come when they will agian with their deep green glossy leaves that hide sweet fruits in their midst.

Today at Ednovean Farm

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It was only a simple white flower pale and ethereal - almost too delicate to survive but it brightened up my morning as I hung the washing out this morning.

Over the years I've learnt to put the spring flowers near to the house in the places I'm likely to visit the most in the course of a working day when dusk comes early.

So the little supermarket finds, the gifts from neighbours have found a home not in the outer garden where summer days tempt me to linger and wander but in the unpromising area betwixt house,stables and boundary wall. and on gloomy mornings how I treasure their appearance!

Catch up with my last Garden diary here

I've filled a selection of treasured terracotta pots with spring bulbs to put beside the front door

September days

A statue in the Italian Garden at Ednovean Farm

Is it my imagination or has a certain peace fallen over the countryside now? The frantic energy of the nesting birds; the voluminous growth of the plants as they approached the time to seed; the scurrying of the animals as they reared their young - all has settled down now, the race has been run and there is a gentle acceptance that that autumn is in the air.

The echiums once so dramatic have faded to elegant whispy spires shedding their seeds for future generation

In our garden I love the mellow look of the final emerging grasses but couldn't resist one final look back to summer in my final August blog post  to celebrate those bright blousy summer days. I took the snap above this morning as I cleared a bedroom terrace of their al fresco breakfast - It must have been wonderfully peaceful to sit and look down over the garde towards St Michaels' Mount and Penzance!

Breakfast on one of our private bedroom terraces
(sorry everthing else had been eaten!)

Autumn or winter - there's always something new in the garden

I love the way that even if it is late Autumn (or today i suppose I should say early winter) that there is always something new to catch your eye in the garden.  This morning, for instance,  I spotted this glorious Datura flower, on a raised bed, with the sun streaming through the petals with its companion a sweetly scented Mahonia.

If you've been following the Ednovean Farm garden then I've just written my monthly garden diary over at my new blog. Why not pop over to explore a Cornish garden in November

Scattering Rabbits in the May Garden

The vintage West Country apples in our little orchard have burst into bloom



The May Garden has left less time for blog writing this year as i have spent every spare moment scattering Rabbits and gloomily looking at the borders. Little by little I think I have installed some order and I have finally finished my first circuit of the "main" garden with just the shelter belt and the long gravel border yet to tackle. Spud and Ollie have kept me company most of the time as i preened the Phormiium and Pampass grasses of the debris of winter finally releasing their natural movement from the decaying leaves.



The steps that line the side of the main courtyard



The french lavender was a surprise survivor of the winter



Ollie enjoying the afternoon sun

Our "How do you do" little garden between the car park and the house
The English lavender is nearly ready to flower

Our humble Sycamore tree has it's own shady agenda

Ollie Cat sitting by the entrance gate

Spud enjoying the evening sunshine tucked in a Rosemary bush

Our old gentleman Ollie

Out into the main garden

The garden was waiting for me

Some granite left over from building the
 parterre wall made a lovely rustic
path

A step up leading to the sundial garden

I was quite pleased with the twirly whirly box last year -
can i repeat that success!

The house from the car park

The echium is getting bigger and just starting to flower

Sunday was the most magical day with a mirror like
sea in Mounts Bay and not a cloud in the sky

Magic and Bodkin wrestling - the best caption i read for this one on facebook
was "bottoms up" maybe you have one too?!

and not a single picture of my main venture but that was my week - don't forget to check out our
facebook page for local highlights and daily news from Ednovean Farm www.facebook.com/ednoveanbedandbreakfast

Sunset

St Micheal's Mount from the terrace at Ednovean Farm

The wind has turned at last driving away the dirty grey skies and bringing back the welcome sounds of the sea. To celebrate nature laid on a dramatic sunset for us, setting behind St Micheal's Mount. How the position of the sunset has changed looking back into the winter when the sun set much further to the east over the open sea but I took this one from the terrace just in front of the Pink room at the end of my day.
Of course our day doesn't finish at dusk - we always go out to finally check our horses before bed time making sure all is well giving final feeds and topping up water buckets for the night. The night is usually silent a good  time to reflect upon the day and maybe admire the stars.......but the other night the peace was broken by loud snorts from the young horses across the lane - a crescendo, a frenzy or at least a snorting competition. We set off to investigate and Charles remarked "Pigs! There are six pigs there" and there snuffling under the stable doors for fallen oats were six plump porkers under Magic and Archies very noses. Needless to say they were not amused having never seen a pic before in their young lives  and the piggy kind are the equivalent to the boggie man to horses. I must say i felt quite nervous too as aparently they can deliver a nasty bite - they settle for some of Danni's Spillers nuts though. What to do with them though?A few phone calls later and the owner had been located and arrived with a torch and bucket full of rattly pig offerings to temp them home - they were last seen disappearing into the darkness and peace fell once again on the stable yard. So there we have it, the things that go bump in the night after sunset or in this case squeal snort!

Sunset behind St Micheal's Mount framed by the palms
in our garden

End of the day at Ednovean Farm

Spring sunshine and a walk around the garden

The Parterre in the courtyard at Ednovean Farm, Perranuthnoe

The sweet scent of the violets that grow tucked under  the bank of the little lane that leads to our home wafted up to my as I rode home on Danni yesterday and I knew that the promise of Spring was becoming reality. As the day went on it was far too nice to stay inside and I amused myself instead, by taking some pictures of our courtyard where the shadows hung lush and green and the sunshine gently warmed me. Ollie found a suitable haunt on the granite seat that is set as a viewing spot for the courtyard and settled down to warm himself as he supervised my efforts.

Ollie Cat enjoying his favourite granite bench in the spring sunshine

I've stopped seeing that stray solar light - until now that is!

Before long i left the embrace of the courtyard and went out through the gate into the wider garden

The light isn't right to take a photo of the Mount
in the afternoon but still...The courtyard
give way to the sweep of the lawns

stopping to admire the spring Daffodils and the vibrant Tulips that had somehow lept into my shopping basket in the supermarket....Moi???

Spring bulbs below the terrace

The grandly named South Walk because everybody needs a bit of theatre has had a broad path mown in it towards our memory stone that marks the place of so many of our departed pets is flamboyant now with a curtain of Daffodils of course that flatter the old stone gatepost into thinking it may be a sculpture at the end of the vista. I'll set the benches back out so that our guests can admire the sun setting behind the St Micheal's Mount as the season goes on.

A long path cut through the grass in a wilder part of the
garden

I have started some more serious work in the garden this week though shaping the box that forms a rhythmical planting up to our entrance gate - i read somewhere that is is OK to shape box then and really we are a tad busy for it in the middle of the summer season and I wanted the entrance to look smart and welcoming.  But really it has been a lovely weekend for enjoying the spring sunshine!

Our entrance now with neatly shaped box

Beautiful lichen on one of our saddle stones in the car park

I'll leave you with St Micheal's Mount beautiful as always floating beyond the garden and always best photographed in the morning - have a good week.

St Micheal's Mount seen through the sheltering palms
of Ednovean Farm

A little bit frosty

Frost on the Parterre this morning my favorite photo for today

The garden looked this morning as though somebody had shaken icing sugar over it, with a glissening coating of white. I wasn't surprised after listening to the forcast and of course the birds have been moving closer for the last few days,  collecting the oats that horses drop under their bowls. The Robins attention  extends to the moment the feed bin lid is raised,small feathered muggers arriving to collect their dues, it is easier to put them a hand full out on the forecourt, than dodge their flying bodies.

I thougth I might take a look for that special frosty phot but alas they are pretty ordinary but the Spud accompanied around the garden flitting in and out of the cameras range and generally getting in the way - mostly, he is the stray tail retreating out of shot but he did sit trasfixed when a gas gun went off from  neighbouring farm - small white ears pricked, so I turned my attention to him instead! anyway below, so soon after my last garden walk is my impressions from the morning taht icing sugar fell from the sky!

The sundial Garden to the right of the Blue room

The main Parterre in the courtyard

Looking down towards the Italian garden



Inside the Italian Garden - I've covered the Agave up!



Diva ready to go out this morning

I suddenly realised I had a curious audience this morning



Spud the official garden monitoring cat amongst the newly shooting daffodils





Spud outside of the Blue room French doors for the last word in Frost! Brrr