A glimpse of summer

We glimpsed Summer this morning with warm tranquillity
spreading across the bay

With the departure of the drying East wind and the first soft murmuring of rain the birds who have been silent for so long burst into song filling the air with their celebration of spring and Summer combined. Arid fields of soft brown earth that we have ridden passed each day, have suddenly sprouted a verdant coating of fresh lime green shoots and this weekend we glimpsed Summer for sure.

By Saturday morning the sea was silky smooth and i felt
I could almost touch Newlyn across Mounts Bay

The old pump that guards a water tank has seen many
seasons come and go

The climbing Hydrangea that clings to this side of the house has
started to shoot

The sun on the upper back door that I like to fling open
at Breakfast time on sunny mornings

The statue of Grace and Angel By Annie Henry

I'm still working my way around the garden gathering the detritus of winter and just reorganising a little - I was surprised to win the "debate" to relocate Annie Henry's sculpture to a lower lawn where it forms a pretty centre piece in a sunken lawn surrounded by foliage plants with a pathway threading away deep into the garden.



The Yuckoides is going to give us a surprise
early flower



Charles walking up the centre aisle of the Italian Garden

By Saturday the weathr had given us that rare promise of summer and we spent  a little time in the Italian garden where it is always a few degrees warmer idly listening to the sea in the cove below Perranuthnoe and the village clock counting the hours but I'm ashamed to say I managed to get sun burnt even in April!

That gorgeous blue sky

One of the paths tha encircle the Italian Garden



The Discuss thrower in the Italian Garden



Every path in our garden finishes with a bench

The Palms have done quite well this winter
in the gravelly well drained soil



And so with our little glimpse of summer an unscheduled walk around the garden - I hope that you have enjoyed it and please think of me weeding away in on the light Summer evenings!

A question of good taste or va va voom!

Gardening and decorating are sometimes a balance of good taste or va va voom. This spring it has been a question of  a) should i plant restful, romantic, delicately interesting, planters or opt for b) all out va va voom! Decisions, decision - what would I feel comfortable with to decorate my life, let alone my garden? and so like most people I opted for a compromise a quick fix of fashionable for the short term and a classic combination for the long term.

For the terrace coming towards the front door, I choose a vibrant mix of spring flowers, only partly anchored by the blue repetition of the err vibrant blue Hyacinths and for an urn that we managed to drag back form the Italian Garden in a wheel barrow, where it largely went un noticed, a frothy delicate frou frou Hydrangea redolent of romantic Victoriana.

I must say that I choose my spring pots after looking at the Easter weather forecast to cheer everybody up after the long hard winter and hoped that they would give the added bonus of filling the evening air with the delicate scent of the Hyacinths. Bright and cheerful I left the bulbs in their original little pots and will distribute them in a rather less technicolour order through the garden for next spring, when they have finished flowering. The  urn however was more of a long term plan - i originally made the little alcove nearly twenty years ago in the little sunken courtyard behind the hall and had always planned to put an urn their one day ......and the years passed and occasionally i would look out of the hall and think "yes urn" and then move on but this year the courtyard has acquired a sightly Victorian air  of mossy ferns and draping palms and again my thoughts turned to planting a centre peace to the halls window view. An urn it had to be and finally my eye alighted on an old urn bought from David Lays sales and driven home in the passenger seat of our old Volvo many years ago and voila a more long term fruition of a restful fancy. (Indecently top tip if transporting an urn - don't! or at least don't rely on draping a seat belt around it as it only tightens when you put the brakes on - lesson learnt!)

So there you have it, a compromise of taste and pizazz - great to kick over the boundaries sometimes but nice to come home!

I painted the mock arches on the wall many years ago
(also myself and the dog)

I've tried to make the little space as interesting as
possible with lots of contrasting foliage shapes

The pretty white Hydrangea

Last years tulips that I planted in the car park have done well again
and really do reflect the light
particularly when guests come in after dark

www.ednoveanfarm.co.uk





The last of the sunshine in Marazion

The silent empty beach just before dusk

We went to Marazion the other evening to enjoy the last of the days sunshine overlooking the silent empty beach. How glorious to sit and watch the waves lapping, in that certain sure rhythm of dusk.  A couple of sea gulls idly landed to squabbling on the sea wall but the evening was too warm for them to continue for long and the went back to seas edge to plod quietly up and down in the fashion of a good gull.

The silent sea shore

Tiny figures still walking the causeway to St Micheal's Mount

The tide slowly rolled in making the Mount an
island again



The gently ripple of the waves as Marazion
basks in the last of the evenings sun



And finally the sunset too far to the right for my plans!

Watching a beach at the end of the day always intrigues me:- the couples hand in hand walking the sea shore; the visitors that stop take a quick photo and then drive on; the last straggles walking the ancient causeway to the Mount after supper; the jogger stretching his hamstrings on the sea wall; all to the silent rhythm of the ever moving sea.

Find us at www.ednoveanfarm.co.uk

This morning was too good not to share!

An incredible blue sea this morning looking down into the village

A date palm set against the sea at ednovean farm

Early morning at Ednovean Farm

The ground is so dry after weeks of no rain

I walked up to one of the top fields to look back
at the mount

The fields are seriously dry here now - those cracks are deep

Such a beautiful morning here in Cornwall I couldn't resist taking a few pics although last night I started an early April Garden album now on facebook - sorry picture overload!

Spud, our little elf of a cat made us laugh this mrong by finally mastering how to use the ladders up to the roof in the barn..........of course descending was slightly embarrasing but gernerally "By George he's got it!"

A wonderful sunset and a "no show"

The Apricot room at Ednovean Farm now vacant!

I took a few shots as I had my camera with me ready
for the sunset

A cosy window seat overlooking the fountain

The Apricot room

Sadly our wait for a guests arrival last night didn't materialise and so I took a few photos of her as i returned to switch off the bedside lamps that I had put on to welcome them.........The sunset was fab though!!

A last look out of the kitchen window

The sunset across Mounts Bay from our garden
last night

Happy Easter!!

Were has the year gone so far - passed in a blur I think but today dawned to beautiful sunshine and just in time Easter was sunny. As our guests returned home tired but happy I spent a few minutes at the end of the garden closely supervised by spud-Cat of course taking some photos of the sunset. I apologise but one sunset is never enough! I can't bring you the gentle lull of the sea from the beach below Perranuthnoe but here are a few moments at the end of the day at Ednovean Farm for you to enjoy and wishing you all a very Happy Easter



a cats work is never done!



Find us at Ednovean Farm Perranuthnoe www.ednoveanfarm.co.uk

How's Cornwall in March

St Micheal's Mount below the garden

Newlyn across Mounts bay through the courtyard gates

Newlyn quarry across Mounts Bay with the froth of the garden palms in
the foreground

So How has Cornwall been this March? Pretty good I'd say looking at the weather reports on the T.V. for the rest of the country. Yes some days have been grey as though a huge grey angel had spread her wings and taken the sun, but dry, with sudden sunny days that have made up for the sullen light.

The countryside is waking up now with banks laced with primroses and the trees bursting into leaf at last. The lanes carry their fair share of tractors racing to work the newly dried out fields and prepare for the cycles of growth that mark the rhythm of the countryside just as surely as the fishing boats put to see from the harbours with relentless regularity. Visitors to Cornwall are in for a treat at this time of year with the sudden flashes of yellow around every corner of the flower fields the unexpected profusion and drop dead gorgeous intensity never cease to amaze after a diet of tiny bunches of buds that creep into the shops - this is the real thing, intensely alive.

There is a little flower field at the end of our lane

So many flowers it is a pleasure to pass the field

orderly rows!

The garden has settled down into new growth and I've just finished my March Album on Facebook and to avoid more battles with blogger to upload pictures please click  to see The Garden n March




The formal parterre in the courtyard in front of the house