Veg gardens in Heligan

I'm not going to apologise for more photos, I took so many, I was not expecting so many cultivated gardens, they are laid so pretty and full of succession planting, they grow all they require. Northside Dave, you would love to see the well tended rows of different crops.

Hubby with local

They have loads of huge cold frames and old wooden greenhouses, many built along the sunny walls, full of tender fruiting plants and home grown young plants. All the sunny walls had fruit trees and bushes fanned along them.

Love these

It was a bit too early for the cut flower beds, they were planted, everywhere was stunning. Tulips were on their last flush. 

The weather was perfect, dry and hot, some of the lower parts were still a bit muddy, hubby did state he would not have thought to visit, but he was happy to walk around, he took his big camera and tooks loads of photos. I too had my big camera, but most of my photos here are from phone camera. 

Both our car journeys were brilliant, clear roads and no holdups, we did set out for home on Wednesday at 7am, just to beat the heat of the day.

A perfect few days away, Lilly was OK she jumped into my arms when I picked her up, I don't think she was happy being inside for so long. She was straight into our garden where she happily played for hours, later she snuggled on my lap, so I'm forgiven.

Lost gardens of Heligan

 The whole point of this location was to visit the lost gardens, I had seen small visits by various gardeners on TV. Here is the wilder side of the gardens, we spent over 4 hours here, parts looked very prehistoric.

Not so sure about the rope bridge, it was very wobbly as you reached the middle.

The mud maiden was lovely, resting in the woods.

The walk was mainly level, but walking down to the lost valley was steep, the paths had perfect banks with loads of English wildflowers growing, everywhere was so green and lush. Most of the walk back through the jungle was on a wooden bridge, a bit like a boardwalk, looking across and down on the planting, the rope bridge had a one way system which worked. 

After we found a small harbour town, with a pub by the sandy beach to have perfect fresh fish and chips for late lunch, huge portions, well cooked, neither of us ate again. We also purchased some pasties to take home with us, I do love local foods, we had a huge scone earlier at Heligan, with fresh cream and bramble jam.

Cornwall, day 1

Monday we spent most of the day on Bodmin moor, it was a beautiful sunny day with enough breeze to keep us cool. The following are a few of my photos.

Later we popped to Golitha falls, expecting a waterfall, it was a large river with natural weirs, we spent an hour walking along it's banks and then through woodland.

Here money doesn't grow on trees, these coins have been wedged into to cut edges of the remains of this tree.

Hubby wanted to have lunch at Dutchy of Cornwall's garden centre, the menu was not to his taste, so we had a look around and left, it was mega expensive there.

In the evening we went to a small harbour near to St Austell just for a walk, the tide was in and it was very pretty.

We found Bude garden centre and had a wonderful ploughman's for lunch, later we had a cornish pastie, the bakery is very close to our hotel. We did drive to Lifton tulip festival, sadly it had finished the previous day, we did look at the farm shop at Strawberry fields farm. The weather was brilliant, not to hot with nice breeze,  perfect for loads of walking and sightseeing. 

Wales

 We have been away for a few days, back to Wales, staying locally to hubby's sister and brother, our trip primarily to visit hubby's elder brother after all the worry of his health in Spain, who is now back to brilliant health.

 Husband on one of our walks.

Hubby is from South Wales, his home town of Abertillery is full of coal mining history, almost every family had links to the pits.

In his grammar school years, there was a pit disaster at 6 bells pit,  this is a monument to those who never came home. It's only a few years old, set on the old mine location. 

Towering above everything, hubby is in photo for scale, his family had no loss at the time, hubby's dad would not allow any of his older brothers to work underground. Reading the names in the base is really sobering, I'm from Somerset, so this is all very different for me.

Just because it's pretty.

I love dry stone walls, 

and loved this bench.

We are headed for home today, an easy drive, motorway most of the way. Hubby enjoyed seeing his family, we bumped into loads of his school friends, so many people never left the valleys.  Loads of walking, a couple garden centres, and nice meals out, the weather gods were kind to us.

It's been a restful few days, just what we both needed, I check home and Grace each day, our lovely neighbour comes in to feed her and sits for a while. I have been reading your post but sadly not able to leave comments using my phone.

Now back to home life, family and gardens, hubby purchased me a lovely gift for the garden, photo in next post.

August already

This is the final book my sister in law gave to me to read, and the 6th book I have read from this author, she has a medical background, so it features in all her very different stories. This was the best book so far, very different story line which I enjoyed. Book 16 read this year. 

I decided on Tuesday not to go to meet with sign group, many of the ladies are older than me and I did not want to pass on my bugs. Hubby and I drove to Stokes bay for lunch and a walk along the sea front, lunch was fantastic as always, I love having a few nice places to eat out. The walk was sunny and breezy, but enjoyable, we stopped for a while and watched everyone doing their stuff, one lady was swimming. The sea and sky look grey here, they were both blue.

Our coast is almost parallel with the coast on Isle of Wight, it looks so close, the Solent is always busy with vessels of every size. At the moment it's Cowes week, huge in the sailing calendar, Cowes is to the far right on my photo's, but the sailing takes part in all of the waters, it was good sailing weather, and good to watch. We choose our day well, all sailings were cancelled on Wednesday as the winds were too high.  

More felting fun, I got a cheap plastic mould for making daises, I used these yellows, which I have loads of, the petals are too thick, and the centre is too big, but it's a flower. I felted it on some wet felt I made at my day class, but it could have a pin added to the back and be worn. I have my crochet hook out again, being brave and trying something new to me.

Wednesday was a day at home, the winds were really bad, the rain less than recent days, Hubby popped the shelves back on my book case, I didn't put the books back, I wanted the paint to set hard before I filled it, he made a new fourth shelf and made all new side blocks to hold the shelves, all now matching and looking very neat. It will be very handy to have an extra shelf, but it will be already half filled. 

Thursday was laundry day, bed stripped and on the line, the morning promised to be dry, everything dried, but it stayed a dull day, we managed a walk and Pilates was good. 

I have been proof reading my 2020 book, it's not easy reading, George was so tiny and poorly and then as the muck hit the fan in our lives, it's done now, I hope to publish soon, just looking at the hugely inflated prices and hoping for discounts. I am working on 2021, it's a much easier book, and over 20 less post, re-joining the world kept me busy, less time to ponder on things. 

Today, no plans, lets see what the day brings. I have been totally lost on what day it is, so today is the second Friday of my week.

Portsmouth

 We took the bus into Portsmouth, first time for us, we got off at canoe lake, a popular place near the beach, not too busy today, it will be full in the coming weeks.

The main pier, with a funfair at the end, our beaches are all shingle, there are loads of work happening to ensure the beach stays looking this good. Further along the seafront is closed for improvement works.

The very end of the pier was open, normally a spot for fishermen, it was empty and very scary walking over the grids, looking down at the sea, I walked around the edge, gripping the rails, probably will never do it again.

We walked from Southsea into old Portsmouth, stopping for a lovely fish and chip lunch. I adore this area, everything here is just so interesting, this is the narrow stretch of the water, often you see loads of people here when the big vessels come and go from the naval base. Gosport is across the water.

The working part of the shore, I have memories of walking here at 1am on a Midnight charity walk for a local hospice, many years ago, it's much nicer in the daylight and interesting.

Spinnaker tower from a different angle, we are across the water in Old Portsmouth. 

View from the lawns, Southsea has fantastic open spaces, we watched the gardens being weeded, people painting and other maintenance works, getting ready for the busy period. 

Always loads of vessels on the water, we saw Isle of Wright ferry, fast-cat and hovercraft, the huge continental ferry going in to dock, Gosport ferry making the short journey across the water.

We have not seen this before, decided not to got a on this time, maybe somewhere to bring Will.

We had a fantastic day, using our bus passes for the free journey, it was always our plan for a long walk, loads of chatting,  seeing how things has changed. We had lunch and later coffee and cake for our treats, at no point was it hard work, there are many steps in Old Portsmouth, but everywhere was enjoyed at a leisurely pace. 

The shopping centre, Gunwharf Quays is next to the bus station, we stopped for our coffee, popped into M&S outlet, purchased nothing, watched the Royal Marine band play and march around the shoppers. After 12,000 steps we were ready to catch the express bus home, no rain, the sky darkened a couple of times, but the weather gods were kind to us.

This is something we promise our selves we would do more of, with express busses to Portsmouth and Southampton, and the bus lanes through the cities, it's a nicer way to travel, and our bus passes make the journeys free. I hope to take hubby to the older parts of Southampton, along the walls there.