Gilbert and Stone

Oh, no snow….

Nothing like a bit of weather (or lack of weather) to bring you out of a blogging hiatus! As the rest of the country revels in snowy delight, Cornwall remains resolutely green- just take a look at this screen shot from the all-too- addictive snowuk website:
The green bit in the bottom left corner? That’s where I am, mope -ing by the window searching the skies for even the smallest flake.

I love the transforming effect of snow- familiar places suddenly look different, the sound and light change and the kids can’t get enough of it- No. 1 has to be physically dragged in the house to thaw out. Like most places, Cornwall looks beautiful in the snow- in 2010 we had 4 snow days, almost  unheard of for Cornwall. We grabbed bodyboards and headed for the hills, determined to make the most of the rare treat! 

Although I’ve not been blogging much, I’ve been busy making. My ceramic egg boxes are fast becoming a best-seller and I’ve sent them to lovely customers in Australia, America and Canada (as well as the UK). It’s a lovely feeling to get an order from abroad and know that your products have gone global even if on a small scale! This weekend I’m working on some new button designs, including these little foxes who’ll be popping up in my shop in a week or two.
Enjoy the snow if you can!

 

Perranporth on a sunny evening

Half term was a bit of a wash out, with some strong winds that made me feel for the hardy campers braving it out in their tents. I made the most of being confined indoors by making a start on some Christmas products- they’re looking fab and I can’t wait to show them off!

On Monday evening the clouds parted and blue sky prevailed for a few hours. It was low tide so we hurried down to Perranporth before the rain returned, to take a dip in the saltwater pool on Chapel Rock. It’s a good sized pool, and deep enough to allow you to execute some spectacular jumps from the rocks. Here’s a picture of the icy depths (I’ll spare you the sight of me in my wetsuit!):

There’s also a beautifully clear, deep pool under nearby Arch Rock, and plenty of smaller rock pools to investigate.

It was pretty chilly by the time we’d managed to drag No. 1 away from the water, so we headed up the beach to the Watering Hole for a restorative hot chocolate- much recommended if you’re ever down this way!

What lies beneath

Things have been extremely muddy and dusty chez nous the past week or so. We've been doing some ground works in preparation for an extension on the back of the house, which has meant removing a couple of hundred tons of earth from the garden. It's been an 'interesting' process. For example, whoever would've guessed that 3 natural springs have been slumbering peacefully under our lawn? This soggy discovery resulted in numerous site meetings, long silences and shaking of heads before an elaborate (and expensive) drainage plan was settled on. Why are these things never straightforward?!

 It wasn't all doom and gloom though, it also turned out that the residents of our cottage at the end of the nineteenth century were massive slobs! We unearthed scores of lovely antique bottles, earthenware pots, a broken stopwatch and some old shoes.
There's all kinds of different bottles, my favourites are the grandly named 'Ellimans Royal Embrocation for Horses', Pearce Duffs Lemonade Crystals and a smaller one embossed with a single word 'poisonous' (gulp!) A quick google dated the bottles between 1890 and 1910. They look pretty good in their new home on the kitchen mantlepiece.
On Saturday we escaped the water feature for an hour to watch the Olympic flame pass through St Stephen. Though it was heavily guarded by a crack team in cycling shorts, we managed to get right next to the torch as it was lit. In seconds it was gone, hussled through the village at breakneck speed before disappearing off in the huge convoy, logos and music blaring. 

Spring through the square window

I'm overdue in posting the seasonal view from the window at the front of our house- I've been waiting patiently for a sunny day as I didn't want to dispel the myth that it's always sunny in Cornwall!
One good thing about all the rain is that the plants have gone into overdrive, everything seems so green all of a sudden. That's my cue to sow the less hardy seeds- beans, cucumbers and courgettes have all gone into pots in the greenhouse today.

We heart Heartlands

A new attraction celebrating Cornwall's mining heritage opened near Redruth last weekend- No. 1 had an inset day today, so we headed down to Heartlands to check it out. I’m pleased to report it’s great! The adventure playground is huge and packed with things to climb on, crawl through and slide down, and there are endless smooth paths-perfect for scooting!
The restored mine buildings and workings were an interesting background rather than the focus of the visit, though I’m sure that’s not the intention, and there are a number of small gardens to wander round too, each representing an area of the world Cornish miners emigrated to.  And best of all, it’s free to get in!

Another interesting feature are the workshops and galleries- at the moment there are only a few occupied, hopefully they'll soon be all be filled with creative people selling lovely things.

I’m sure we’ll be spending more time here- I’m liking the idea of a morning here, followed by lunch at the Blue Bar (yum) and a wander on Porthtowan beach.

 

Can you tell what it is yet?

Most of my ideas for new bits and pieces come to me in the wee small hours when I can’t get back to sleep- I've been turning this one over between the hours of 3am and 4am for the past couple of days. This afternoon I grabbed clay and tools, sat in front of Google maps and set to work ‘experimenting’. I’m pretty chuffed with how it’s going so far- but can you tell what it is?!

Wet and windy half term

February half term turned out to be pretty cold and wet, but we still managed to get out and about most days. That’s another great thing about living in Cornwall, there’s plenty to do no matter what the weather throws at you.

I love wintry walks on the beach, so we headed on down to Watergate Bay and watched the stormy waves and clouds roll in from the Atlantic. No 1 was very interested in the various flotsam that had washed up on the beach (including a manky dead seagull- nice!) and, after an hour or so pottering along the beach, we retreated to the Beach Hut for some of their famous ‘Extreme Hot Chocolate’, which comes piled with whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate buttons and sprinkles- it would definitely win an award for the most calories crammed into a cup!

The funky I Love Cornwall website has some more suggestions of gorgeous beaches to visit when the weather's at its wildest- take a look and get your wellies on!

 

 

Winter finally arrives in Cornwall!

After a couple of ridiculously warm months (it was 13 degrees here on Christmas Day), it’s lovely to have a real taste of winter. This morning was the start of one of those glorious, blue sky, frosty days:

In front of our house is a boggy field of stunted trees, grass and weeds, which doesn’t sound particularly appealing, but it shows off the changing seasons so well- blossom and new buds in spring, greenery in summer and golden browns in autumn. Winter’s definitely my fave though- sculptural branches and seed heads coated in frost seem extra beautiful when you’re snuggled warm by the fire!