Our Garden

Today I took the opportunity, whilst the car was parked down the road, to take a few pictures of our garden.


It may not be the prettiest garden in the world, but we are very pleased with it. We don't have much space, and as we don't own our home, we cannot make too many changes.


Having said that, we have made quite a few changes in the eleven months that we have been here. We have painted the garden walls white (they were blue before), and I have created a piece of artwork which now covers some storage space. We have planted up the two corner raised beds, and we brought some potted plants from our previous home.


This the view from our kitchen window (I think it is quite nice):

These are the view from where the care is usually parked:

Mr Pusskins made sure he got in the picture!

The artwork under the kitchen window is my nod at the Cornwall Respect Festival which will happen in Truro later this year. It shows the St Piran's Flag representing Cornwall and the coloured stripes represent the diversity of people living in Cornwall.

I didn't take any pictures of the garden when we first arrived, but this one was taken when the fence got broken (see previous post).

Books & Reading

Before we moved to Cornwall, or at least before I stopped working last April, I was reading, approximately, one book a week. That was because I had quite a long journey to work, and could read whilst I was sitting on the bus and train.

But, since we moved to Cornwall, I have been finding it very difficult to read. Even though I have all the time in the world to spend reading.

That has now begun to change, for two reasons:

The first reason is that a friend gave me a manuscript that they had written and I promised to read it. Although it took me a long time to get started I finally made myself sit down and read, because I felt guilty about holding on to it so long. When I got into it I really enjoyed it, both the process of reading and the story itself.

The second reason is that I have joined a book club. Having read and enjoyed the manuscript, I decided that if I found a local book club then that would encourage me to read more. So the local library pointed me towards Waterstone’s  (a bookshop), which has a reading group that meets once a month. I went to our local Waterstone’s (about eight minutes walk from home) and enquired. They gave me the date and time of meetings so in early April I went along for the first time.  There were thirty people attending (28 women and 2 men including me). I was made very welcome and given a glass of white wine on my arrival.

We then did some introductions and had a discussion about:

A book, which I already had, because a friend recommended it, but which I had only read part of. Anyway it was lovely evening with lots of good discussion and varying views.

The chosen book for the May meeting was:

I managed to read it on time for the meeting. I had never read a Graham Greene book before. I enjoyed it. His characters were very well developed, and I felt it was a story line that could be applied today, even though it was written in 1938.

The book for next month’s meeting is:

Which I managed to read in a week (quite an achievement for me). It’s very good. It is the story of a family in modern day Bombay and explores relationships and personal dilemmas.  

I am now reading:

Which was recommended by The English Writer.

It is a fantastic book, I can’t wait to get it finished.

July’s book club selection is:

The point of all this is to say that I am getting back into regular reading and am enjoying it very much.

There is a lot to be said for turning the telly off and opening a book. Try it!

Trereife House

On Easter Monday Davina and I went to visit Trereife House (of Country House Rescue fame). It was the last day of their four-day Easter Fair. Having seen the house and heard some of its history on the TV program, we thought it was a good chance to see it for ourselves. We had a lovely day.

This is the original front of the house , which is now at the back

This is what they about themselves:

Trereife House (pronounced Treave), a beautiful centuries old family owned Estate, steeped in history, is being lovingly restored by the 7th generation family and is now open to the public.

The house and grounds offer an unforgettable setting for almost any occasion, warmly hosted by the Le Grice family, Tim, Liz, Georgie and Pete and their faithful hound Duke.

The predominantly Queen Anne Manor House, which in parts dates back to the reign of Elizabeth 1, and the formal gardens, are set in rolling grounds, in the stunning countryside just outside Penzance,  South West Cornwall.

More info at:

http://www.trereifepark.co.uk/house/

During the TV program Tim Le Grice comes over as a bit bonkers, he is a bit eccentric, but not bonkers. He is a man who has been trying everything to keep his family home, but mostly his ideas have not worked. But, after Ruth Watson’s input things have begun to change for the better.

Davina in one of the renovated en-suites

We were fortunate enough to join in a tour of the house which Tim was giving, so we met Tim, Liz, and Duke (briefly). Tim gave a fascinating tour. He is steeped in his family history and it was a really interesting time.

The fair was good; we had a bottle of Raspberry cider and a Meze Plate (Falafel Salad) for lunch, which we enjoyed whilst sitting on a lawn in front of the house. The weather was beautiful, so it felt almost perfect.

Thanks to the Le Grice family we had a really good day.

Smiling Monkey

You may have noticed that I have been playing around with my blog, I have changed the design and added some pages.


But the biggest change is that I now have a picture of a Smiling Monkey:

It was designed specifically for me by SilverNikNats, I love it. It means I don't have to use a copyrighted picture that other people use. He's all mine.


Thanks very much SilverNikNats. 


I am sure there will be other changes to my blog. I am thinking about adding a book review page, but that means I have to do more reading!




By the way, thanks to those who were visiting Zoos to try and get me a picture of a monkey smiling, you can stop now.

Tracking Travis

You may remember that towards the end of last November I blogged about Travis, a new born calf, who was delivered by caesarian.


There were concerns about the health of Travis and his mother because of the difficult birth and the fact  that she fell over during the procedure and was prone to infection.


This is Travis about 30 seconds after he was born:

Well, four and half months on I am happy to tell you that Travis and his mum are doing very well.


Here he is:

And just to show you how much he has grown, here he is with his mum:

Ahhh

Isn't he fantastic!