Catching up in Cornwall

Despite my concerns my son and daughter are having a lovely time in Cornwall. On Saturday morning they enjoyed a long walk along the coast path around Trevose Head towards Harlyn. She took this photo of Mother Ivey's Bay looking towards Merope Rocks, that view holds so many happy memories for me, I wish I was there with them. 

Later in the day they went to Padstow and despite the choppy sea they braved a boat trip around the offshore islands to see the puffins and other sea birds. A boat trip on the Jubilee Queen while on holiday has become a bit of a family tradition, but personally I prefer to keep my feet firmly planted on dry land even on the calmest day! I braved the trip once and I was lucky enough to see puffins, but the braver members of the family have seen dolphins, seals, puffins and many other sea birds.

They spent Sunday visiting their grandparents and then their aunt, uncle and cousins. They even visited Windy Ridge, one of my favourite restaurants. Apparently it has been given a facelift since I last visited, they enjoyed their meal very much; another reason for me to visit Cornwall again very soon! 

Dolphins!

Friday 4th June

Another beach day, it was hot and absolutely perfect on the beach. The sea was calm and clear (but still chilly) and Sam broke the habit of a lifetime and allowed me to take a photo of him!

If only we could have another week like this but sadly we will be heading home tomorrow. Robbie was plastered in sun block, he was so white that he looked like ghost but he still managed to get his arms burned and he claims that his ears have caught the sun too!

At tea time we went for a walk towards Harlyn along the coast path. The skylarks were singing high above and as we sat there on the bench looking across at Harlyn so many happy memories came flooding back, we have had some very happy times here. Later in the evening some time after 9pm something very special happened, there were dolphins swimming in the bay, lots of them and we all saw them. I have never seen anything like that before, I don't know how many there were, there were lots, I could hardly believe my eyes.

I love Mother Ivey's Bay, it holds so many happy memories and it is a beautiful place to be, I will be sad to leave tomorrow but hopefully we will be back again next year.

Unmissable!

We spent the morning in Padstow today, Laura wanted to shop for jewellery and Robbie wanted to indulge his passion for pasties. I didn't really want to buy anything, so while they shopped I wandered around taking photos of all my favourite places. We spent the afternoon on the beach, it was lovely, totally still and warm, but just a little bit misty, it was the sort of day wish would last for ever. When we came back up from the beach, I was so lucky to have my camera because a butterfly settled right in front of me and I was able to get some very close shots. I have never seen so many butterflies as I have in the last couple of days.

On the subject of photos, I waited until it was almost dark to photograph Robbie's shorts and amazingly my camera survived! As you can see with shorts that loud there is no chance of losing him on the beach.

Time to Get Up!

As soon as I woke up I could tell it was a beautiful day, the sun was streaming through the bedroom window and when I wandered through to make contact with the kettle the view of the bay was incredible. I went back to bed, but 'Sleeping Beauty' just grunted and went back to sleep, I had no chance of dragging him down to the beach before noon so I left him to it.

I got up, showered, had breakfast, washed a couple of towels and some clothes and hung them out to dry, but still the men in my life were not sufficiently awake to form a coherent sentence. Robbie promised that he would follow me down to the beach in a little while, but he must have been working on Cornish time because it was almost two hours before he turned up. I enjoyed the peace and quiet, I wandered

down to the rock pools and took some photos, then I read my family history magazine while relaxing in the sunshine. I love this place, I can't think of anywhere I would rather be.

Robbie finally turned up to enjoy the beach, but I made the mistake of telling him that my family history magazine was focusing on railway history. He was especially interested in the article about 'Steaming Ahead' the recently opened museum and railway resource centre at Darlington. He said he would like to find out more about his grandfather's work as a signal man. He spent the next half hour working out train times and connections to Darlington. I finally managed to stop him talking about trains, but when I put my magazine down it vanished, I think Robbie must have added it to his collection.

The Seagull Has Landed

The caravan is very comfortable, in fact the bedroom is better designed than our bedroom at home. The bed is comfortable so in theory I should be able to sleep like a log. There is just one problem the local seagulls think our caravan roof is a runway! The roof is sloped and tiled so it is not quite as inviting as when they used to be flat but when a seagull lands it sounds as if there is a horse wearing clogs trotting over the roof. Oddly it doesn't seem to disturb Robbie at all. I mustn't grumble, my mum and step father have to put up with far worse at there house. A number of peacocks have set up home in their village, they land on the roof and clomp about as if they are doing military manouvers and they make the most ear piercing noise that goes on for hours.

The Oldest Swinger in Town

It was a lovely day for the beach today and it was extra special because Sam was able to spend the day with his cousins Charlotte and Jack. Sam enjoyed being the oldest for once and he was able to show Charlotte how to fish in the rock pools, the had a surprisingly good catch, 5 crabs and 8 fish. Jack is only 2 so he wasn't able to help with the fishing but he was fascinated by all the fish in the bucket. Sam loves skimming pebbles and the beach was fairly quiet so he was able to teach Charlotte how to do it. Robbie spent his time on the beach dozing in the sunshine he had obviously decided to conserve his energy for later in the day because when we took the children to the play area Robbie's inner child went wild. Have a look at the pictures and judge for yourself!

A Room With a View

Today was lovely and sunny, the perfect weather for a holiday. When I walked into the lounge and saw the wonderful view of the bay from our window, the world seemed perfect. I love coming here, I think this part of Cornwall is the best place in the world. Robbie was surprisingly reluctant to get up this morning, but when he finally graced us with an
appearance he was wearing red shorts with such a loud pattern that I am surprised he didn't frighten the sun away. We spent most of the day on the beach enjoying the sunshine, Robbie didn't venture into the sea, but Sam swam and I dipped a toe in – it was colder than it looked! I took several photos of Robbie, so that you could get the full glory of his shorts, unfortunately all but one provided a view up the leg of his shorts and I didn't want to scare anyone, so you will have to make do with this picture.































Here is one of the photos I took yesterday evening when the lifeboat came back to the boat house.

After the Rain

Monday was wet and miserable, it rained relentlessly all day and it was too heavy to venture far so we enjoyed a leisurely day in the caravan. It worked out quite well because I had some writing work to do and Laura had loads of revision to keep her occupied so that left the boys free to enjoy the television - such a hardship for them!

Today was a much better day, we went to Newquay in the morning to check out all Laura's favourite shops. Sam had his own ideas about shopping, but the things he wanted were either too rude, too expensive or downright dangerous, so I was not his favourite person. He has his heart set on a new hoody, but we haven't found the right one yet.

When we got back I went for a walk along the coast path, it was such a beautiful day and I never tire of the beautiful views around here. We enjoyed some time on the beach, it was low tide and I watched the children fishing in the rock pools. It seems such a short time ago that Emily and Laura spent hours at the rock pools with Grandad, they would come running up the beach with their bucket to show off their latest catch. Where has all the time gone?

There was an amazing sunset this evening. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Getting There

Friday passed in a blur of activity, we were packing and preparing for our holiday and it all seems to take so much more time than you anticipate. We took Meg to the kennels after lunch, it is not the nearest but it has a very good reputation and Meg seems to like it there, she loves ball games and as long as they play with her she will be happy. The cats are staying at home, Emily will look after them at the weekends and grandma (my mum) will be in charge during the week. Fortunately Dave's eye is better now so he will not need any more medication, that is just as well because he is not the most grateful patient and I don't want mum or Emily to be scratched to bits.

By 7pm the car was packed and the house was more or less acceptable, after a quick meal I retired to bed so that I would be well rested for our early start. The alarm woke me at 2am, bed seemed very attractive but I forced myself to get going, it took drastic measures to drag Robbie from his bed, but after a shower and 3 Weetabix he was a little more human. It always takes longer to do those last few jobs than you expect, and Robbie kept us all waiting, but by about 3.50am we were on our way. Robbie promised to stay awake to talk to me, but he was snoozing before we had left Northamptonshire!

With three slumbering passengers and only a talking book to keep me company I had a quiet drive towards Oxford and then down to the M4. I wanted to make the most of the early start so I drove on until the second services on the M4 before making a comfort stop, they all moaned when I woke them up and turfed them out of the car. After a quick visit to the facilities and a walk around in the cool morning air I felt sufficiently refreshed and awake to continue. Sleeping Beauty was nodding again before we had rejoined the motorway but it was a good drive, I didn't see any road works or traffic cones at Bristol (there is a first time for everything) the M5 would have been better without the multitude of caravans, but there were no delays and before long we had passed Exeter and headed into Cornwall on the A30. At last I could turn off towards Camelford, Wadebridge and the Atlantic Highway, I love that bit of the journey. By 9am we were parked by the quayside in Padstow enjoying a very welcome hot chocolate, for me this is the best place in the world.
We spent the day in Padstow exploring the shops, enjoying lunch at our favourite restaurant and watching all the activity around the harbour. We booked into the caravan at 3pm and by 5.30pm the luggage that had taken almost a week to gather together and pack was unpacked and put away and I could finally relax and enjoy the amazing view across the bay. I will add some photos later.

It is hardly surprising that I was exhausted, but I stayed awake long enough to see Graham Norton's continuing search for a Nancy and then the beginning of the Eurovision Song Contest. I don't usually watch Eurovision, but I really like Andy Abrahams and I wanted to see the British entry. Thankfully it was very near the beginning and after watching several more increasingly bizarre entries I retreated to the bedroom and the relative sanity of Radio 4! That was the last I remember until I was awoken this morning by a yell from the en suite – Robbie had burned his bum on the heated towel rail!