A lovely day was spent with my friend who has a narrowboat. It is a work in progress, a labour of love. It's dusty and smokey and full of spiders, nooks and crannies. Chugging down the canal I watched out for canalware art, little floating gardens and enticing names like Margarite and Midnight. Feeling myself being sucked into this other nomadic world of friendly words, folk art and music, nature playing out everywhere. Walking along the towpath we passed a beautiful boat, the owner smiled and halfway down the side was open, displaying her wares. I gasped when I saw it all, painted in traditional patterns, castles and roses and handmade rope fenders. A floating studio, what could be more romantic? They were on their way to the folk and boat festival in Middlewich to see what they could sell. I wish I'd asked to take a photo. With the boat moored up by the pub (in the last photo) we sat on one of the benches while we waited for lunch watching the sparrows and robins hunting for scraps around the beer garden. Good times!
I will be back soon with tales of the camping trip we took to celebrate our anniversary (with a lovely stay in a country house for the day itself) so until then... have a good week!
Some pebble pendants in progress. I've engraved a little wild strawberry flower on one of them since I took these photos. Sitting on the bench in the garden waiting for inspiration to strike, I looked down at all the tiny wild strawberries and white flowers and went to get my tools. Working on the bench in the sunshine was lovely. You can't beat this time of year.
So many things made our holiday in Cornwall special and memorable so in no particular order... a list!- Turquoise ocean on the Penwith peninsula and beautiful white sandy beaches.
- Spotting the naked man on the beach from high up on the clifftop at Treen ;-)
- Gorgeous fishing villages, full of quirkiness.
- The powerfully evocative (and heart wrenching) atmosphere of 'the dry' where the minors would get showered and changed at Geevor Tin Mine. It's preserved just as it was left when the mine closed down in 1990.
- My most favourite smell in the world - the white lichen which grows on the rocks all over the coast - please smell it next time you see any! It's especially fragrant when the sun's shining. I would love to know if anyone else shares my passion!!
- Browsing through the galleries in Marazion, St Ives and Mousehole, oh and Fowey!
- The arty souvenirs we've brought home with us... we fell in love with this Pure 3 Design lamp in the Porthgwidden Cafe in St Ives and decided it was too expensive but then found it for 50 pounds less in a gallery in Fowey and snapped it up!
- Hooper and Shaw in Port Isaac - full of arty crafty handmade things (photo from their press site).
- The view from the apartment over Porthmeor beach in St Ives - we could watch the surfers and there were two old ladies who went belly boarding together very early in the mornings - very inspiring!
- Listening to the waves crashing on the beach whilst falling asleep - bliss!
- Mr P getting stuck in a wetsuit whilst trying it on in a shop - I had tears streaming down my face I was laughing so much! We thought we were going to have to ask for assistance to remove it because it was so tight and it just wasn't budging. The image of him with it round his ankles will stay with me for evermore!
- Watching the 'ansome Seth Lakeman perform at the Minack Theatre!!!!! We were running very late after eating fish and chips by the harbour in Mousehole and thought we'd have to perch ourselves on a rock somewhere right at the back but on handing our tickets to the usher she got on her two way radio and said "Have you got room for 2 more on the front row?"(!!!!!!!) Must have been our lucky day!! It was excellent and a fantastic atmosphere made all the more compelling by the songs which were written about the west country, the sun setting over the ocean and of course the theatre itself, cut into the rocks of the cliff and exposed to the elements.
- Eating fish every night for tea! Lemon sole, dover sole, sea bass, megrim, john dory, cod, hake, mackerel, oh and a bit of crab too.
- Lots of lovely walks along the coast path and the coconut scent of the gorse wafting through the air.
- Cornish hedges so high and full of spring flowers, and the clifftops full of pink sea thrift, wild garlic and the like.
- Catching the passenger ferry from Polruan to Fowey (and back!). It's not a proper holiday without some kind of boat ride!
- Seeing Show of Hands at the Daphne du Maurier festival in Fowey - just completely fab live. Especially Phil Beer with his fiddle.
- The lovebods we found in Marazion at the Avalon gallery (loads of gorgeous art and craft!!). We only discovered later that they were filled with lavender, what a lovely surprise! We picked up a lovely Ken Eardley jug here too.
- Some scary reversing manoeuvres in the narrow country lanes - poor Mr P!
- Spotting lizards, slow worms and even a snake on the coast paths! I don't think I've ever seen a lizard in this country before.
- Drinking cider in my favourite pub in all of England, the Blue Peter in Polperro, last pub before France! Tucked away by the harbour this place has brilliant live music, is filled with characters (especially in the winter) and is very cosy.
If you've made it to the end of the list then thanks for sticking with me!!! I'm sure there are lots more that I've forgotten but I think I'll stop there before blogger has a tantrum!Please share any of your loves of Cornwall, I would definitely keep them for next time... fave beaches, villages, things to do, boat trips, coast walks, gardens... please list them in the comments. All welcome! Thanks!
