Afternoon Tea and Sea

Jamie and Phill are in Cornwall for a visit once more, and having been invited for a lovely supper with them last night, I received a call this morning to see if I wanted to join them for a trip to Trengwainton for afternoon tea.

The only stipulation?  I had to ride ’em’ cowboy once more on the rocking horse…. I feel a theme beginning here LOL

They collected me mid morning, and after a little confab for the best route to drive, Sally Ann and I came up with a plan of action.  The quick way there, the pretty way home!

The biggest order for cream teas you have ever seen, soon followed our arrival at the tea rooms, and we all got stuck in.

Then the ill fated rocking horse incident was required.  Who would have thought that I would start a trend when I did this on our last visit!

The pretty drive home took us up high over Mounts Bay, and afforded us some lovey views of St Michaels Mount, and so, of course, we stopped for some pictures.

The boys dropped me home to see to Fred, but not before making plans to go to the beach and watch them in the water.

The National Surf Life Saving Championships was taking place, so there was not much surf, or beach to make use of, but they still had fun I think.

What a lovely day!

Jo Anne

Boogie Board Bonus

Amazingly I didn’t feel to bad from the effects of the plonk from last night, and did my morning shift at work with no problems.

Within a few minutes of getting home, the boys contacted me to say they were in the area.

Time to get the wet suits on!  Both Paul and Mark decided not to go in, and would be the photographers for the day, so Stuart and I suited up and grabbed our boards.

The sun was shining and the waves coming in gently, perfect for a first time boogie boarder.

We met up with Sally-Ann, Simon, Vikki, Ellie, Cameron, Jack and Sara and made our way to the water.

A few minutes later we were laughing all the way on to the sand on the crest of our waves.

It was so warm in the sun that the water felt lovely, and we managed about 2 and a half hours in the water.

Then it was back home for a quick shower, a glass of gin and a change of clothes before heading back for a BBQ that Simon and Vikki had arranged with Sally Ann.

A great day on the beach followed by a barbie. Fantastic!

It was soon time to say goodbye to the boys, who were heading home in the morning.

A hectic couple of days, but such fun!

Jo Anne

 

Old Pals Meet Up

A little while ago an old friend and ex work colleague got in touch with us to ask how we had gone about moving down to Cornwall.

It’s something that they are not yet ready to do, but is at the back of their minds for the years to come…. and as we know only too well, it does take some years of  planning to pull off, and a lot of stashing of finances to help ease the transition from rat race to laid back and “dreckly”

Anyway, they were down here on holiday this week, and we managed to arrange to meet up for a catch up and gossip about the ‘old days’.

We met at the Gold Centre, Treasure Park and had drinks in the cafe there, before heading on down to the beach for a stroll.

The tide was almost high, and we had only a short time on the beach before taking the smugglers path up and over, coming back down behind the surf life saving centre, and back to the cars.

It was a lovely afternoon, and we hope to be able to do it again during their September holidays.

It was great to see you both again x

Jo Anne

 

An Impromptu Family Day

I had to pop out this morning, just as Paul answered the phone to his little sister.

An hour later, upon my return, they were still chatting on the phone…… would it not be easier to pop over I asked!

We were soon all together.  The roast chicken was in the slow cooker for our lunch, and I was mixing a cake batter to go in the oven whilst chatting, and catching up on University updates.

We ate our roast dinner and then decided that as we were all stuffed, it would be wise to walk some of the calories off.

We piled into Priscilla with Fred in the boot, and headed off down to Portreath for a wander on the beach.  The weather was glorious…

Paul had his new camera to practice with whilst Fred watched on, very bemused….

and then gave up to investigate the beach and pools

Sally-Ann and Hamish met up with us at this point….  It took Hamish a moment to realise we were up ahead…

Then it was off the beach and up Lighthouse Hill for a cardiac workout!

then it was a gentle walk down the mule track back to the village

A very unexpectedly full day that was finished with tea and coffee and walnut cake straight from the oven. Lovely!

Jo Anne

Snow Covers England, But Cornwall Shines

Having spoken with Mom earlier today, we have heard that by lunchtime they had already had an inch and a half of snow fall in the West Midlands.

Cornwall, I am happy to report is a balmy 8 degrees, and we have had a lovely walk on the beach with Sally-Ann, Mike and the dogs.

The tide had just started to turn and the waves were cracking for the few surfers who decided to brave it.

Needless to say, the beach was full of dogs and their carers.  I wonder why LOL!

We are so lucky to be living here!

Jo Anne

Winterizing Crocus

Sally-Ann had asked if we could help place a new tarpaulin over Crocus, the boat that they have been renovating.  The wind had dropped a little from the gales that we had been having, and so, today we were going to try and cover her.  Our first attempt had failed due to the gusts, but today we were determined to get the job done.

Having established our plan of action it was all hands on deck (or under it so to speak) and pull the new tarp over her, before lashing the underside with new ropes to hold it all down.

Sally-Anne peered through a hole in the old tarp to point out something to Paul!

Finally, job done, we were all able to head into the warm for a cuppa and a biccy.

Sorry but there are no piccies of the new tarp on, as the photographer was helping out at this point LOL!

Sleep well Crocus.

Jo Anne

 

Final Family Meal

Having had a lovely day in Truro, tonight is becoming quite sad.  It’s the last night we will all be together for a while.

We had booked a table at the Portreath Arms last week just for the occasion.

Sally-Ann and Mike were also joining us, for the big send off.

We had a lovely evening talking of all that had happened during the week, and becoming upset about the time that would have to lapse before we might get to do it again.

Despite the sad reason for the meal, we all had a lovely evening.

Jo Anne

Time and Tide Wait for No One

Another year, another tide race.

We got the times from Sally-Ann and dutifully set off down to Portreath to watch the events as they unfolded.

Needless to say, Pill and I did the hunt for the most gorgeous bloke we could find, who was building their stand on sand castle so we could get a picture of them! Such Fun! LOL

We soon got bored of watching the tide come in over the towers of sand, and everyone went into the water….. well I watched from the side lines as it was far too cold today for me!

I did however manage to jump waves with little Sara, we had a great time shouting, one, two, three, jump!

We took the obligatory group picture of everyone, before heading back home, having said our goodbyes.

Jo Anne

On The Hunt

We are searching in earnest for a car for Paul now, and having spotted something in the local paper, we decided to head on down, before it gets to dark, to have a look.

The car was in Hayle, and as it turns out, not as nice as we initially thought, however the journey home was!

As we came down the coast road, we could see the waves crashing onto the harbour walls in Portreath, and just had to stop and watch for a few minutes.

Whilst there we popped in for a cuppa with Sally-Ann and Mike, so we could fill them in on the search so far, and then we made our way home.

Better luck tomorrow perhaps.

2010 Tide Race

Where did the year go? It's Tide Race time again, and we arrived well into the race, when the castles were getting to the height that may save it's builders and ultimately win them the race.

The gentleman you can see above, was very busy tamping down the top of their castle with a heavy duty metal spade - no plastic beach spades for this team!

There were plenty of people on the beach watching, and despite the fact that we arrived having timed our arrival with the incoming tide, it still seemed to take it's time to come in, and, as the wind picked up, and the chill cut through us, Sally-Ann and I gave up and headed on back for a warming cup of tea, leaving Paul to tell us who had won......

Unfortunately he only lasted 30 minutes more than we did, so we have no idea who the winners were this year!

Good effort everyone!

Portreath Harbour Fun Day 2010

It's Harbour Fun Day once more in Portreath, and I wanted to have a go at selling some cards on Sally-Ann and Mikes front balcony/porch area.

Along with my box of cards, was a lovely rack that held all of Pam's paintings. We could only try...

Whilst Paul and Mike relaxed and watched the goings on from their birds eye view on the balcony, Sally-Ann and I had a wander around and checked out all of the festivities

We were lucky enough to see the animals from Gwen-an-Mor and Feadon Farm. There were many birds of prey, voles, toads, and snakes.

I was fascinated with the snakes, and although Sally-Ann has a terrible phobia of them, she was very brave and got close enough for the zoom on her camera to work, and she got a few pictures of me holding one.

Along with the live animals, were bones of long since dead ones, it was great to see, as it gave us an idea of how large some of these beasts got.

As we returned to the safety and relative relaxed atmosphere of the balcony, the competitions began, firstly with the swimming race

and then the raft race

everyone headed off with great enthusiasm..... I ran along the harbour to intersect them at the cut and spotted an old fashioned Punch and Judy show, which the kids were in awe of....

and finally returned to the harbour head once more, to see who won the race

The guys with the two bath tubs and kitchen sink strapped together just made it to the finish before they sank!

All in all it was a great day, and it wasn't until we started to pack up that the rain started to spot. Well done Mother Nature, you timed it right for once!