A Trip to Trerice

I am on annual leave today, Tuesday and Wednesday, and wanted to make the most of them.

Sally-Ann and Mike agreed that a National Trust trip was about due, and so, we decided on Trerice House and Gardens as it’s the only property that is open with NT at this time of year in our area.

We drove out of heavy rain in Redruth, up towards the blue skies of Newquay, and the grounds of the house at Trerice.

The sun shone down on us, and after entering the gardens we were rewarded with a view of hundreds of daffodils in the early stages of blooming or fully showing their colours to us.

The grounds were undergoing an archaeological dig to investigate whether the trust could lay a new formal garden.  If the archaeologists had found anything to prove a previous historical garden it would mean that nothing could be done.  Fortunately it seems that nothing was found and therefore the new formal gardens can begin to be planned.

The house itself is 15th century, and although very small in comparison to some other NT properties we have visited, it is very pretty.

The great hall contained a lovely fireplace, remarkable ceiling and suits of armour and chainmail.

We were not allowed to use our cameras anywhere else in the house, however I asked if I could stick my arm over the minstrels gallery in order to get a full picture of the Great Hall.

Having looked around the house, we headed outside to walk the side of it, around to the tea rooms for a coffee and something naughty.  En-route we spotted some lovely flowers.

Having exhausted the house and gardens, we headed on over the the Anne’s Cottage Factory Outlet, and then onto Kingsley Village for a mooch before heading home.

A lovely way to spend a holiday.

Jo Anne

Trago is Tops

Brenda really has the bug for card making now, and wanted to buy some essentials to get her started, with a little help from her craft guru (that’s me!)

We agreed to meet both her and her husband Eric, at Trago Liskeard, as there was also something quite big we needed to get if we could.

Having arrived at Trago about an hour before we were due to meet the others, we headed over to the bathroom department.  We need to replace our bath, as it is badly damaged, and this is the place to find a good quality replacement, very cheaply.

Having chosen, paid for and collected the bath, putting it in the back of Pauls cavernous estate car, we had just put the car back in a parking spot, when I had a text to say that they had just arrived.  Perfect timing.

We had a good old mooch around the craft department, filling Brenda’s trolley with glass cutting mat, craft knife, pokey tool (yes that’s what it’s called!), card blanks, double sided tape and peel off stickers.

We all even managed to get a few other odds and sods that we ‘needed’, before heading off for a quick bite to eat.

It was a great day, that proved to be very productive for all of us but soon it was time to head home. 

Our new bath was right at home in the boot LOL!

Jo Anne

St Ives Holiday

Mom and Keith are coming to join us in May for a weeks holiday,  we have therefore planned it around our own holiday, so that we can all spend some quality time together.

Keith has loved St Ives for years, so where better for us all to go.

I 30 minute drive down there this afternoon meant that we had our static caravans booked, and a lovely coastal drive in the sunshine.

Can’t wait for the holidays now!

Jo Anne

 

Craft Guru At Your Service !

Before Christmas Brenda had asked me if I could show her how to make her own cards.

I’ve been making greeting cards for many years now, but even so was not so sure I would be any good as a teacher.  Never the less, I agreed.

Unfortunately that’s where the story ended as, up until now, due to the problems I’ve had with my chest and the side effects of the nasty steroid tablets I’ve been taking, I just didn’t feel up to doing anything.

I finally started to feel ‘normal’, and with a lieu day owed to me from work for some overtime that I had done, I messaged Brenda to say how about coming over to have a try at making some cards.

Brenda arrived with loads of old Christmas cards that we could up cycle into new card toppers for matting and layering projects, and the kitchen was overtaken with stuff from my craft room.  

The first order of the day however, was to make an acceptance for a wedding card.  Brenda needed something unusual, and I think we managed it.

Then it was time to explain matting and layering, adhesive types and choices, pairings and basically the fact that you can never make a mistake in card making, only a happy accident that can be transformed into something else.

That said, Brenda got stuck in, and was soon engrossed in her tasks.

and soon, a very proud Brenda was able to show off her first card projects.

She did such a great job, and had some wonderful cards to take home with her.

Great day Brenda, thanks for the company x

Jo Anne

 

eBook Dilemma

For a while now, a couple of my friends at work have been talking about their Kindles, and how great they are.

Now, I have to admit that when they first came out I was dead against them.  The only reason is for the whole tactile, holding a book feeling.  Would publishers go out of business? What about the cover artists? Is this the beginning of the end for sitting quietly and reading a paperback on the beach or in the doctors or dentist surgery waiting room.

Having played out all of the pro’s and cons in my head, and by putting the question out there for all of my friends to give their opinions, I decided that this was the way forward for a 21st Century reader.

I had virtually enough money left over from Christmas and birthdays to purchase one, and finally made my way to Tesco to pick one up before I changed my mind!

At £89.00 it is the most expensive book I have ever purchased.  My reckoning is that, with the cost of books in charity shops being in excess of £2.50 now, it would be worth every penny if I could put at least 45 free books onto it before I started to purchase any.

On day one I downloaded 7 free books!

I love my e-reader!

I ordered a really cheap cover online, that has a built in light, and am now able to read at 2am if I can’t sleep, and it doesn’t wake Paul up!

I have to say, I am a convert.

Yes it did take me a while to make the decision, and yes I did have a play with a couple of kindles that belong to friends before I bought one, but it is a great buy.

My handbag is no longer stuffed with a heavy book, and in actual fact, I am carrying around 9 books in total….. a veritable library in my purse already!

Once I have exhausted all of the free books, I shall explore the 99p ones and the Daily Kindle Offer that is available online each day until midnight.

I am very happy with my decision, despite the fact I had reservations to begin with.

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

New Year, New DIY

We have many jobs that need doing around the house, but all of them cost too much for us to afford at the moment. 

The easy fix is to do a job that is 5 years overdue, and that will only cost us a couple of rolls of wallpaper, as we already have undercoat and gloss.  It is also a job that, once done, will make the largest impact on the downstairs. 

Our hallway, stairs and landing.

Since moving in, nearly 5 years ago, we have not touched the hallway, and the gloss work, and plasterboard show it!  It’s certainly not the most welcoming of entrances.

We chose a super fresco wallpaper, that is quite thick, so that it will cover some very bad plaster work and hide some areas that once held coat hooks.  (We relocated them to the down stair loo!)

Last weekend we did all of the undercoating and glossing on the wood work, leading all up the stairs and across the landing and back down again.  (The disadvantage of open plan hall and stairway is the fact you can’t just stop at the bottom of the stairs as the paintwork shows the colour difference !)

This weekend we have spent painting the ceiling, and papering the walls.

Some of the twists and turns were a challenge, but I think that it was worth it.

The alcove that once held a scruffy bookcase and the coats now holds a little occasional table and some lovely pictures.

Before is the above picture and below is the new improved version.

I’m really please with the warm cosy feel to it now.  Well worth feeling knackered when we had to get up for work today!

Jo Anne

Sick and Tired…

OK,  so it’s Christmas Eve, and the postman has delivered an urgent letter.  I am now scared and upset, and have no way of checking out where to go from here.

I shall begin at the beginning……

Back at the beginning of November I picked up a pretty nasty bout of flu, and have just not been able to shake it off.  My chest has been tight and my breathing shallow and painful.

On the 20th December, After 2 separate lots of antibiotics, I called the local surgery and asked for more, and this time they wanted me in so they could check my chest and do a lung function check with the puffa thingy.

I failed all miserably, and was told they wanted me to have a chest x-ray. 

Off I trotted to the little cottage hospital round the corner, where I did the necessary, and was told to call my surgery on Friday 23rd December for my results.

I called on Friday afternoon, after work, and was told, by the receptionist no less, that I had a shadow on my chest x-ray and they wanted me to have another x-ray!  I was to call back after Christmas…….

Panic set in, but after sitting down and talking rationally with my friends and hubby, we decided it was nothing to worry about.

Then, Saturday 24th December,( the point at which I started this post) when the surgery is closed until after Christmas, I received an urgent letter from my GP asking me in for an appointment on the 3rd January to discuss my X-Ray results and the course of action planned.

Needless to say both Paul and I were distraught.  I was convinced I had the Big C, and had him check the mortgage policy for our cover!

Following a really crappy Christmas and New Year emotion wise, I dutifully turned up for my appointment on the 3rd, with Paul in tow for moral support.

The GP  was was horrified that the receptionist had even told me anything, and that no-one has spoken to me on the phone to put my mind at rest.  No it is not anything like what we were thinking.  I have a fatty sack growing around my heart, and they need to keep a check on it.

In the meantime, I am on steroid tablets to try and relieve the symptoms of chest pain and tightness.

I have another x-ray in a couple of weeks, and my course of steroids has just been extended once more.

Is it me, or are all GP receptionists, bloody know it all’s who can’t wait to inflict as much emotional damage as possible in one single telephone call?  They did not train for 7 years plus to make a diagnosis or read an x-ray, so why do they feel the need to think they can give a verdict on something they know nothing about!

Anyway, rant over.  I'm hopefully on the mend, and will update  again when I have my next x-ray results (hopefully given to me by a GP and not an over eager secretary)

Jo Anne