Glimpses of the past

I always find industrial landscapes that have returned to nature so appealing. It's hard to imagine how different this landscape would have looked when it was operating as a tin mine.

The Count house at Botallack Cornwall perched on the  rugged cliffs near St Agnes has been on my wish list of places to visit  -we only managed to get there a few hours before we returned home from Cornwall last summer.

There seemed to be glimpses of the past in every corner in Penzance too!

These stunning homes overlooking the sea must have been so grand in their heyday too.

The Admiral Benbow pub is one of the oldest pubs in Penzance and is full of anchors and other maritime artifacts, which have been salvaged from ship wrecks off the Cornish coast over the last 400 years,

Further up the street was a vintage shop. The interior had been set up so beautifully it felt as you were in someone's home. A visit to Penzance is not complete without visiting the Penlee House Gallery and museum .

 In France the impressionist painters of the 1880's started to come out of their studios and paint what they could see around them.Some of the British artists had trained in France,  artists started to visit Cornwall in large numbers in the 1880's. They were so impressed with the changing light that many of them stayed and created wonderful pieces of art. Walter Langley's pictures were my favourite so many of them almost looked like photographs!

"Knitting by Walter Langley (1852-1922)

He was well known for capturing the real scenes of struggling fisherman and their families going about their daily lives. So many of the Cornish villages look so picturesque with their pretty fisherman's cottages, but life for their previous occupants was very hard. I remember reading about a cycling holiday taken around the West Country back in the 1930's. They described the fisherman's cottages as reeking of fish and the living conditions being appalling, such a contrast to the view today.

How many of you enjoyed watching "Poldark" back in the 1970's ? A new adaption of the book starts next week on the BBC. I'm sure one of the stars of the programme will be the wonderful landscape of Cornwall.

Thank you for all the comments last week. I was fun to read about things that have been lost and found by the sea.

Sarah x

Walking on the beach

After a day of cloud and rain the sun appeared as if magic, creating a pink peachy glow, before disappearing over the horizon. It just gave us enough time to walk down to the beach.

This is Eype Beach. It is so good to be able to reach this beach on foot. After a few days with rain the steep footpath we took was a bit muddy and slippy in places. For once I didn't fall over and get covered in mud!

  If the wind is in the right direction we can often hear the waves crashing on this beach from our garden!

I'm afraid someone wasn't impressed with watching the sun set - digging on the beach was much more fun! Hopefully Tavi won't start doing it in the garden too! (It's still impossible sometimes to get him to pose for pictures - here you can see just what I mean!)

Sorry I have been out of the blogging world for a few weeks, I have had the first bad cold of the winter that has taken two weeks to shake off!

I have just read an amazing story of how a wedding ring lost by a Dorset lifeboat man was found this weekend after being lost 6 years ago in Weymouth harbour. Have you ever lost anything valuable at the seaside?

Wishing you a good week!

Sarah x

Planning a garden in bloom

We have visited a few garden centres over the weekend as our plans for the areas of the garden are now starting to take shape.  I was excited to find Sarah Raven seeds for sale in local garden centres. Has anyone else seen them too? I am planning on hijacking at least one raised border for a cutting garden.

I had one previously when we had our allotment, sorry the photo is dreadful, but you do get the idea of the colours. It was wonderful to come home with bunches of flowers. It's not the same as picking flowers from mixed borders, as I always want to leave some behind.

Cutting patch in the allotment in 2008 (mobile phone pictures weren't so good then!)

Raised borders Jan 2015

The cuttings we bought with us are still looking very small at the moment. I also always enjoying buying plants from fellow gardeners, we were lucky to have discovered this plant stall and have already been back twice to buy some gems!

Our local garden centre Groves Nurseries holds the national collection of Viola odorata and parma violets.  As my Granny was called Violet they have always been special flowers for me.

The parma violets are not hardy- the smell as I entered the greenhouse took me straight back to my childhood and those parma violet sweets I used to have! Did you eat them too ? I'm not sure I would like them now as they are quite perfumed.   I have eaten viola and pansy flowers, but didn't realise you can also eat the leaves.The viola leaves are tart. Has anyone tasted them or used violets in cooking?

The parma violets have glossy leaves, double flowers and a different fragrance. 

There were so many  violets it was difficult to choose. I finally picked this one "Fred Morey" to take home with us. This violet was named after one of the seedmen that once worked for Groves nursery. I hope it will do well under the hazels in the garden.

It has been Tavi proof too, as you can see he doesn't understand that borders shouldn't be walked on! With his identification disk he looks like medallion man!

What is happening in your garden at the moment? 

Sarah x

Frosty

 The one day when I wasn't working last week we awoke to a frosty landscape and I couldn't wait for breakfast to be out to capture its beauty!

Although it doesn't look like it in these pictures West Bay has been very busy for the last few weekends, since the second series of Broadchurch started.

I also noticed that there are many cameras taking images of  familiar locations. The blue chalet Britbank below where David Tennant was living has been put on the market for £275,000. It made me smile when I saw an advert, wondering whether David Tennant was also included in the price!

Lyme Regis is another of our favourite locations and on our visit there yesterday we discovered the new sea defence wall that opened last August. It is on the opposite end of the town to the Cobb but still has wonderful views over the sea.

Back in the town more lovely locations to admire........

          and then I noticed this driftwood wreath! That's another thing I would like to make!

I haven't mentioned the two woollen hats that I have recently knitted. The first one (for me) was fine and I was so impressed I offered to make my son one. Unfortunately it turned out so large that I need to unpick it and start again! The frosty morning has reminded me that this must be my priority this week!

Wishing you a fun week.

Sarah x