Wet, wet, wet!!!

As I sit here typing, the sun is trying to break through! Hopefully for most of the day, but I shan't be holding my breath. !! The French doors in the kitchen are open behind me and I can hear the farmer in one of the fields adjacent to our house. ( I hope he knows something we don't!) I'm having a late breakfast today, I didn't really feel hungry when I got up few hours ago. So, once my porridge is made and eaten I'm off out into the garden. first job, dead heading the roses. Boy, have they taken a battering just lately....

...it pains me when they are battered by the wind and rain...

.... the roses are plentiful this year....

.......we're so pleased with them....

......these are ones which are in the back garden....

.....there are more in the front garden, they are all reds, white and creams. Pictures on the next post! So as soon as breakfast is over I'm off outside...

..and once I've taken care of the roses, I have to paint the Forth Bridge...

.....well my version of it! All will be revealed!!

Cornish Retreat!

We've just had two wonderful weeks in Cornwall. The weather was kind and we only had one really awful day. But the weather never stops us doing anything. Here are a few of the wonderful places we visited...

.......

......

......

.....

.....

....

....

....

......

..... I took hundreds of shots, I just have to sort them and put my favourites in a scrapbook. We stayed one week in Porthleven at a b and b, The Copper Kettle, and for the second week we stayed at a farmhouse on Tregolls Farm in St Wenn. Both were fabulous and wonderful value for money. If anyone wants the details just contact me. Now it's back to reality. I'm raring to go (hope it lasts!) ready to tackle the housework, garden and (hopefully) loads of crafting projects!

Postcard from Cornwall!

St Ives on Tuesday....

Wind, rain and roses.

Just when the roses begin to bloom.... .....down comes the rain...... ...along comes the wind...... ....trying to wreak havoc with your precious blooms..... ...but no matter what the weather...... ...they're still beautiful.... ..and I don't think we'll need to worry about the garden drying out.... .......whilst we're in Cornwall for the next two weeks!

Here comes summer!

The garden is now bursting into life..... summer must be on its way....

........

........

........

........

........

.........

......... at last!

Wild crochet comes to Chatsworth

On Monday we had a day out. The weather was lovely, for a change. We set off mid morning and headed off to Bakewell. Monday is one of the market days, but when we went a few weeks ago it was very quiet. Today was a different kettle of fish, it was really busy. The market was packed with plenty of varied stalls. I think this is the best market I've been to for a few years. I bought some threads and ribbon from the haberdashery, plants and fruit. We also went into the farm shops to see what was on offer, and as ever we weren't disappointed. We then went for a lovely lunch at Byways. We'd never eaten there before and we weren't disappointed. The food was lovely. .... It was time to move on, and our next stop was Caudwell's Mill.This is a lovely place to visit if you've never been. There are local craftspeople making and selling their wonderful work, a gift shop,the mill itself where I get my flours. I always buy my flours and oats from here. We don't make a special trip, I buy my flour in large bags ( enough to last about eight to twelve weeks or so) and then we combine it with a day out. There is also a lovely place to eat here, The Country Parlour Cafe. It gets very busy here, and the food is delicious. If you've never been it's well worth a visit. After a while it was time we moved on to Chatsworth. I must say the house is so much brighter after the renovation work. Anyway, I thought you'd like to see these....

..... these are the big cats which Shauna Richardson has created.......

....the pictures aren't great I know, but taking them through glass on a bright day, I couldn't get a really clear shot. But it will give you an idea of the size of them....

......

......if you want to see more about these big cats there's more information here ........I couldn't resist taking this shot.....

....so green and so beautiful! It was a lovely fruitful day, and it only rained once and that was a quick shower. Roll on summer!

Dales, Lakes and a chance meeting.

We've just been away for a few days. We went up to the Yorkshire Dales and then on to the Lake District. The weather wasn't very good, but, you make the best of it don't you? At our Dales stop we stayed in a lovely b and b in Elslack, just outside Skipton. We hadn't been up there for a few years and we did notice some changes. We went to Grassington on Sunday. It was very quiet, but maybe that's because we'd just had the Easter holidays. There were a few farmers market stalls, but not many people. We moved on to Pateley Bridge for a look round and a nice cuppa. here it was that I saw this lovely lady. She didn't know me from Adam, but I do read here lovely blog, and I just had to stop and say "hello". What an inspiration this lady is! If you haven't read her blog, just pop over and take a look! The next day we went to Howarth......

.....very quiet, as you can see.....

....many of the shop were closed. The Souk was open and some of the tea rooms were. There is actually workmen working on relaying the stones at the moment. What a job! But, as ever I had to go into here....

....the sights, the smells, the treats, the Zambuk. I've been using it Zambuk for years, so did my mum and grandmother. I'm never without it. Over the road was an additional treat....

....ooh, let's get closer......

...we're still not close enough are we?......

....that's better. What a beautiful Jubilee window! ........After spending three days in the Dales, we moved over to Windermere. We stayed at the Hawksmoor B and B and it was wonderful. So friendly, helpful, and the food was wonderful. I would recommend Hawksmoor to anyone and everyone. You won't be disappointed. There are so many places to visit when you come up here, but as we only had a limited time we knew we wouldn't get to visit everywhere we wanted. So I'm afraid, Allan Bank, Dove Cottage and Hill Top have to wait until September. The view of lake Windermere at Bowness is delightful....

.....this was as 4.30pm, you can see how quiet it was.....

........in fact there were more birds that people......

........plenty of boats, if you wanted a trip....

......but the weather was a bit grim....

..... but we didn't really mind. It may not have been weather for taking wonderful pictures, but it was a lovely break!!!