Cornwall

We  went to Cornwall for a couple of nights in April,

taking advantage of a cheap rate hotel package, 

like all the other pensioners!

We stayed in St Ives

which is a lovely, characterful town

and a delight to wander around out of season.

The beaches are excellent

but it wasn't the weather for swimming.

Instead we walked across Porthminster Beach to the beach cafe

 where the food is delicious, and, this being an artists town,

  the walls are decorated with colourful abstracts.

It's a great place to sit and gaze out to sea and there are cheerful red blankets to wrap yourself up in if the weather feels a bit too English.

If it isn't time for lunch you can always fill in with a coffee and a slice of carrot cake!

There is a good choice of eating places in the town

and St Ives is full of art galleries, both large and small.

We went to Penzance to see an exhibition at one of my favourite regional galleries.

The temporary exhibition was "Summer in February,' the title taken from a book by Jonathan Swift about the lives of a group of artists living in the secluded valley of Lamorna.  Many of the paintings in the exhibition, by these artists, are in private ownership, so it was a treat to see them gathered together.  A film of the book has been produced, to be released next month. The story is of a doomed love affair and Dan Stevens, who shot to prominence in 'Downton Abbey', is the male lead. He plays the part of Gilbert Evans. Handkies out ladies, and prepare to weep, there will not be a happy ending! 

The exhibition included letters and personal effects. When Gilbert left Lamorna to work in Nigeria a friend sent the following letter to his mother.

April 1st 1914.

My Dear Mrs Evans

I feel I must write you of our sadness at losing Captain Evans - though it is hard to realise that he is really gone. He is such a dear, isn't he? Everyone loves him and we can ill spare such a good friend from our midst, though of course we are pleased for him to have a chance to get on and all wish him every success.

Major Gilbert Evans (1883-1966) retired as deputy surveyor general in Nigeria in 1933 and returned to Lamorna where he lived with his wife, Joan and their two sons, Tim and David.

'The Morning Ride', portrait of Florence painted by Alfred Munnings.

I bought the book at the gallery but really wish that I had read it before visiting the exhibition.

I bought several postcards of the work on display, this one, from a private collection, is  another painting by Munnings, made in 1912, of Florence at sunset.

The self-portrait with nude, painted a year later by Laura Knight was on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, my favourite London Gallery.

And a painting of Lamorna Cove by Samuel Birch.

After which we drove out of Penzance to Lamorna Cove,

which I have to say looked rather bleak!

What's cooking?

Spring has sprung,

 the grass is riz,

I wonder where the birdies is?

I know where they have been. We had a pair of wild mallards visiting our tiny pond, having a nice time, thank you very much, eating all the newts and stirring up the muck at the bottom of the pond.

I had hoped that they would stay and raise a family but Miss Vanilla, the feline from next door, has scared them away.

What's cooking? 

I've been sterilizing the soil from the auricula pots as I've lost about a quarter of my collection of plants to vine weevil grubs. The only good thing to be said about the pesky grubs is that they are white and therefore easy to spot in the soil. I left the container full of earth cooking on top of the Aga for several hours which I hope has done the trick. "Smells strange" said Himself when he came into the kitchen!

I've

still

got

plenty

left.

Everything is way behind schedule in the garden. Most of the vegetable garden is still bare soil, there are just a few crops sheltering from the wind under cloches. Both greenhouses are crammed with plants waiting to be planted out.

We had four tons of stones delivered as a top dressing for the drive. It has looked very scruffy ever since the garage rebuild. This is how it looked before.

We  scraped off quite a bit of moss and had a bonfire.

The 'St Patrick's Day' daffodils, that usually flower on their saints day in mid March, are looking good. They are a soft yellow, not too strident, and become even paler as they age.

It was a satisfying job to rake the new stones into position. In the evening friends came round and Janet, (the heart expert!) stepped out of her car and immediately bent down and picked up a perfectly heart-shaped stone, the only one to be found in four tons of the stuff!

I'm much better at finding vine weevils.

The tree peony has been in the greenhouse all winter where it seems to be very happy!

Mended

Hurray, my camera has been mended and I can access the photos that I took in Yorkshire a few weeks ago. What a difference a month has made, moving from the depths of winter to the full bloom of spring. Not that it is feeling at all warm as yet, but I am hopeful!
Here, to chill your bones,  are my April photos.

Himself tests the drifts.

Firm enough for me to walk over!

When the sun came out it was wonderful.

We went to the Wyvill Arms for Sunday lunch, where they know how to make a proper Yorkshire pudding.

Just the thing after all that floundering about in the snow!