To Blog or not to Blog...

 ...that is the question!

2023 has seen the beginning of my 'Gap Year'  celebration, beginning in a fantastic way with all the family together here for Christmas!

It was wonderful despite everyone feeling a little under the weather at one point or another - for Phil it was unfortunately on Christmas day when the other youngsters went for the Sennen Christmas dip.

We held our present opening the following day when he was feeling a bit more like himself.

Down at Porth Nanven at the start of the week..

Hilarious card games going on!

That was a lovely way to start the year.

I arranged for some fun things for the golf ladies too...with a swim and 'beverage' at Cape, and a month later a coffee and cake at The Dog and Rabbit, and then a Curry in Penzance where unbeknown to me everyone treated me to the meal!!

Then I headed up to London to see Bridgie and Tim, I always find London a challenge - I am definitely not a city girl, but I did like this reflection when I turned a corner near The Shard!

                                                                       

Then it was onwards to see Francie and Jon. I did all this trip on the train which worked well - maybe if I did it more I would find it more relaxing... but our train services at the moment are unreliable at best. However I will have another go at it as Francie has a train stop just down the road so it is very convenient!

Sisters!

I thought this was a brilliant idea...a lego model of the abbey raising money... buying bricks to build it! It was very impressive!

It was fabulous to meet up with Beth and her family - what lovely children - a real delight - and Francie made pancakes!

Francie Jon and I had lovely walks in National Trust gardens and in delightful coffee shops!! The walled garden was particularly special despite the drizzly rain!

This may sound odd but one of the things I have enjoyed is not always taking pictures on my phone - I have kept a record for the golf ladies for the last 7 years and decided I would take a break from that during my Gap Year, and it's meant I've a limited pictorial record of what I've done but it has been in some ways more enjoyable.

Since the trip to Francie I have had another trip which took me to Bedford staying with Gill in Felmersham and spending a week or so properly catching up with a lovely number of friends. 

I helped Simon stack his logs - not as neat as Jeannie!

Gill and I walked around the gravel pits at Felmersham (in the rain!)

And had a lovely catch-up with Val who I worked with at Lincroft.

I also saw Margo and Andy - Margo is doing well since her kidney transplant; Hilary from The Slip; Paula who I worked with; Anthea our neighbour from Marriotts Close and Judith and Carl who have moved to Aspley Guise. 

I also was able to play the Pavenham course again with Linda and Anne and have some delightful food at The Sun!

So you can see it was fairly non-stop and absolutely lovely!

I met Tim at Bedford station and we drove home together - him doing the biggest leg from just before Swindon down.

Now I'm planning the next trip - to Scotland!

May 17th

 May 17th

First a garden update... the potatoes are doing very well in their bags and I have runner beans on the way and rainbow chard. 

My plants have been a good food source for some little creatures though which has been a bit of a challenge!

The orange and green netting weighted down with old bits of wood is to discourage a cat from using my lovely turned ground as a litter tray! I was not happy!

The mint, chives and herbs also seem to be fairly happy!

Tim headed off back to London and now I have Bridgie here which is lovely.

She is working three days this week but we sneaked down for her to play a few holes...she used to join me from time to time when I first started playing.

Laptop needed plugging in directly to router!

The funniest thing was being on the green for one on the 12th and out-driving me on the final hole!

We had fun!

The previous Friday I went up to Falmouth for a Rules meeting at Falmouth Golf Club which overlooks Swanpool.

The 13th May is a day for lovely memories so I went early and drove round Castle Drive and parked out on the end...

The trees were beautiful

I went on to the meeting (which was a very useful two hour session) and when that was all done I parked down by Swanpool lake and had a walk round to Gyllingvase and back along Maderia Walk.

Across the beach passing the beach huts

Gyllingvase was quite seaweedy!

I then walked up and around the road and down to the path that goes along between two sections of the cemetery.

Madeira Walk - so gentle

Then I walked back for a final look at the beach - the sun was out and it was breathtaking. It was a special day.

We also had a League match up at Newquay - I'd never played there before so it was very interesting!

Our team managed a win too which was an added bonus!

I also played at the Spring County Meeting and somehow fluked a win!

Unlikely to ever win a County Trophy again so I made the most of it!

It has to be said there were only 9 of us in the competition!

That brings us up to date just about!

April 25th!

April!

I guess it is an indicator that things are more normal in that I have  not written anything on here since March 1st!

So it is time to catch up with a few pictures!

There has been some golf when the weather allowed... the fog bank seen below would roll in then disappear again so quite often we weren't sure if we'd be playing!

But it can make for some good sunsets ...or none at all.

Most of you will know how much I like to grow vegetables - up till now I hadn't felt the need to scratch this particular itch but somehow the need returned and I decided to remove one of my Camellia bushes to make a small space to grow some beans and things.

So I cut the big shrub back and borrowed a pick axe from Lindsay and Peter and set to!

It took some days, working in really short bursts, I wondered if I'd actually manage it on more than one occasion but eventually I did!

It took a lot of rocking and digging and rocking again but I won in the end!

It was so heavy!

All done now and I have some beans planted and potatoes in sacks. It's fun to go out every morning to see if I can catch the little slugs who have taken a fancy to the young plants!

Another beauty

The other thing I tackled was my gate!

The bottom hinge had rusted through... so I thought I'd replace it...

I needed Andrews help in the end to get some of the rusted screws out. I painted it with some preservative (we were having lovely weather!) and then decided I'd better replace to top one too because it looked a bit odd!

The top one had even more rusted screws (if that were possible!) and I used rubber bands (quite effective) to try and remove the screws that lost their definition. Once again Andrew  next door came to me aid and in the end we got that bracket removed too.

Now the gate is looking far better and also functioning much better too!

I may, one day, tackle the one in the front garden but I'm in no hurry because the wood supports are completely rotten

Anyway - I felt quite happy by the time i'd finished - it felt like a real achievement!

I have had a couple of golf lessons and we have had our league matches begin again (absent for two years because of Covid) and then we had our away weekend at Dartmouth.

This had also been delayed by two years so it was lovely to go away together again although there were several ladies who couldn't make it because of Covid. 

We had beautiful sunshine for our first day (though it was cold) and a cloudy second day.

Lindsay, Angie and Liz sharing a tipple!

It was really lovely to be away as a group though we really missed our absent friends.

Once we got back home I discovered I was absolutely exhausted and decided I wouldn't play/do anything till I felt better. I don't know if I had anything (I was negative for Covid) but felt washed out. 

Tim returned on the 4th April which was lovely. He is good company and occasionally I get treated to cooked breakfasts!

He suggested my tiredness might be connected with not eating enough protein so I have increased that and have been feeling better. 

In fact well enough to play three days on the trot and not feel too tired after!

I think I have thrown off whatever bug I was fighting and the increased good food intake has helped.

Saturday 15th Keith came down for the week and we had a good time.

The weather was pretty decent although the wind has a chill to it.

One of Tim's challenges was to cook something new every few weeks... so I gave this a go and it was delicious!

Jamie Oliver fishcakes and tasty salads

The day before my three days golf I made lasagne and a chilli so that we'd have some meals ready for Keith...he seemed a happy chappy!

There were two Open competitions in a row and on the second one Frieda's husband bought us all a little bottle of Prosecco!! It was waiting for us on the third tee!

It was such a treat!

And incredibly - even though there were teams of men... we won! We didn't know until the following day but it did amuse us!

A lot of football watching went on!

Bed settee ready for me!

Keith and Tim had a trip over to St Ives on the open-top bus and had a great time...but it was windy and sunny and they both came back a little rosy! 

We also headed over to Gwynver...

...which was beautiful. Frisbee throwing ensued and Tim even went in for a dip!

Tim braving the cold.

Keith headed back on Saturday, Tim took him to the station bright and early but his train had been cancelled! All in all an eight hour return for him, but he got there in the end.

I've had more golf and we've managed to play but the wind has been really chill. Still, it hasn't been pouring with rain.

Tim leaves on Wednesday - it's been lovely to have him here - I then have Bridgie to look forward to next month.

Phil and Brandi had a fabulous trip to Hawaii, and Bridgie and Ben have been to Dubai. Everyone seems to be keeping well.

Margo, who has been extremely poorly for some time is now making good progress. We are hoping she may be able to return home in a couple of weeks time!

All for now!

Oh...and finally... my usual government rant! I wrote to my MP about the government decision to send "illegal immigrants" to Rwanda! He didn't say he disagreed with it but it was the nearest thing to it that I have read...it sounded as if he hoped it would get ditched. 

As for Boris...words fail

And another..

 March 1st

Another month has flown by - a series of pictures for you...

I love the colours and patterns of the lichen

A very low tide at Priest's Cove

Birthday treat!

Playing golf in the wind!

It seems to have been constantly windy and then we had a proper gale. It blew tiles off; trees over and the roof off the Sennen Lifeboat building.

It was so strong I didn't feel safe going out in it until the worst had passed... then Tim and I went down the Cot valley.

Gales blew many tiles off!

It was blowy getting there (though it blew us home quickly!) and the cove was full of foam. The sea was rough but the waves not as high as we expected.

Cot was full of foam!

Crown's Mines
Tim had been planning to catch the train to London to stay with Bridgie and see Keith before he flew out to Barbados (Keith not Tim), but the storms meant days of cancelled trains - the plan to leave on Friday became Tuesday but they did manage to meet up before Keith flew out which was great.

These little daffs hide under my camellias

Most of February has been fairly wild with the wind but when the sun has shone the colours of the sea have been absolutely glorious!

And with an offshore wind the waves became better formed.

Tim was with me until the about the 23rd and I haven't been to the shops for food for ages!

Today the car went to the garage for an MOT - it has to stay in for a couple of things but will hopefully be ok for a while yet.

And then there is Ukraine... unspeakable heartbreak.