Day in the Sun - Lanhydrock

It finally felt like spring had sprung. The sun has been out today and for the first time this year was warm, without a cold wind.
Me and the other half decided to make the most of it and go out for a walk. Well I say a walk, I went in the wheelchair as no way would my feet have allowed me to enjoy the day. My other half is fab though and great about pushing me 💓
It was beautiful going through the woods, lsitening to the birds and the river - Beautiful!!! Can't wait for more days like today...

Miles and Miles - An out of county adventure - Day 2: The BIG city!

Day 2 - The BIG city - London!!

Apart from seeing
friends, the main purpose of this trip or rather the reason for making it
now, was to do a recce for an impending trip to London. The aim to suss out
what is and is not doable access wise in London. To figure out
distances between places the group want to visit.

We started
the day with some lovely warm Croissants provided by our lovely host,
then it was down the road to the Three Bridges train station to catch
the train to London. We purchased our tickets and then hopped on the
9:36 which got us into London around 10:20. London Victoria station was
packed with queues at every ticket point. We must have been here for a
good 20minutes to top up an Oyster card. It was then down to the tube.
Certainly an experience for Cornish folk! From Victoria we went one stop
to Green Park before changing tubes (isn't that just fun with all those
stairs and escalators!) onto the Piccadilly line 2 stops to Leicester
Square. Thank goodness we had the lovely Laura who is a whizz at reading
tube maps etc. Upon exiting the tube station at Leicester square we
decided it was time for a beverage and spotted a Patisserie Valerie -
where we were very good a resisted cakes, just a hot chocolate each.



The
IMAX cinema and M&M world were both on the groups list of possible
things to do and so that is where we headed next. Premier square Or
Cinema land.

 



M&M
World it turns out doesn't open until 12noon on a Sunday and so we took
a walk down to Trafalgar Square to see the Lions etc. admiring the
architecture along the way - there are some beautiful buildings in
London. Interesting street artists including a levitating Yoda.

Whilst
here we decided to make the most of it and have a look in the National
Gallery - heading straight for the Constable, Turner and Van Gogh
paintings on level 2. The other half also pointed out that this was the
gallery Q met Bond, same leather seats and Bond commented that it was a "b****y big ship".

From
here we headed back to M&M world - after all it would be rude not
to! The smell of M&M's as you walk through the door is quite
something, 4 floors of M&M themed products from personalised
M&Ms (colour and wording or logo of your choice) to hoodies,
stationary, PJ's, mugs etc. it was endless. The bit I was interested in
though was the displays or M&M characters in famous poses/or as
famous people.

  

Above: Totally awesome lift.                       Loving the periodic table of M&M's above.

      Well we are in London after all. 

We had done a quick Google the night before to search for comic book shops - its London there had to be a selection. We found that there was in fact a Forbidden planet on Shaftesbury Avenue, which as it happens is between M&M world and Oxford Street (another place on the groups visit list). After a good ol browse of Forbidden Planet, which made the other half very happy (not least because he found the books he has been searching for for some time now), we headed across the street to an Italian restaurant - Wildwood Kitchen. Good food and not too terrible prices for London, I had a delicious Lasagne whilst the others plumped for burgers.

After our sit down at lunch time we headed to Oxford Street, I couldn't believe how busy it was for a Sunday!! You were swept along with the crowd and people were tussling for space in shops. We paid visits to: Hamleys, Lush (I'd seen the construction of their Oxford Street 'flagstore' on a TV documentary and was intrigued to experience it for myself) and I think that's about it tbh - it was just far to busy for us! We jumped on the tube at Oxford Circus and made a swift exit to Victoria Station. Here we sat for a drink and Krispy Kreme doughnut before catching the next train back to Crawley. I have to say it was exhausting!!

Miles and Miles - An out of county adventure - Day 1

I have just come back from a 'little' trip with the other half.

Day 1 - Travelling, Reading, Good friends
We left early (6am) Saturday morning and began the looong drive North East, leaving Cornwall behind by about 7:30 :(
We made a couple of stops along the way including one at Cribbs Causeway (Bristol) and another in Reading (as shock of shocks - we were early!! by about 2 and a half hours - there's a lot to be said for an early start to beat the traffic). 
Whilst mooching (I love that word) about Reading city centre we saw a small procession through the town consisting of 2 large puppets and a band.

After our little mooch and surprise procession we stopped in to see some very good friends of ours and deliver a late birthday present to a gorgeous little boy. We had a lovely afternoon with them in the sun in their garden and enjoyed some yummy fajitas - summer is here!

We arrived in Crawley about 8pm where we would be staying with another super friend over the next couple of days.

When April became May

As well as having started back at 'work' (starting supply work) I also have a few projects on the go right now. It's all been a bit chaotic right now, each day scheduled out, last minute calls from the agency - the nature of the supply beast.

Sock update - my plain pink socks are still a working progress, however I have been spurred on by the addition of two balls of new sock yarn to my yarn stash. I couldn't resist the new cocktail collection by West Yorkshire Spinners 😊 I did however limit myself to two colour (DK - not quite brave enough to go on to 4ply yet). Can't wait to start working with them, however will be a good girl and finish pink socks first. 

Blue Lagoon on the left and Rum Paradise on the right.

Sunflowers - who doesn't love sunflowers?! A friend of mine recently go their own place and during a discussion about the garden the subject of sunflowers came up. So I decided to plant some sunflower seeds and when they are strong enough to be outside, replant them into some nice sturdy pots for his garden.

Seeds ready for planting

All planted

10 days later

The seagull and the starfish - we decided to make the most of the little sunshine we saw at the weekend and headed down to Marizon with our picnic (left over chicken pasta bake, a sandwich and plenty of fruit). We were sat in the car overlooking the bay watching the wind and kite surfers performing their stunts (it was fantastic to see so many people out enjoying the Cornish coast), when this guy flew down and sat on the wall in front of the car. It took us a few minutes to figure out what he had in his mouth! 

Thats all for now. Keep your eyes peeled for at least 2 posts coming very soon!!

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Craft fair, friends and creativity

A couple of weeks ago I came across the events page on the Bedruthan Hotel and Spa website - https://www.bedruthan.com/arts-events/ Initially I only saw the workshops and shared the link with friends asking if they had tried any of the workshops there, it was then I realised the workshops I was looking at were organised as part of the Modern Makers: Craft and Design fair. A road trip was planned with 5 of us going in the end.

It was great to have a mooch (I love that word - mooch) over 3 floors of stalls and stands, artists displaying and selling their work. It was great to see other peoples creativity and writing this the next day I'm gutted I have work later as my brain is overflowing with ideas!

We also booked in on one of the workshops which was fab, lovely and relaxed. We went for the

Decorate a Wooden Hanging Heart Workshop with Lyn Glover. I thoroughly enjoyed it, sharing ideas with others, all starting with the same base but all coming out with beautiful and very different designs. 

Here's mine: 

We already have the Midcentury and Vintage fair in mind for our next road trip in October and of course who can resist a good Christmas Craft Fair in November. 

https://www.bedruthan.com/fairs-at-bedruthan/ 

I also have to say the views were just amazing from the hotel, and such a gorgeous sunny day too. 

Can't wait until next time. Thank you ladies for a lovely day :)

April - Marizion, Mousehole, sunshine and Ice cream

Today was a gorgeously sunny day and so we decided to get out and make the most of it. After collecting the other half from St Austell way, I headed back down the A30, past home. A quick stop for petrol and we carried on down to Marizion, one of our favourite spots.

We love a good panorama

One of our favourite things about Marizion is if its too chilly to sit on or stroll across the beach, or my feet are not behaving themselves enough to allow a little walk, we can park up facing the sea. This means we can enjoy our picnic in the warmth of the car whilst admiring the views of Mounts Bay - the best of both worlds. Don't get me wrong we love the outdoors and try to get out into it as much as possibly, but on clear chilly days or even stormy days its nice to watch the sea from the warmth of the car.

After eating our packed lunch and braving a little sit outside on the wall (boy was that wind chilly), we headed further west to Mousehole for an ice cream.

A little more sheltered from the wind it was nice in the sunshine and even managed to park and walk down into the village - yay for another achievement. Here we indulged in a small ice cream each (well mango and passion fruit sorbet for me - which was delicious!). All in all a lovely day in the sun!

Only a short post today as off to a craft fair tomorrow and may feel the need to write about it later...

Good Friday Sunshine

Now, for those of you less interested in yarn and making things I did promise adventures. With the longer than anticipated recovery from surgery and the damp weather, adventures have been, up until now, rather scarce. But finally I am driving again and the sun is out! Adventure time!!

When I got up yesterday I could see straight away that, as the weather man had predicted, the sun was shining and it was going to be a beautiful day. I couldn't resist and immediately dressed like summer was here to stay. White trousers with blue flowers, black strappy top, lemon cardigan and a light scarf to tie it all together.

Once I'd collected Mr Grumpy (his agreed nickname for purposes of blog), I headed back towards Truro and off West, down the A30. We stopped at Tesco to pick up some healthy bits and continued on our way. Marizon, our usually and favourite spot, was jam packed and so we continued down west, past Penzance. After a minor incident on the way we arrived at Portcurno, down by the museum and not far from the Minack.

The minor incident being someone coming the other way being 2foot out from the hedge their side and me having to pull right into the hedge my side. The result - my passenger wing mirror turned itself in and the mirror part jumped out of the wing and dangled by a wire. Not to worry, with a bit of persuasion I managed to click it back in, and the electronic adjustment dial works.

We parked up and walked down to the beach, the path is fine it’s the last bit on to the beach which is steep. The usual walk way was closed off for maintenance and so we had to go a little further round and come out down the side of the beach which was steep. Its good Mr Grumpy had a hold of me on the way up as he practically dragged me back up, lol.

Our picnic was yummy and after a short sit in the sun (it wasn’t quite warm enough to sit for too long, whilst we were also fearful of sitting in direct sunlight without the recent application of sun cream).

The return journey passed without incident and we soon found ourselves at an old favourite - Hayle Driving range. Where Mr Grumpy can hit balls and I usually, crochet/knit/write letters or just sip on a hot chocolate. Now out of the sun and sufficiently chilled a hot chocolate was definitely on the menu.