Holidays - Part 2

For the second part of the holidays we were asked if we would like to join some very good friends at a house they had rented near Falmouth. We jumped at the chance and organised ourselves to spend the night with Charlotte at her future in law's cottage near Tiverton. It was a very cold night and this was the garden the next morning

Charlotte, who was now back to normal after her tummy bug also needed to get back to Cornwall to work in that evening so we drove in convoy to her place near Padstow. After  helping her with some jobs, David and I went down to my beloved Constantine beach which was surprisingly busy. It was just lovely to be back on it and walking on the sand, although I did keep my boots on!!

We left as the sun was going down and carried on and got to Maenporth, our destination, just passed Falmouth where a gin and tonic was waiting for us!. The next morning we were delighted to find that from the lounge you looked over to the sea.

Later that morning (New Years Eve) saw us take the King Harry ferry across the river Fal,

We were on the hunt for a little place on a cliff top at Porthcurnick Beach called the Hidden Hut. I had first seen this place when watching Tom Kerridge, who went there to cook scampi and chips. I searched for ages through google trying to find it, and was eventually successful. We followed the directions on their web site parking on the road down to the beach. The Hidden Hut is certainly the right name for it as even as we reached the beach it was hidden until we rounded a corner and then we saw it!

It was heaving, so busy. Everyone was sitting at tables on the cliff top eating the most delicious looking food

We decided that we weren't quite ready for lunch so walked on the cliff top into Portscatho - a lovely
'un-spoilt' place.

Did you spot the cat on the windowsill?

I was delighted to see this little shop, The Sea Garden, I have dipped in and out of Christine's blog during last year. Unfortunately it was closed whilst we were there but it certainly looked lovely when we peered through the window

By this time we were getting hungry so we made our way back to the Hidden Hut and ordered the most delicious soups - squash, coconut and chilli, french onion with brie, and tomato, bacon and bolotti beans all served with the some of the nicest bread buns I have ever tasted.

If you are ever near do go, Simon who runs it spent a long time chatting to us, giving us a real insight into how it all works. Caroline Quentine also went there when she was doing her programs on Cornwall and you can see her here and here.

New Years Eve was a quiet affair with us eating in and enjoying some nice wine. 

We choose to walk (along with many others) on New Year's Day and managed to avoid the rain 

The next morning we woke to blue skies and sun for our final full day, so spent it at Trelissick gardens. The woodland walk took us along the estuary ending up by King Harry ferry, then up through the woods.

It was so lovely we were able to sit out for a coffee and scone

As we walked back to car we got a good view of 'Rapunzel's tower'

It's actually the old water tower which is now a holiday tower? well you can rent it from the National Trust. I rather fancy that but you'd need to be fit as it's on 4 floors.

Saturday was leaving day and Charlotte and Angus had asked us to meet them for lunch at a mystery destination near Totnes, so we followed the satnav and ended up here - the Riverford Field Kitchen. 

What another fabulous eating place. You are seated on long tables, sharing with strangers who quickly join in with the conversation. It's a set menu, everyone being served at the same time. Sharing platters and big dishes are put on the table to be passed round. To choose your desert you are invited to go up to part of the kitchen and choose

It was a lovely way to end  the holidays, the only drawback for us was we then had 270 miles to drive home.

I really enjoyed the Christmas holidays and feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family and friends who made it so memorable. 

Holiday best bits- Part 1

A very Happy New Year to you all!

I hope you had a good one and 2015 brings you good health and much happiness.

Well the holidays are over and later today I will be off to work, quite nice to have yesterday to finish all the clearing up. We got all the decorations back in the loft and it is now back to it's tidy state up there. I can't see the point of getting decoration boxes down, unpacking them and then putting them back up tidily when you have to get them down again a couple of weeks later. Plus there is always something else I need out of them at some point. So they get left right in the middle of our walking space till Christmas is over which in turn has the knock on effect that anyone who needs anything from up there leaves a mess too. However it is now a pleasure to go up there.

We have had a lovely time during the last weeks with all the children here (although briefly). We wanted to cook a special meal for the five of us and I decided I should overcome my fears and cook beef wellington. Having bought the fillet steak which cost me more than our turkey this year I scoured the internet for tips on cooking it and combined several recipes to produce this

 It was (even though I say it myself) gorgeous. I was so proud of getting it just right, Jonathan declared it was the best meal he had ever eaten. It was easy to do and I'll not be worried about doing it again. We had Terry's chocolate cheesecake for desert (you can find it here) which was again easy to do. Washed down with a rather nice bottle of Roija and the meal was a success.

Unfortunately Charlotte departed for Devon the next day (Xmas eve) and although planned to come back up  on the 27th caught that tummy bug and never made it. We continued our celebrations with Becky and Tom joining us for Christmas dinner

the highlight of the meal being when the holly on top of the Xmas pudding went up in flames and set the smoke alarm off

by the end of the dinner the kitchen ended up looking like a disaster area 

You can't believe how much clearing up there is after one meal, but with the departure of Becky and Tom (who were having a party that night) and Jonathan who was going to it we set to and got it done.

Boxing day was quieter and of course as you know from my previous post we had the snow. We got chance to go out walking in it on the 27th, meeting Joanthan's girlfriend Fran on the way. It was a welcome few hours of fresh air.

We had a get together with David's brother and his family up in Leeds on the 28th which everyone looks forward to. The children are all similar ages, add to that excellent food and company all makes for a memorable day which it certainly was.
There was catching up of news and present opening

a walk in Roundhay Park with a drink after

quiz games which come up via the internet on the television whilst you use your iphone or ipad to answer the questions - how does that work? can't get my head round it at all.

We had conducted whistle blowing which if done right produces a rendition of jingle bells

and my favourite - piano playing and singing.

 I feel so lucky to be part of all this, watching and listening to all the banter and interaction between these lovely young adults - what a shame they have to grow up, but then every time they have got together from being little has brought its own memories. 

The second part of the holidays we were away and I'll continue that in part 2