A quick round up of May so far

The weeks seem to have gone so quick since my laptop died on me and here we are half way through May and apparently only 12 weeks to Becky and Tom's wedding, but before that 6 weeks till Charlotte and Angus have their first baby and we become Grandparents, and I still haven't decided what I want to be called! But more of that another time and on to May - well in fact when I looked at the pictures on my camera the end of April. Charlotte and Angus were finally able to move into their house and we were able to get rid of some of the furniture that had been in our loft and garage for several years. Packing the car was - well see for yourselves

Can't imagine how we'd manage with a smaller car. Thanks to David's excellent packing it all went in and came out without any damage. We had set off very early on the Thursday morning so rewarded ourselves when we got down to Cornwall with lunch at Strong Adolfos just outside Wadebridge. We have passed it so many times but it was never the right time to stop, but this time it was. We were not disappointed, the lunch menu was very interesting and the food excellent

.
Just thinking about it is making my mouth water. After a quick stop at Harlyn Bay just to check it was still there

it was on to Charlotte and Angus's new house where the unloading started

The old kitchen table that she had been given ? years ago looked lovely in the kitchen

and the blanket chest that we had fetched from York looked immediately at home in the lounge.

The following day was May Day and the 'Obby Oss' celebrations in Padstow. We went down to see what was happening, but discovered that the Obby Oss only comes out 3 times and we had just missed it. Had it been a lovely sunny day we would have had a walk on the coastal path returning to see the next performance, but a 2 hour wait  in the cold and drizzle was not what we wanted to do. We did wander round the town to see the decorations

We started jobs in earnest on the Saturday, curtain poles and shelving for David and curtain alterations for me.

 Plus the plumbing of the washer and dishwasher

It wasn't all work, we had a walk from Treyanon to Constantine later that day

and a stop to watch the surfers

and to collect shells and slate - possible number for the front of Charlotte's house?

Back to the car, passing stone walls and thrift.

Work continued inside and out whilst Charlotte and Angus headed off to Portugal to see their wedding planner. I know what you're thinking, but we enjoyed having the house to ourselves and as the weather wasn't great we were happy to get on and help.
We had another walk Sunday afternoon along Harlyn, this time walking down the lane to 'Cellars'

the tide's not high enough for jumping off 'Cellar's rock' today

But it was too far up for us to walk round on the beach there so we went along the cliff path

till we could get down on the beach, and then the battery went on the camera so no more pictures.

I came to a bit of a stand still on our last day, I couldn't tidy or clean as David was against the clock with his shelving - a pallet made a makeshift work bench.

 I decided there was only one thing for me to do and that was go down to the beach. Parking this time at  

Constantine I did my favourite walk across to Booby's Bay.

I had heard you could see a lot of the wreck of the SV Carl but by the time I got there the tide was already starting to cover it.

When I got back David had nearly finished and I could get the house clean and tidy. A fish and chip supper at Frier Tucks in St Merryn and we were on the road at 7-45pm arriving home at 1-25am after a 25 minute stop - best run back in years.

The best thing is that we go again on Thursday for our regular Spring bank holiday this time taking the caravan. We'll be meeting up with all our favourite people I just can't wait. As usual I have been busy cooking and baking for it
Minted pea and goats cheese quiche, you can find the recipe here

and bacon and brie quiche

I have also prepared the mixture for these mini tacos




 This is my final batch of baking, cappuccino cake, lemon drizzle buns and of course Cadbury's caramel brownies.

So a busy few days with work before we go, but with internet on the site I should be able to keep in touch with you all. So till then enjoy the bank holiday xx

Thank goodness I've found you again!

Modern technology is fine when it works and a nightmare when it doesn't, especially when you don't know how to fix it. That was the position I found myself in 3 weeks ago when my laptop decided not to work. Although I had actually backed everything up just the week before what I realised was that I didn't have was any way to access the page for writing my blog - I had no idea of my ID, the web page or anything!.

I had visions of starting all over again and nobody being able to find me! 

Help came in the form of a very good friend who took my laptop at the weekend (despite going away late yesterday) and sorted it. Having not been able to speak to him I have no idea what was wrong but it works. My first job was to pull up the blog writing page and write the address down, and put it in the Samsung tablet that I also use so it won't be lost again. Second was to let you all know that I was still here.

Lots has been going on since my last post and I will fill you in on all the details when I have more time to write and have downloaded the pictures. So catch you then - Love Anne .

Almost half way through April already - Where's it going?

I can't believe that we are almost half way through April already. At least the weather is improving and at last I'm able to wear less clothes and am even thinking of getting out the t shirts that have been packed away in a box under the bed since last year! I've heard people say it's going to be a warm few months, but 'feeling' will be believing.
Life@number 6 has been busy as usual and is revolving round Charlotte and Angus's move to their own house - hence the constant change of plans, which is why we went away at Easter and why I am not working my normal shifts at the clinic and sitting writing this.
They first thought they would be moving at Easter so our plan was to go down with the caravan to help them. It became apparent that that was not going to happen so we decided to take the caravan and join our friends at Broadway in the Cotswolds. We had a lovely time down there, overcoming the problems of no electrics working on the little site we were on and frozen gas due to cold nights.

 This was our view taken on various days - never quite clear but still spectacular.

 We were on a 5 van site behind a really lovely, well stocked  farm shop and cafe which provided us with fresh coffee for breakfast, as with no electrics we couldn't use our coffee machine.
Broadway was about 4 miles down the road. I didn't recognise anything about it, although am sure I must have been there caravanning with my Mum and Dad. It's a wide main street with gorgeous honey colour buildings which positively glow in the sun

The flowers were everywhere and really vibrant (my photos don't do them justice) 

David and I decided that we would walk to Broadway Tower on a round walk, about 6 miles and climbing 800 feet to second highest point in the Cotswolds. The tower was the brainchild of Capability Brown who realised his vision with the help of James Wyat, the architect. It's said you can see the Welsh mountains in one direction and Buckinghamshire in the other, unfortunately for us due to the mist we couldn't see that far. Even so the views were amazing. 

This was our route

and here are some things that caught our eye as we were on our way up

The sign was on the gate of the house below

Wild flowers at the side of the path

  We always like a good wood shed!

Modern shepherd's barns as holiday lets - I wasn't sure about those as they look too new and not in the kind of setting I would want to be, very close together

At long last the cafe at the top and a well earned coffee!

You have to walk a little further to the tower

and this was the view we had

just too misty but you get the idea.

Going down was on the Cotswold Way which was much quicker than our climb up through the woods. Suitably place benches provided the perfect picnic place

An ice cream was the reward for reaching Broadway again

plus a wander past the Easter decorated shops

Our final day down there saw us going to Chipping Campden - another real traditional Cotswold village full of more lovely buildings

We came upon the place below. Staying in'Crafty Cottage' certainly appeals to me

 

I could just imagine sitting in this tiny garden with a glass of wine

Can you see the mincer on the fence?

and the mangle?

On our return it was to be busy, busy, busy as Charlotte's move was scheduled for this Friday and I had still curtains to make. I swopped shifts at work, booked a couple of nights at Waves as there wouldn't be room this time at Charlotte's due to the packing up. Unfortunately for them, when trying to finalise the moving details, they found that the valuer hadn't been to value the house for the morgage so there would be no chance of them moving on Friday after all. A real disappointment which also threw up all kinds of difficulties for them and has also meant that we (due to commitments we can't get out of ) now can't get down to help them when they do expect to move. However they are very lucky to have a real good group of friends who will rally round and help them sort out the difficulties. As for us, well we are now going down at May Day weekend which does mean I can do something that I have always wanted to do and that is go to the Obby Oss celebrations in Padstow which take place on the 1st of May - can't wait!!!

Well despite having time I didn't expect there are still the curtains to be made and my sewing machine is calling.