My own family were here last week and I was looking forward to taking many photos to put on my blog as we went out and about. But what a miserable week it has been - rain, rain and more rain for the most part, fog and mizzle for the rest with the briefest appearance of sunshine towards the evening. By living here, I accept that bad weather goes with living on the Moor, but I always feel sad when people come down here for a well-earned holiday and they miss out on sunshine and the beauty of the county.
My son donned his walking boots one day and hiked across Bodmin Moor for many miles, following the paths he knew from the time when he lived here, eventually arriving at lunchtime at one of the popular foodie inns, where my daughter-in-law, myself and our friend met him and enjoyed a leisurely meal before walking my dog and heading home again.
My grandsons enjoyed 2 Activity days - one where they were tree-surfing and one where the activities were water-based - wind-surfing, paddle-boarding, canoeing, etc. and luckily those two days were the best ones of the week. Sadly though, none of them saw the sea at all . . . a week in Cornwall without sight of the sea.
We all did a lot of reading! My son did work in my garden and made it a lot tidier. They left at 4.30am on Saturday morning in order to avoid the extra traffic forecast because of the rail strike, meaning many more cars on the roads in and out of the West Country - and they made excellent time, thank goodness.
It was so lovely to see them and spend time together; I just wish we could have made memories with some days out together. However, they did enjoy relaxing and meeting with my youngest son and his family, plus time with old friends, so it wasn't a wasted week by any means.
Sod's Law dictated that on the day they left, the sun came out and we had a fine, warm and sunny day - and the butterflies came out in force, attracted by the Buddleia bushes.
I'll leave it to others to identify the variety - apart from the Red Admiral, I have no idea what else was there. Is one a Peacock butterfly?
This one appreciated the warmth of my bedroom windowsill.
No butterflies on the Mini Cyclamen but they look so pretty in my
Mediterranean pots that I thought they deserved a place on my blog!
I'm sure that the family just enjoyed being with you even if the weather wasn't kind. Lovely for you to have them home.
ReplyDeleteThe peacock butterfly is the one with big circles on the wings, lovely things!
Such a shame the weather was so bad but still lovely to have your family visiting. I have to say I am looking forward to a little less traffic on the roads. You made me laugh about the reversing, it also needs a willingness to 'hedge' your car to let someone squeeze through. My car often has bits of greenery attached to it :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame about the weather, it sounds as though you made the very best of it regardless though. Seeing family is always lovely isn't it. Your cyclamen look so pretty in that pot and lovely to see your pretty butterfly photos too! I hope that today is drier and sunnier for you. xx
ReplyDeleteI was born in Bideford, we took our son(now 18) to the big sheep when he was younger, also spent several days in Bude, lovely to have some family time for you, we have a huge butterfly bush in the new garden, it has just about finished flowering now, we need to trim it back as it has got out of hand, but will be keeping it, as I love the Butterflies.
ReplyDeleteI was born in Bideford, we took our son(now 18) to the big sheep when he was younger, also spent several days in Bude, lovely to have some family time for you, we have a huge butterfly bush in the new garden, it has just about finished flowering now, we need to trim it back as it has got out of hand, but will be keeping it, as I love the Butterflies.
ReplyDelete