Missing - one young son.

We've had thick fog overnight but it has now lifted and since 9 o'clock it has been raining. I hope it isn't right across Cornwall, because today is 'Obby 'Oss Day and Padstow will be packed solid with thousands of people attending this most ancient of traditions. I've only ever been once, when I first moved to Cornwall with my 2 youngest sons. There was a bench seat on the harbour so I stood both boys on it so that they could see the 'Obby 'Oss over the heads of the crowd as it danced past; Bess, my Border Collie in those days, lay safely underneath, away from all those feet. Perfect! So we waited along with a crowd of locals and tourists alike; we could hear the main crowd approaching as they accompanied the 'Oss. I took my eye off Peter - and he disappeared!!!  
Padstow harbour has no wall to stop anyone falling into the sea; a big crowd was almost upon us with lots of jostling for places where they could be close to the dancing 'Oss - and my 7-year-old was in there somewhere. I was shouting and shouting his name but daren't move away from the seat in case he found his way back. 
As the crowd moved further along the harbour, I started shouting his name again - and went to the edge to look down into the sea. Terrifying! Had he fallen in? Was he still in the middle of the crowd? Had someone taken him? OMG!!!   
Then his older brother said, "I just saw him. I know where he is." He pointed to a shop doorway across from the seat and a little head peeped around and shot back out of sight again. 
I won't go into detail about what happened next; suffice it to say that Peter soon regretted his little trick!
Apologies for having no photos of that day; when we returned home it was to find that my camera was missing.
But for more information about the 'Obby 'Oss festival, this is an excellent post  http://www.thequirkytraveller.com/2011/04/padstow-obby-horse-may-day-tradition/


And now . . . Ta Da!!!!!  I have been nominated for an award; the Leibster Award for new bloggers! 
For this nomination I need to thank Kay, a fellow Cornish blogger, who can be found at  http://countrylivingblog.blogspot.co.uk/
Thank you, Kay - I think!  I did a bit of Googling to find out more about this award and it has mixed reviews, some bloggers being thrilled and others feeling anxious in case it takes up too much time and becomes more like a chain letter.  Well, I'm quite chuffed that someone likes my blog enough to nominate me, so I shall bite the bullet in the hope of attracting more followers (not quite sure how that happens, but we shall see . . . )

These are the rules.

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to his/her blog
2. Copy and paste the Liebster Award badge to your post
3. Answer ten questions you’ve been asked
4. Nominate 5 new bloggers that you want to share with the world
5. Then create ten new questions for the bloggers you are nominating
6. Notify the bloggers that you have nominated

And here are the ten questions asked by Kay -

1. What is your favourite meal?    Roast beef with all the trimmings, cooked by my son.
2. What has been your best ever bargain buy?   This has to be when I wanted to lose weight, looked online and found a WeightWatchers plan at a huge discount and after going through Quidco, it cost even less - just £1.96 for a 3-month membership.
3. What are your top 3 favourite films?    A difficult one as I rarely watch films (I prefer to read books!) But 'Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey' for one; 'Champions', the story of Bob Champion who recovered from cancer to win the Grand National on Aldaniti, who was also recovering from injury and adversity; and the 3rd . . . . . erm . . . . erm . . . I can only think of 'Titanic' *blush*, memorable because my son was born the following day, 2 weeks early. Lol, lol.
4. If you could invite 3 people for dinner, either living or dead, who would it be? It would have to be my lovely Mum, Dad and brother, all of whom have passed away.
5. What was the last book you read?   "Jojo Moyes, having read her previous book, "Me Before You".  Recommended! 
6. You are stuck in a well and the cast of the last television programme you watched are coming to rescue you ..... who will be hauling you out? (Mine would be the cast of Gardeners World, I watched an episode I recorded a while back last night before bed lol)      Oh dear, I don't fancy my chances of getting out - I just watched a recording of Michael McIntyre's Big Show!  (Unless I can call upon the muscley dancers who took part?)   
7. Marmite .... Love it or Hate it?      Love it on toast. Mmmmm . . . 
8. If you could have a super-power, what would it be?    To fly - think of the savings on fuel!
9. What did you have for breakfast this morning?    Scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes.  Yum!
10. What is the one thing that makes you think of Summer    Any Beach Boys song.

The five bloggers I nominate are:

http://www.acornishmum.com/

http://thecornishlife.co.uk/

and this is where I came unstuck!  Despite hours of trawling through blogs, I was unable to find any more that could loosely qualify as 'new'; even the ones I have nominated are more than a year old.  However, these two are lovely blogs and I hope this will bring them many more followers and comments.

Exploring Unfamiliar Territory

I set out to deliver an article to an address in a nearby village but because I didn't know that area very well - and it was a lovely, sunny day - I decided to drive further and explore the lanes, camera in hand.  Just look at the beautiful Primroses growing along the hedges.

 In the distance - the Parish Church of St. Melor, Linkinhorne.

Oooops!

 Obviously, these lanes are EXTREMELY quiet!

 I couldn't possibly disturb him, so I turned the other way!

 Kerney Bridge crossing the River Lyhner at Golberdon.

 And there was a footpath alongside the river - "Come on, Zac!"

 But quite soon, the path turned left and started a gentle climb up through the woods.

 We came upon fallen trees . . . .

  . . . and this one, which completely blocked the path, signalled the end of our walk

 So we made our way down towards the river again, the path bordered by wild Garlic - I love the aroma of the wild garlic and so, it seems, does Zac!

 Oh no! There's the car, but in front of us and blocking our exit, is a padlocked gate and a stile (which Zac couldn't possibly negotiate).

 But someone had peeled back the wire netting from the side of the stile and Zac managed to squeeze through the gap.

Thank goodness he could get through that gap; I really didn't fancy climbing back up through the woods again on that hilly route.

Spring flowers, jam and a Red Squirrel.

I couldn't resist picking a few stems of these Tete a Tete narcissii and the scent has lingered in the house all week. 

And this is the precious Jam of the title - Kea Plum Jam, to be precise. Kea Plums were discovered growing by the Fal estuary near the village of Kea over 400 years ago and were harvested from the trees overhanging the river by being literally shaken into boats.
I had my first taste of this delicious jam last year when a fellow blogger and friend gave me a small jar when we met for the first time. WOW!  The taste is out of this world, like no other jam or posh preserve I've ever tasted  - so good that I asked Elizabeth to buy more on my behalf when next she saw the lady who makes it and sells it.
So now I have three jars . . . . . .

 . . . . because last week we met up again, in Trewithen Gardens, between St Austell and Truro.
 The drive doesn't look very Spring-like in this photo, does it?

The sudden appearance of the sun highlighted all the daffodils and celandines to give a very different impression.

Trewithen is at its best in the Spring - and is also dog-friendly, so I was able to take Zac along as well, although he wasn't too keen on the gravel paths on his tender feet!
But we enjoyed the Azaleas, Magnolias and Rhododendrons all in full flower and looking spectacular on this (mainly) sunny day.

And then a bit of a puzzle - we came upon a wire enclosure containing some conifer branches; it looked deserted but a notice said that it contained one male and two female Red Squirrels and that last year they had reared two kits and were showing signs of preparing a drey again.
So we peered into the branches . . . . . but without seeing any sign of them.  Then just as we were walking away I spotted one, sitting in a wire extension that wound around the main enclosure.  I managed just one photo, but as I tried to get a better angle, he/she disappeared out of sight.

I'm still thinking that it seemed a strange thing to find in the middle of a Cornish garden.

We ended our visit in the very pleasant little Tea Room where we enjoyed a restorative coffee each and a light lunch. Oh - and of course a small purchase from the nursery area! It would have been rude not to, wouldn't it?

Easter week - out and about

Thank goodness the weather forecast wasn't very accurate this week
or we would have been battling heavy rain and wild winds.
Good Friday was a beautiful day with wall-to-wall sunshine and
our beaches and roads were busy as locals and tourists alike made
the most of such a treat.
However, I fancied somewhere quieter so I took Zac to Golitha Falls,
not very far from home and with few cars to be seen along the
narrow lanes.

Oops!  I hadn't noticed that Zac was wandering out of shot!

This Gorse bush was a lovely bright spot after the shade under

the trees - and the scent was glorious.  I always think of it as 

something like vanilla, but I've heard others describe it as like

coconut.  What does it remind you of?

And having taken that photograph, my camera shut down!

Note to self - charge it regularly!

Another drive out, this time to Seaton Country Park. Those brown reeds in the distance grow alongside the River Seaton as it makes its way through the Country Park, under the main road, over the beach and eventually out to sea. And that's where you'd expect to find the seagulls, isn't it?

But no - this noisy lot were enjoying the big puddle left behind after overnight heavy rain had flooded the grassy area of the Park.  I've even seen a heron standing in there, but not today; I don't know if the river had flooded and deposited fish in that puddle or if frogs were the attraction.  Who knows?

But it wouldn't be Spring in Cornwall without the Daffodils and Primroses, so here's a selection of the sights you see all over the county at this time of year.  

Fields of commercially grown daffs - 

Swathes of Daffodils at Cotehele House and Gardens -

 And the true Cornish Primrose, a very pale lemon -

 They can be found on the banks of the lanes, naturalised over many years along with the glossy bright yellow flowers of the Celandines - always a very welcome sign of Spring.

So we've had a mixed bag of weather - sunshine, hailstones, showers, grey days and bright ones - but without this combination Cornwall wouldn't be such a magical place with its green fields, beautiful flowers  - and wouldn't life be boring if every day was the same?