Photo diary: week 32, 366

It's been already over a week since we came back from Cornwall, and I miss it. Not the trip itself, which is always a pain, but the smell of the sea, the ever moving waves, the rocky landscapes, "our" cottage with a beautiful view. Sigh. Who knows if we'll go back to our favourite place again.

Sunday was a baking day. In fact I have been baking almost every day in the last week.
This is a banana loaf I baked.

On Monday we didn't go out to buy any fresh bread, so I baked my own braided bread. It was crusty and tasty.

Rose at dusk in the garden

On Wednesday our friend Jen took my boys and me to the Burford garden centre by car. My guys love visiting it, we always have a drink and snack in the cafe, have a look around the centre and end up at the playground. Sasha is very happy on the swings, he doesn't mind that he is the oldest kid there.
I've seen these beautiful bright lemons in the shop, and just had to take a photo.

I don't know why but while we were in Cornwall, I haven't seen the Moon even once. Perhaps it was covered by the clouds, but almost every evening I would look up at the sky, trying to find it without any success. Eddie and I even walked out of the cottage down the lane at 10.30pm one evening, we looked in every direction, but the Moon was hiding. Yet here, at home, we see it pretty regularly. Last Thursday it was a perfect half shining in the dark.

Tomatoes in the greenhouse are doing well. I was worried that they might get dehydrated during our absence. My friend promised to come and water the tomatoes in the greenhouse a couple of times during that week, but I also did a system of watering, with big plastic bottle filled with water, with windows cut out on the side, and the cotton tights and shirts cut into strips going out from the bottles to the plants. It looks very amateur, but it seems to work.

Every Saturday Eddie and I pop into the local Poundland shop. I won a £10 voucher recently, so we went to spend it all on plastic tat toys and sweets. Since we lost a football in Cornwall, we got two this time.
Just in case, you know. The golden one is already flat today, not exactly what I would expect from a football.

Photo diary: weeks 30 and 31, #366

The last couple of weeks were quite eventful for us, we had Eddie's birthday party, guests at home, and a week-long trip to Cornwall. As the Internet connection in the village where we stayed is pretty bad, I skipped doing any blogging, hence a 2-weeks' installment of my photo diary today.

Eddie has been planning his 6th birthday party probably since the day of his 5th birthday party. He changed his mind about the venue a few times, his guest list was forever changing. We have invited the whole class, and had 11 guests at the actual party, which is pretty good, as it was already the beginning of summer holidays, and quite a few of his friends were off to warmer climes. The cake was another big decision - it was a tough choice between a Kung Fu Panda, Scooby Doo, Star Wars or Tom & Jerry cae.

His actual birthday was on Monday. We invited one of his friends to come over for a play date and more of the cake.

Tuesday was sunny and warm, and while I picked some of the red currants, Eddie played in the garden with a frisbee. I took several dozen photos, trying to capture a flying frisbee.

On Wednesday I was still frantically trying to finish all the red currant and juneberry-picking. I put most of the berries in the freezer, and cooked several jars of red currant jelly too. While I was picking red currants, I saw this berry thief.

Thursday was too manic with all the making of lists of what not to forget for our trip to Cornwall, I had no time to take any photos.
The next day we had a long journey by car to Perranuthnoe. It took over seven and a half hours, and we were exhausted by the end of it. Sasha had his anxiety meds for the trip but they didn't make any difference. It was a very difficult journey.
When we arrived to the village, we had a bit of a break, unpacked the bags, and in the evening went to the beach to see the most beautiful sunset. I always wonder how marvellous it must be to live in that cottage on the rocks, and see the sea every day.

We went to the beach twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. Here is my sun-worhsipper.

Eddie did lots of digging those days, building sandcastles, craters and dams.

Monday was a rainy day, not just a drizzle, but a proper shower. We put on raincoats and caught a bus to Penzance. Sasha was delighted to find a Costa in the town centre. He had a slice of his favourite carrot cake, Eddie opted for a chocolate cornflake nest, and I had a croissant which was so stale, it was as chewy as my sandals.
We passed by a pasty shop in town, and I stopped to admire this mermaid pie with mini-pasties. How wonderful is that?!

Tuesday was still very wet and misty. The drizzle was relentless. We walked on the beach in macs but barefoot. I kept wiping the raindrops off the camera lens. Sasha was nevertheless happy, jumping in the waves.

Wednesday was thankfully rain-free, and we were back on the beach, happily running, digging and playing football. Alas, the same evening this football went over the wall into the neighbours' garden, and they never returned it. I have seen them in the garden from the upstairs window, but every time I'd run into the garden and to try to talk to them, they would go back in the house. They must have seen the ball, and must know that the next door cottage is rented from Friday to Friday but they couldn't be bothered with throwing it back over the wall. Eddie was fretting for a couple of days about his football, and was upset that the "stealers" didn't return it. How difficult is it to throw a ball over the wall back?!

The evening before our departure, we went to say Good bye to the sea. The locals had BBQs going on the rocky part of the beach, the tide was still high, but the waves were slowly receding. My boys were running on the beach. We left when it was getting dark. None of us wanted to go back to the cottage, but we had to get up early the next morning.

We were returning home by train, from Penzance to Reading, then Didcot and off by coach to Oxford, as there are rail works on this leg of the journey, finally a taxi home. By the time we arrived home we were all very tired and grumpy too. The scenery passing by was beautiful. When we went through Saltash, there were lots of boats on the vast expanse of water. Is it the Tamar river? I don't know.

Today was a busy day: grocery shopping, library, post office and two huge loads of washing to do.
While shopping, we popped into the local Costa.

Photo Diary: Week 29, 366

We're finally enjoying the summer holidays: bye-bye, school, we won't miss you. Actually, that's not entirely true. Eddie's birthday is on Monday, and he is upset that he doesn't get a chance to sit on a birthday cushion - which is a school tradition for kids celebrating their birthdays. But I'm glad, that I don't need to worry about all the school routine for six weeks.
I skipped last week's photo diary installment, as to be honest, I'm totally lacking in motivation.

Last Sunday the Moon was clear in the still bright blue sky.

On Monday I prepared some bruschetta with grilled courgettes, sweet pepper and parmesan. It was a light meal, perfect for a hot day.

Our garden is my haven, I often pop outside from the noisy indoors to have a moment of peace and quiet and admire the nature, like this bee, whom I caught mid-flight, carrying pollen.

Wednesday was the last day of school. It was also a day of foodie adventures for Eddie and me, as we took a bus to Oxford and visited a Thai restaurant Thaikhun to sample a new children's menu including among other foods some creepy crawlies - read all about it in my post Adventures at Thaikhun, Oxford.

We received a new playset for reviewing - The Grossery Gang Yucky Mart, which so far has been a big success with Eddie. Like most boys, he revels in all things yucky and gross, so this set appeals to his sense of humour.

Yesterday my funny child said that he was missing school. He watched Horrid Henry on Netflix with a box on his head, saying it was his hat.

Today we did a bit of grocery shopping and popped into The Entertainer to look at the new Grossery Gang range. I suspect we'll be now expanding our "collection".

Photo diary: week 27, 366

July is moving towards the school holidays quite slowly, and we can't wait for the school to be over.

Eddie and I glanced up as we left our house early in the morning, only to see this fluffy cloud above. It looked a bit like an angel who flapped its wings in joy.

This pretty red flower catches my eye every day I walk into town. I didn't know its name, but after a short discussion on Facebook, the general consensus was that it is a crocosmia.

More dramatic skies on Wednesday. I snapped these anxious clouds in the town centre. I thought they would look more arty in black and white.

In the last week I made this simple strawberry and blackberry salad a couple of times. The berries were soaked in Pimm's for a few hours for the flavours to develop. A grown-up dessert, so summery and bursting with colours.

I recently won a selection of TG green teas. This ginger-flavoured green tea was refreshing and zingy.

Today we had a colourful carnival parade in the town centre. The pipers' band takes part every year, and they are very good. Always a pleasure to listen to them.

Photo diary: week 26, 366

One third of summer is already gone, but it doesn't feel very summery, we have rain daily.

Last Sunday I was taking the orchids outside from the kitchen to spray with the orchid mister to keep them healthy.

As I was digging in the garden, I came across this old piece of vintage dish. I don't know why it resurfaced now, I've been digging in that location before. It's clearly from Queen Victoria's jubilee celebrations.

Red currants are beginning to ripen, and it's the battle with the birds. I have wrapped the red currant bushes with the netting and fleece over, but those doves managed to break the fleece on the top and have eaten all the berries they could reach through the netting.

Wednesday was an emotionally-charged day for me. I had an appointment at the breast clinic aka cancer department in Oxford. Thankfully, the mammogram didn't find anything sinister, and they think the pain that I have is the muscular pain, which is a great relief to know. I spent over 3 hours in the clinic, having my boobs examined by several different people including a student called Dora. That's the first time I meet a Dora in real life. The mammogram was more uncomfortable than painful. You have to stand like a contortionist, bum sticking backwards, head moved sideways, a boob squeeshed between the plates with the screws tightened. I was too knackered that day to take any photos.

Higgidy Pies are running an instant win competition on their packs - you might have seen promotional stickers to win Joules' picnic prizes. So now my family has to eat as many Higgidy pies as they can.

I'm the self-proclaimed queen of charity shops. Once a week I visit all the charity shops in the centre, looking for pieces of china. I have some fab finds, when I found good quality Spode or Staffordshire ironware pottery for a fraction of their cost in vintage shops. My china collection is all mismatched, but I don't mind, if anything, it looks more personal and exciting. All the china pieces in the photo are from my charity shop hunts - the tiny Aynsley creamer and little dish with jam were 25p each. The cute strawberry mug was a fiver with a matching teapot. I'm not a big fan of Wedgewood, but I was looking for a little vase for small posies from the garden, and that olive coloured urn was a pound and a half/

Earlier today Eddie and I popped into Waitrose to get the papers, fresh bread and a few other bits and bobs. At the entrance there is a big cut out photo frame for the cricket mascot competition. Though we are not into cricket, and Eddie's too young for the competition anyway (it's from 7 years onwards), he wanted me to take his photo with the cricket team.

Photo diary: week 25, 366

We're fast approaching the end of the school year. A few more weeks, I have to tell myself every morning, forcing myself out of bed. I'm sooo not a morning person. Last weekend we spent at home, as my husband was away in Rome and Milan. I finally trimmed Eddie's hair, as he was turning into a Goldilocks. OK, it's not the straightest haircut in the neighbourhood, but I've done worse before.
Not the best photo either, as it was quite dark indoors, and the flash on my camera refuses to work.

Eddie and I baked Finding Dory cupcakes after school. We found the baking kit at Tesco online.

On Tuesday I was trying to take photos of the infused water. The sun was in full blast, and Eddie was jumping around.

I don't know what this little plant is, it's more of a weed than anything else. It looked very pretty after the rain, sparkling like a diamond diadem.

A glamorous rose with a sweet scent

Rain, rain, rain, every day it's raining. June, where are you? It's not different from April weather-wise.
Dog rose after the rain:

Tired after a tennis class, Eddie's lounging on the sofa, watching Alvin & the Chipmunks, while I keep telling him off and asking to lower the sound, as I find their voices mightily annoying.

How did your week go?