Cornwall and St Michael's Mount

I had a wonderful time in Cornwall, catching up with friends.  The weather deteriorated over the week, but we got out to see a few things, and spent the rest of the time chatting indoors.  It was nice to have some quiet time.

Afternoon cream tea

An amazing wood sculpture outside a local surf shop

We had a lovely day out at St Michael's Mount.  It is a tiny island close to the mainland. At low tide you can walk across to the island via the cobbled causeway.  We arrived JUST in time to walk across before the tide rushed in.

you can just see the white outline of the causeway under water to the right of the jetty

The tiny red and white boat ferried people back to the mainland at high tide.   The boat was very low in the water and it was very choppy.  I was glad it was a short trip.

Steep cobbled pathways lead down from the castle

The castle on the top of the mount

View from the lookout

Beautiful stonework

View from the castle down to the gardens, and across to the mainland (and very top of photo)

St Michael's Mount with the castle on top, viewed from the mainland

In the castle gardens they had this beautiful living succulent frame.  I loved it.

I wasn't so enamoured with some of the Cornish country lanes that the satnav took me down.  Although I had an easy drive down from Kent to Cornwall, I was very pleased to leave the hire car there and enjoy the train ride back to Sussex.

Country Estates

Travelling around England I have been making the most of my Australian National Trust card, which gets me in to all the UK National Trust properties.

SCOTNEY CASTLE, KENT

 the front of Scotney Castle 

   Beautiful carved stone around the doorway

Above the front door reads  "Heath and happiness attend, The coming and the parting friend"  The last couple to live here had no children, but loved having friends come and visit.  The house felt well-loved.

                                               The original moated castle at Scotney was allowed to become a ruin and a folly when the 'new' castle was built

The Brits would never let a drop of rain spoil their day out.  It's on with the jacket, up with the brolly, and onward with the stroll around the gardens.            Such fortitude.

What a shame I wasn't able to 'take the waters'  Where else would you find something that can 'loosen the clammy humours of the body' and 'dry the over-moist brain.  I hate to imagine what the symptoms might be.

After some excellent sunny weeks, it is now interspersed with some heavy rain

A Squall

The people in this painting looked like they were doing a circle dance to celebrate the harvest.

LANHYDROCK ESTATE, CORNWALL

The entry gateway to Lanhydrock House

Walking up to the front of the house.  The lawns are looking very dry after all the hot weather

Every lady should have a boudoir.  This was a very cosy room in an otherwise rather unwelcoming house with huge rooms. 

These tiny childrens' boots looked incredibly stiff and uncomfortable.  Their poor little feet.

This room had a pretty tiled mosaic floor

The morning room walls were covered in tapestry

The last line reads "a good cigar is as great to a man as a good cry is to a woman"

The great hall with domed roof with biblical scenes depicted in the ceiling

Never a truer word spoken.  Most of these old country houses only had one flush toilet, although they had a pot in a small cupboard in the corner of the the gentleman's room for their use.

I would rather have been eating in the grand dining room, than working in the kitchens.

An early version of a slow cooker, in a box packed with straw, and somewhere to keep the porridge warm

CROATIA JUNE 2018

It was a quick turnaround after Greece.  I was only back in England for a weekend before taking off again, this time to Croatia for a week of dancing on the Istrian Peninsula with Barbara Driscoll at Butterfly House in a little village in the hills.

Butterfly House.  I slept in the sky room at the top. 
It was a tiny room but had spectacular views and a balcony on 2 sides.

One of the many butterflies that visited the garden daily

We danced in the garden every morning, on the decking in the shade of a large tree

The week was a perfect mix of dancing and sightseeing.  We visited the hilltop village of Motovun, seen here in the distance

We danced in Motovun on the summer solstice 

Followed by a meal overlooking the valley and the forests where the truffles are harvested

I saw these containers high up on a ledge.  It is the local way of making liqueur at home.  They put alcohol and fruit in a jar and leave it out in the sun for some weeks.

The local towns were full of character.   The streets were paved with travertine which had been there since Roman times.  It was VERY smooth and VERY slippery, especially when walking up and down the many hills.  Luckily we all survived unscathed.

This old town wall had wood from an olive tree embedded above the gateway, as a symbol of peace

In the old town of Poric we saw some beautiful examples of 4th century stone mosaics

And the Basilica was full of fine mosaic work on a huge scale, made with real gold leaf

At the top of yet another hill, overlooking the bay