Flowers in my Cornwall Garden

As we had been away from home, for a break, on our return I wandered around our garden to see if it had survived okay without us and snapped a few photos.  The flowers in the photo below below are visitors, they often tumble over our neighbours fence to say hello.

The pansies seem to be quite shy and almost hidden away.

The dahlia, of course, are show offs - but we seem to have lost a few dahlia this year. They usually winter quite happily in the garden.

The gladioli are also very gaudy...

... as are the lilies.

The geraniums survived okay in their crib.

This is one of the fuchsia which stay in the garden all year round.

Passion flowers or Passiflora: they have spread so quickly over a garden wall. Lots of flowers this year.

We have several hydrangea, this one is from a cutting. The flower heads on the larger plants are quite heavy.

Finally something different - a peach tree! Well not quite but it may have peaches one day - perhaps. You may have seen my post Growing Apple Tree From A Pip. This is about how my wife grew an apple tree from a pip which has produced apples. She has now moved on to peaches! Not sure how many years I'll have to wait for any fruit, but I won't hold my breath. The apple tree took eight years!

 Thanks for visiting my blog.

All good wishes ~ Mike

A Flavour of The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall

We hadn't been for a while, so thought a visit to Cornwall's Lost Gardens of Heligan was due. 

As we walked I snapped a few photos to give a flavour of the gardens. Apples are beginning to show above and below vegetables are growing (or will grow) under glass.

An abundance of flowers in the next few photos.

A couple of water lilies ...

... and back to other flowers.

Moving into the Sundial Garden with its original red brick walls.

Heligan isn't just flowers the various gardens stretch over 200 acres so there is plenty of open space

Moving on to the Lost Valley and the Jungle. The leaves get a lot bigger!

 We sat in the cool for a while by a pond.

A robin came to say hello by the water. Some say the birds can be messengers from beyond the grave. A bit fanciful, no doubt, but it would have been my mother's birthday - and she loved robins.

More large leaves as we make our way towards the exit homeward bound.

That's all for The Lost Gardens of Heligan for today: sometimes described as 200 acres of garden history, mystery and, perhaps, romance.

I'll finish off today's post with a few flowers from my own garden.

Thanks for visiting my blog. All good wishes ~ Mike.

Bronze Age Rock Carvings in Cornwall - Plus Flowers

Something a bit different today. The two rock face carvings - photos above and below - are from Rocky Valley, Cornwall quite near to the well known village of Tintagel.

The carvings were discovered in 1948 and there is an official sign that states:

ROCKY VALLEY ROCK CARVINGS

Labyrinth Pattern Carvings 

probably of the Early Bronze Age 

(1800-1400BC)

This monument is protected under 

the Ancient Monuments Act 1913

Similar patterned carvings have been found in various parts of the world such as in Crete and Galacia, Spain.  

Below is a photo from Wikipedia showing a similar design in Galacia.

All in all sounds convincing but there are those who would spoil the story by reaching a different conclusion. Some question the carvings and say they may only be 300 years old maximum. 

The main reason to doubt the age of the carvings is the fact that there aren't any similar examples in south-west England. 

Personally I'd like to believe that the carvings are thousands of years old. Many others seem to also agree as they have left coins, ribbons with messages, candles and so on nearby. Very New Age - if that term still applies nowadays. 

Above: a similar carving in Galacia, Spain

Changing the post theme completely. As the photos above are a bit grey, okay a lot grey, I thought I'd finish the post with a bit of colour from my garden.

That's all for this week, many thanks for visiting my blog. All good wishes ~ Mike.

Walking by the River Fowey and Fowey Town, Cornwall

As we walked along the Esplanade at Fowey all was quiet and peaceful. A sailing boat made its way silently towards the sea.

As we reached the town there were a few people wandering about, mostly tourists. The chill in the air must have kept people indoors - though goodness knows why.

The quay was quiet and the ferry, which crosses the the river to Polruan, had very few passengers.

By the quay is the Marine Aquarium.

The cruise ship Ocean Nova was anchored on the opposite side of the river.

We walked along Fore Street passed The Lugger pub. The oldest pub in Fowey, however, is the Ship Inn which was built way back in 1570.

A few small boats moored on the river.

An abundance of flowers spill over the road just before Customs House Hill.

The road is narrow, very narrow, luckily it's one way traffic.

More of the river.

The photo below shows the car and passenger ferry which crosses the river to Bodinnick.

The house by the river, with blue shutters, I have mentioned in several posts. This is where Daphne du Maurier was living when her first book was published.

About turn as we return in the direction of Fowey Quay to devour a Cornish Pasty - mine  a veggie version.

 The church grass has been allowed to grow, which somehow makes it more inviting.

After consuming our pasties - okay plus a pastry and coffee we made our way back along the Esplanade to where our car is parked.

The cruise ship can be seen from the water's edge. Always a pleasure to visit Fowey whatever the season.

ANOTHER DAY - had a flying visit into St. Austell.

It was good to see flowers. The tulips seem to have lasted well.

YET ANOTHER DAY - My wife had a dentist appointment in Truro so, while she had her check-up, I walked to Truro's Victoria Park. I met a strange lady while on my way!

I passed the Cornwall Council building - note the languages are in English and Cornish.

The gardens are next to the County Courts.

Here I am in the park with the bandstand in the distance.

A water fountain and ...

... a close up of the traditional bandstand.

More water but only a trickle of a stream.

The viaduct is used by trains. Below is a pleasant walk through the trees.

A few of the mature trees look outwards to a view of the city.

As I wandered I came across this memorial, so a touch of sadness.

The gardens were originally created to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

That's all I have time for so I head for the steps in the photo below I'll be back at the County Courts and can retrace my steps back to my wife's dentist - it seems all went okay.

Thanks for visiting my blog. All good wishes ~ Mike.

Here's a post of a lovely walk from Fowey: The Magical Hall Walk at Fowey Cornwall - With Lots of Photos

and also a May flower post : May Flowers In Cornwall