Seeking the Winter Colours of Cornwall

Brrrrr! It was freezing at Pentewan, even if there were shades of blue in the sky.

As I returned home I wondered if there was any colour in our garden on such a chilly, January day.

Couldn't see a lot - other than some interesting shades of brown in the hydrangea raised bed - with the green leaves of a primula showing through.

A reddish leaf under another another hydrangea.

By the house wall a brave geranium flower survived with a small head of flowers.

No flowers on this invading green nasturtium though, just raindrops.

Looking upwards into a colourless sky, there's a hint of colour.

A quick detour into our front porch where a Christmas Cacti  (Schlumbergera bridgessii)  lingers on ...

...as does our money plant

The next day, as we were passing Truro's Boscawen Park, we popped in for a walk and hopefully to spot some colour. I liked this tree.

Spotted a cyclamen tucked away in remarkably good condition ... 

... and some more colour.

It started to rain but snapped two more flowers. 

Another day and moving on to a quick visit to Cornwall's Eden Project.

The next four plants I spotted in the Mediterranean Biome.

We then moved on to the Rainforest  Biome, which is usually more interesting (in my opinion).

We arrived at the Baka Basecamp - photo as below!

Baka people live in Mongolu huts while out hunting. It's the men who do the actual hunting and food gathering, while the women build the huts, covering them with Nyongo leaves.

They eat forest fruits, nuts, bush meat and fish killed with plant poisons.

The Baka women sing and make music the night prior to a hunt. They believe this enchants the animals and ensures a successful hunt.

Moving on, there is a wobbly rope bridge high amongst the trees.

Three more photos from Eden's Rainforest Biome.

Now we are homeward bound. The display below is on the route out of the Eden Project.

I then noticed the early daffodils (12th January).

Yes, definitely daffodils, quite made my day.

Thanks for visiting my blog, hope you have an interesting week ahead. Good wishes ~ Mike.

Walking At The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall

Despite the above sign we visited the Lost Gardens of Heligan during the day. Generally speaking outdoor gardens aren't at their best in winter but we found some (strange) bits of interest.

There were a few flowers, as can be seen below. I snapped a few quick photos as we walked.

For a moment, when I spotted this hare, I thought it must be Spring - but the chill in the air soon persuaded me otherwise.

Diggory, the scarecrow, looked quite alone in the vegetable garden, but he had some gloves, a scarf and a hat to protect himself from the cold.

Ah, a few flowers in the Italian Garden and ...

... a very large frog or maybe a toad.

Moving on there was a pleasant tree with beehives in the background

The Sundial Garden was, unfortunately, closed but there were some very large 'flowers' as a consoltation.

Next we came across this beauty alongside the old brick wall.

Moving on to some friendly donkeys.

No other animals about, probably because of the weather ...

... though a few sheep were enjoying the green grass.

A large tree indicated that we were near the Lost Valley and Heligan's jungle.

Lots of greenery to be seen - near and far.

The jungle resides within a steep sided valley and has it's own microclimate. I believe the temperature is about five degrees milder than the other surrounding gardens within Heligan.

We came across some colourful flowers.

All looked brighter, with a pond and a pleasant place to sit

The next photos show the reflections of the surrounding trees in the water.

More reflections and plants. Some of the plants date back to Victorian times, when plant hunters brought back specimans from overseas.

Yet more ferns and plants.

A last glance at the edge of the jungle before we leave to make our way back home.

Have to be quiet though - so we don't awaken the Mud Maid from her slumbers.

I have only included a few of Heligan's gardens. I'd also better add that the novelty items like the hare and the large frog are part of a winter light display and are now being removed. I have written several posts on Heligan including a summer post with lots of photos see:

Lost Gardens of Heligan - Voted UKs Top Visitor Garden 

Well, that's all for this week, hope you are enjoying 2022. Good wishes ~ Mike.

Walking Around Mevagissey Harbour Looking at the Many Boats

The weather forecast was dull and misty with some rain and drizzle - again!  We still decided to get some fresh air and headed for Mevagissey. Always a favourite place to walk and visit .

As you will see from the photos, there were many boats in the harbour, haven't seen so many for quite a while

We wandered along the sea wall, hefty rocks hide this property



More rocks below the sea wall as we looked out to sea.

We went as far as possible on this side of the harbour, until we could see the small lighthouse. It is only 26 feet tall, but the light can be seen for about twelve nautical miles.

Two men were fishing but hadn't been lucky so far.

As the sea wall was damp underfoot the colour of the stones shone through.

We headed uphill! This leads to the coastal path and also passes some of the village cottages.

There was a view of the harbour from the pathway.

We passed several old cottages.

The 'Sea Oss' made me smile.

The old cottages are great but, unfortunately, many are now holiday homes, too expensive for the young people of the village to purchase.

Down now to the level of the harbour and we walk round the opposite side of the harbour.

There's a beach! Only very small though and can disappear as the tide hightens.

Looking across to the other side of the harbour where we walked first.

The harbour cat was sitting comfortably ...

... while he watched the various birds at play.

On high are some expensive apartments with views over the complete harbour

We retraced our footsteps.

There was a pleasant shine on the water.

All in all the weather was much better than forecasted.

A final view of the inner harbour and the many boats cuddling up closely.

P.S. Back in 1885 Mevagissey landed 255,000 hundredweight of fish. This is/was the greatest quantity of any port in the west.

Thanks for visiting my blog, hope to see you again soon. All good wishes ~ Mike.