13 Moons part 2 - Freebird & Frugabulous

Shoe_Gal

Glad you're back and have had a fab time :j

Lula-Hula

I'm all back together now & ready to continue with life online & at home.

It was lovely to get home, sweet though the cottage was, being very old & on the river it did have a faint mustiness about it which I hadn't bothered about whilst we stayed there, but which hit me the minute I started unpacking clothes. I was hoping to put the unworn ones back in the wardrobe but I just couldn't & had an ovewhelming urge to wash everything so it all smelled of us & our home .

It was also lovely to be back in our open, bright & airy flat & bizarrely with the comforting noises around us - faint hum of the M25, crows, parakeets & planes in the sky & neighbours. Both DD & I woke up every night & we could think of no reason other than the deep & slightly eerie silence. And I mean complete silence. After 11pm not a car, voice, plane, bird, music, nothing. We were close to the railway bridge but the first train of the day was about 7.20 & none after 8pm.

I'd be lying there at 4 am wondering if the world had ended & how I'd never find out if it had because my dongle would only just about seek out the day's weather :rotfl:.

Anyway, the first night we set off for a walk about the town & off to find the castle which is apparently only a mile & a half away. Pah - I know from previous experience that Cornish miles are not quite the same distance as elsewhere. We walked for the best par of an hour & still didn't get there. We did get rather distracted by the sound of a waterfall & 'leapt' ( ok, staggered) up a nearby hill to find the source - stunning views over the town & countryside were reward enough though.

We tried out the fish n chip shop & declared it a winner & had a wander along the river to nature reserve & were delighted that absolutely everyone we met said 'hello' :j Such a simple thing & yet so welcoming.

Sunday we woke up & had fresh bread for breakfast & then set off for Charlestown. I love driving in Cornwall - the roads are superb - no potholes at all & the views are just stunning, around every corner is another great landscape. Charlestown is a pretty little harbour village with a Heritage & Shipwreck Museum & tall ships that can be explored. We did clamber aboard & also watched pirates singing shanty's & waving cutlasses about. I was desperate to join in but wasn't allowed apparently that would have been embarassing.

We spent ages in the museum looking at load of exhibits & shuddering at old fashioned diving suits - they are creepy & we don't like them _pale_. We sampled pasties & then ice cream, chatted with shopowners & I bought alovely bead for my sis's birthday pressie in a fab little jewellery shop ( resisted everything for my self :eek: - really I did ) & wandered along the harbour wall & then set off to explore caves & rockpools on the beach. We spent hours peering in at crabs doing their best to pretend they were pebbles & eventually when the tide came in & we were exhausted we headed back to the car where I had paid a mere £2.50 for all day parking. Yes, that's £2.50 for the whole day, not an hour which is usual where I live. Loving that.

Monday was decreed a local day. DD was itching to get in to the local shops which has been closed by the time we arrived & unpacked & all day on sunday too - loving that. So, we wandered about the town, in & out of gift shops with the most amazing selection of cards I've ever seen, antiques shops with gorgeous old mirrors, furniture, lamps, jewellery & just loads of lovely stuff. I foudn my heaven in a shop called Paraphernalia which had the most amazing ecletic collection of goods & a rail of vintage clothing & glass cabinets of old jewellery. I resisted everything everywhere but did get some beads for DD & a couple of small items for her room.

After lunch we drove up to Restormel Castle which I'm sure was further than a mile but I forgot to check . It is exactly how a castle should be; on a hill with a moat & perfectly round. Considering it's about 800 years old it was in good condition. Safe enough to be able to walk around the top & enjoy some more stunning scenery & imagine a handsome prince about to charge across the drawbridge & whisk me ( complete with pointy hat, drapey veils & sumptous gown) off to his realm . More ice cream was consumed & various bits in the small but strategically placed gift shop.

On arriving back at the cottage we were ecstatic to discover that the owner had been in & the tv set was now working. Having previously discovered that the dongle didn't supply enough bandwidth to even use i-player & to watch Top Gear would take about 2 weeks with very long pauses in between each 2 seconds of action, meant that we were faced with a week of making polite conversation with eachother or playing dominoes every evening :eek:. We slouched on the sofa with relief.

Tuesday we headed off to visit lovely semi-rellie in Falmouth. It took an hour to get there but again the roads are so good & the scenery so invigorating that I didn't mind at all although DD found the constant changes in altitude a bit disconcerting & had to breathe deeply. A tasty lunch in rellies lovely courtyard garden followed by a tour of the town, harbour & finally the beach revitalised her enough to sample yet more ice cream before we finally headed back to the cottage. It was the first time we'd been to rellies territory since she moved down there & I'm impressed at how she regularly travels back up to London to visit her own family. It's a mission.

Wednesday was the day we'd booked to go Kayaking & we were excited. We were due to embark at 1.30 so decide to go & fuel up in the morning & find the viaduct in nearby Luxulyan Valley. Well, those Luxulyans are a tricky tribe & have concealed this awesome piece of architecture to the extent that we couldn't find it. Admittedly this was partly because I'd misread the brown tourist sign which actually directed us towards Lanhydrock instead but we had a tour about & decided to find the supposedly nearby Par beach . Except it's not actually in Par, that's where the docks are, the beach is about 2 miles away. I suspect the Parites are in league with the Luxulyans. Having circled the village twice we headed to Polkerris instead but took a wrong turn to the carpark & I had my driving skills put to the test by having to reverse down a near vertical hill with stone walls on each side whilst being pursued by a refrigerated truck.

I gave up & was heading back to known territory when purely by accident we came across Par beach. It's large but not too great although there were plenty of rocks to clamber on & we paddled a bit then went back to have lunch before our kayaking adventure began ...


The trip set off from a little place which was apparently the inspiration & setting for The Wind in the Willows. I saw not a single willow but that's possibly because I was trying very hard to use my paddle in an appropriate manner & not use it to push my child into the water.

We were not friends at the end of this trip.

Under 12's had to go in a canoe with an adult & for every other parent child in the group this worked well, the child paddles along leaving the parent to navigate, steer, set pace, direct & generally be in charge. They all had a lovely time.

There were 2 Captains on our ship; one who having recently spent 2 hours building a raft out of playdoh tubs & bits of string with her classmates whilst on a PGL trip thought she knew everything & refused to take any advice or tips on directions, steering, pace setting etc etc from the other Captain :mad:.

Clearly, the other Captain having spent 3 years living on the edge of a lagoon & enjoying all manner of watersports including windsurfing & dingy sailing & an additional 5 consecutive summers of sailing & dinghy rowing knows far less about anything water/boat related so should be ignored every time she opens her mouth.

It was one of the hardest & most challenging afternoons of my life. Never have I fought so hard to control a craft & my temper. We had the bath tub of canoes, not the light & easy to steer sit-on ones, no, Madam wanted a sit-in & we're not very tall so I really struggled to keep the paddle low enough to hit the water without it banging on the sides of the canoe. Result is a bruise the size of a grapefruit on my elbow. We were shockingly far behind the rest of the group & when it was time to split into 2 different packs, everyone else went on ahead for the longer trip & I knew we just wouldn't manage it so opted for the shorter route .

DD moaned the whole way about & I swear I nearly left her there. The scenery was stunning but paddling against the tide, wind & your own shipmate's sabotage is bloody hard work & when we arrived at the halfway point I had to eat another ice cream & chat with the instructor to calm down.

The journey back was more peaceful as we just concentrated on getting there & trying not to be last. We were, by about 10 minutes & when the other instructor mad a snidey comment about getting our moneys worth I nearly asked him for a discount due to the large bruise on my arm & the weeping blister on my thumb.

DDs behaviour really surprised & upset me, I have previously noticed her apparent lack of faith in me in certain situations & it worries me because they are always situations where her safety or security is an issue. Whether it's being quiet or just doing what I tell her, she has a problem with it & if she won't accept my wisdom & knowledge then quite simply I will have to withdraw her from those situations. It's great that she believes in herself but she needs to accept there does need to be a hierarchy in some situations & that she is not the one in charge.

I had 2 bottles of cider & spent that evening in the garden with my book.


To be continued ...

Lula-Hula

Thursday we set off for Eden & intentions to spend the day there. Just a few miles from our cottage with the tickets already bought I was expecting a fairly inexpensive day.

Well, I got that wrong, it turned out that it's easy to spend a lot of money there. The site is awesome in scale & really beautiful. It's so nurtured & there are people with trowels doing weeding everywhere. The biomes were fascinating & I especially loved the tropical one as it was full of loads of plants I haven't seen since I lived abroad & I loved the whole atmosphere & climate in there. DD found it a bit oppressive & preferred the drier mediterranean climate. We explored the core with all the displays as to how life on earth works & also had the obligatory ice cream.

We had lunch there which was fun; it's all open so you can see the chefs at work & you grab a wooden board & cutlery then choose your meal & find somewhere to sit. DD had a huge slice of pizza & I had a goats cheese & caremlised onions tart. We had already bought bottles of water so didn't get extra drinks & then sat outside to eat, rather than at the huge refectory tables. The food was delicious & when we went to pay I was slightly alarmed that it cost £11.90 for just those 2 items but I suppose that's the cost of sustainability.

Coming out of there I opened a heavy glass door & somehow managed to get my foot caught under it & sliced my toe open . Cue lots of blood & a trip to find a plaster & realising that whilst birkenstocks may be supremely comfortable for walking about in, they are not necessarily protective.

I consoled myself with a couple of sweet little jute bags which can easily hold my handbag, a water bottle, sun lotion & cardi or towel for the beach . I fell in love with a pretty teatowel until the price tag revealed it was £15 :eek:. It's a chuffing tea towel & I dont care if it was made by the Queen of the Baobab Tree, £15 is outrageous. We were quite taken with the silver shiny bag made out of ring pulls ... a mere £85. I bought DD a sweet little felt purse & wind up led torch & in return I wasn't allowed a bamboo spork & bowl, or the book of camper vans, or the small campsite handbook or a hammock. Considering how much I didnt' buy, it's curious how much money I did spend. Bottles of water because of the heat & samples of baobab smoothies at £1 a go soon add up.

As I paid online & gift aided my tickets I got a year's membership but not sure if it will get used as we're such a way from there, but it's a great deal if you live within an hour's drive.

Sadly, the one thing I was really really looking forward to - the canopy viewpoint - was closed due to the heat so if there are some events on in the autumn or spring I may well try to head down there again. We didn't have tickets for the evening show but I would imagine that was spectacular & any live gigs woud be great too. On the way back we attempted to find the viaduct again - this time following correct signage, but still the Luxulyans would not reveal it's location. Well, we didn't actually see any people, just fields, stones & pathways.

Friday was our last full day I with wednesday a memory I'd planned to end our week on a high with a trip to nearby Fowey. This is now my favourite place ever. It has the most spectacular scenery & is a haven for my kind of shopping. Gift shops full of lovely shabby chic style things, galleries, craft shops, sweet shops, cafes, bistros, great clothes shops, harbour, cliffs, beach, rocks, boats, pretty houses, loads of history, musueum & the best aquarium ever. It was tiny & really old but only £3 for both of us to get in & a great selection of local sea creatures including Blennys which I think are just great & bright blue Lobsters which I never even knew existed.

It's all hills, alleyways, narrow streets, fascinating houses of every size & shape, steps up & down, a miniature beach with rocks & a cave then further along the cliff top another beach. It was very crowded so we walked straight across it & up the wooden ladder at one side & then followed the path uphill through bushes until we finally emerged at the top of the cliff by St Catherines Castle & the most incredible views that even surpassed what my eyes had already feasted on.

Car parking was bit more expensive but it was a truly brilliant day. We chatted to the elderly lady in the museum who directed us to buildings of particualr historic interest & while we were looking for one a friendly local builder stopped to chat with us & impart his own bits of knowledge.

It's that natural open friendliness & willingness to share local knowledge that really compounds my love of Cornwall & the people who live there.

We stopped in to a craft fair that was going on & I would have loved to buy lost of things but had mentally bought an item in the first gallery we went in so, I spotted a stallholder across the room wearing a stunning necklace & went to ask her about it & discovered that she made them & these amazing little brooches too. She was so charming & enthusiastic about using recycled goods for her work, I bought the fantastic fish necklace like the one she was wearing & am going to have a go at making brooches using her method whic she kindly explained .

We started to wander back to the car & bought some fudge as gifts & then I popped back in to the gallery to buy the print I'd fallen in love with earlier on. It was only £17 & already in a mount but I will need to get it framed so that & the necklace were my gifts to myself.

Well, those & all the eating out / non-cooking I did .

Had glorious weather all week & feel totally refreshed & DD really enjoyed herself too - inspite of the kayaking incident :rotfl:. The journey home was long - nearly 5 hours thanks to roadworks & far too many people in cars. Once passed Stonehenge we whizzed along and my car performed brilliantly having had the best time of it's life with fantastic long runs - covered just over 600 miles in total.

It was lovely to get home again & DD leapt straight on to her pc to catch up with her world & the tv didn't even go on until tonight.

Dad called this morning but apart from that I'm still in my holiday bubble.

Will impart financial details, plans & regular life stuff in the morning,

G'night
xx

Karmacat

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I'm all back together now & ready to continue with life online & at home.

Hurray!

I'd be lying there at 4 am wondering if the world had ended & how I'd never find out if it had because my dongle would only just about seek out the day's weather :rotfl:.

Oops! :rotfl:that would be very inconvenient, if the world were to end while you were on holiday

After lunch we drove up to Restormel Castle which I'm sure was further than a mile but I forgot to check . It is exactly how a castle should be; on a hill with a moat & perfectly round. Considering it's about 800 years old it was in good condition. Safe enough to be able to walk around the top & enjoy some more stunning scenery & imagine a handsome prince about to charge across the drawbridge & whisk me ( complete with pointy hat, drapey veils & sumptous gown) off to his realm . More ice cream was consumed & various bits in the small but strategically placed gift shop.

I love the sound of that - I managed a great castle in Norfolk, Castle Rising Castle which was a bit like that, though we couldn't get *quite* to the top of the walls.

Clearly, the other Captain having spent 3 years living on the edge of a lagoon & enjoying all manner of watersports including windsurfing & dingy sailing & an additional 5 consecutive summers of sailing & dinghy rowing knows far less about anything water/boat related so should be ignored every time she opens her mouth.

DDs behaviour really surprised & upset me, I have previously noticed her apparent lack of faith in me in certain situations & it worries me because they are always situations where her safety or security is an issue. Whether it's being quiet or just doing what I tell her, she has a problem with it & if she won't accept my wisdom & knowledge then quite simply I will have to withdraw her from those situations. It's great that she believes in herself but she needs to accept there does need to be a hierarchy in some situations & that she is not the one in charge.

Oh Lula! You've made me think now, thats an unusually serious ending of a post for you .... you wear your knowledge very lightly, you know? Your DD sounds very, very intelligent, and of course precocious with it, and I'm sure you're getting issues that used to come up with mid-teens, but actually come up earlier and earlier these days .... lots of hugs, in any case :kisses3::grouphug:

Lula-Hula wrote: »

Thursday we set off for Eden & intentions to spend the day there. Just a few miles from our cottage with the tickets already bought I was expecting a fairly inexpensive day.

Well, I got that wrong, it turned out that it's easy to spend a lot of money there. The site is awesome in scale & really beautiful. It's so nurtured & there are people with trowels doing weeding everywhere. The biomes were fascinating & I especially loved the tropical one as it was full of loads of plants I haven't seen since I lived abroad & I loved the whole atmosphere & climate in there. DD found it a bit oppressive & preferred the drier mediterranean climate. We explored the core with all the displays as to how life on earth works & also had the obligatory ice cream.

I remember the tobacco plants I saw at Eden - I'd been to my cousin's farm in Zimbabwe a few years previously, and the Eden plants looked so beautiful and healthy next to his

I fell in love with a pretty teatowel until the price tag revealed it was £15 :eek:. It's a chuffing tea towel & I dont care if it was made by the Queen of the Baobab Tree, £15 is outrageous.

:eek::eek::eek:

Friday was our last full day I with wednesday a memory I'd planned to end our week on a high with a trip to nearby Fowey. This is now my favourite place ever.

You made me go to rightmove, its all your fault :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

We stopped in to a craft fair that was going on & I would have loved to buy lost of things but had mentally bought an item in the first gallery we went in so, I spotted a stallholder across the room wearing a stunning necklace & went to ask her about it & discovered that she made them & these amazing little brooches too. She was so charming & enthusiastic about using recycled goods for her work, I bought the fantastic fish necklace like the one she was wearing & am going to have a go at making brooches using her method whic she kindly explained .

Okay, we *have* to meet up soon so I can interrogate you about this :rotfl:"I can come to you", she said, hopefully :cool::D:cool::D:cool:

What a great holiday! And how well your plans worked out sounds absolutely lovely.

Souk08

Sounds awesome Lula. Looking forward to hearing the rest of your stuff XXX

taxi73

Wow sounds absolutely awesome Lula...fancy a trip to cornwall now

Shoe_Gal

Sounds amazing :j

Lula-Hula

Hello again,

yes KC we must meet up & I'll pm you some possible dates, locations, scenarios etc later today .

I'm still in laundry heaven having decide that this week will be a spring/summer deep cleaning one so have stuffed all rugs from my room in the machine & next batch will be sofa cushions. ( Your fault KC )

I scythed my way through the wardrobe & have removed many many offending articles that were just hanging there limply. The lovely sea coloured beady necklace is a perfect match with a little dress I bought via ebay a couple of years ago, but have never worn due to being rather self conscious about my knees. When I gain weight, it seems to go there & I tend to avoid above the knee dresses unless wearing boots. As we're pottering at home & the weather is lovely I'm wearing it today & am quite happy .

Rather than slobbing about in nasty clothes on home days, I've decided to wear things that I'm a bit scared of wearing in public, in the hope that I'll get used to them & conquer the fear.

Sorry about rightmove I've already checked out every property in the area & have discovered the cottage we stayed in is up for sale. In my opinion it is overpriced by about £50,000 but that's my 'insider knowledge' of knowing what its like to live in. The owner did say that this week it was empty & that I could have it for half price ... I was briefly tempted but with no funds left & a kitty at home & the mustiness starting to invade my every waking thought, I declined. I'm lying, it was the lack of internet that really did it

I would actually put Lostwithiel at the top of my ideal destinations. Stunning though Fowey is, the lady in the museum remarked that it wasn't possible to exist within the town alone, just one small expensive grocers & not brilliant transport links.

Where we stayed however, is totally self contained. There is a proper post office, bakeries, butchers, larger co op than we have at home with everything you need, independent chemist, hardware, bookshop, every other type of shop necessary, community centre with swimming pool, pubs, cafes & restaurants & a very lively community. It's surrounded by beautiful countryside & has a lot of history as well as being on the excellent A39 & has it's own railway station with links to London.

Enough tourist info & on with reality :undecided

We came home with dirtiest car in the world, not much fuel & now have £49.60p in my purse & not a lot in the bank.

Well, there was a fair bit but as wages went in & then all direct debits, standing orders etc have now gone out - including the tv licence which I completely forgot about :doh:.

I used the CC for buying fuel - cant stop myself - it's cashback but have now repaid that & tidied up the balance to a very neat £1,000.

So I'm not DF by my preferred date but having bought a holiday, new laptop & sorted the car out on it, I think I'm doing ok . The latest CC statement revealed that I have in fact earned another £5 cashback in the last month by using it. I already have £15 of vouchers to be used in the co op before end December, & hope to have a few more which will help towards the cost of Yule feasting.

I've also paid £150 into the savings funds account so that is back up to a more impressive £370 - although I fear that utility price rises may not cover another freezy winter so we'll just have to see what happens.

Off to hang out more laundry now, back in a bit ...

Karmacat

Lula-Hula wrote: »

Hello again,

yes KC we must meet up & I'll pm you some possible dates, locations, scenarios etc later today .

I'm still in laundry heaven having decide that this week will be a spring/summer deep cleaning one so have stuffed all rugs from my room in the machine & next batch will be sofa cushions. ( Your fault KC )
Sorry (not) :D:D

I scythed my way through the wardrobe & have removed many many offending articles that were just hanging there limply. The lovely sea coloured beady necklace is a perfect match with a little dress I bought via ebay a couple of years ago, but have never worn due to being rather self conscious about my knees. When I gain weight, it seems to go there & I tend to avoid above the knee dresses unless wearing boots. As we're pottering at home & the weather is lovely I'm wearing it today & am quite happy .

Rather than slobbing about in nasty clothes on home days, I've decided to wear things that I'm a bit scared of wearing in public, in the hope that I'll get used to them & conquer the fear.
That sounds brilliant :j:j:j

Sorry about rightmove I've already checked out every property in the area & have discovered the cottage we stayed in is up for sale. In my opinion it is overpriced by about £50,000 but that's my 'insider knowledge' of knowing what its like to live in. The owner did say that this week it was empty & that I could have it for half price ... I was briefly tempted but with no funds left & a kitty at home & the mustiness starting to invade my every waking thought, I declined. I'm lying, it was the lack of internet that really did it

I would actually put Lostwithiel at the top of my ideal destinations. Stunning though Fowey is, the lady in the museum remarked that it wasn't possible to exist within the town alone, just one small expensive grocers & not brilliant transport links.

Where we stayed however, is totally self contained. There is a proper post office, bakeries, butchers, larger co op than we have at home with everything you need, independent chemist, hardware, bookshop, every other type of shop necessary, community centre with swimming pool, pubs, cafes & restaurants & a very lively community. It's surrounded by beautiful countryside & has a lot of history as well as being on the excellent A39 & has it's own railway station with links to London.
Okay, I have to have a snack, I'll just be on rightmove again while I eat

Enough tourist info & on with reality :undecided

We came home with dirtiest car in the world, not much fuel & now have £49.60p in my purse & not a lot in the bank.

Well, there was a fair bit but as wages went in & then all direct debits, standing orders etc have now gone out - including the tv licence which I completely forgot about :doh:.

I used the CC for buying fuel - cant stop myself - it's cashback but have now repaid that & tidied up the balance to a very neat £1,000.
Very pretty :T

So I'm not DF by my preferred date but having bought a holiday, new laptop & sorted the car out on it, I think I'm doing ok . The latest CC statement revealed that I have in fact earned another £5 cashback in the last month by using it. I already have £15 of vouchers to be used in the co op before end December, & hope to have a few more which will help towards the cost of Yule feasting.
Don't forget, you also had DD2 going to a new school and loads of new/different schoolwear to buy.

I've also paid £150 into the savings funds account so that is back up to a more impressive £370 - although I fear that utility price rises may not cover another freezy winter so we'll just have to see what happens.

Off to hang out more laundry now, back in a bit ...

And control of Lula-land is regained immediately :T:T:T

Lula-Hula

My home tinternet is on a go-slow, cant reply to any posts, but as soon as I plugged the dongle in it roared into life :rotfl:.

I think the dongle would have been fine if we hadn't been in a valley, by a railway bridge & surrounded by trees.

All additional laundry done & stuff to be charitized in a neat pile awaiting delivery.

I've had a lovely email from Quidco to say that cashback of £41.52 has been paid :j so another boost to DDs laptop fund.

I think I forgot to say that while away I collected 7 x £2 coins so they've been clunked into the pot & the new total is as per sig. Will have to add on the laptop fund in a bit too. Must chase up techie guy when I get back to work; he's had the old one for ages & was confident of selling the shell ... am slightly suspicious that he may be trying to get it working by himself.

I wish I had bought all DDs new uniform Karma, unfortunately, that little pleasure is to occur this week. I'm lucky that I do have some extra funds available as I didn't have to dip in to the emergency banked fund while away. It wont cover shoes & trainers, but I'll leave buying those until the last week anyway in case her feet have a growth spurt which is perfectly feasible within the next 5 weeks. This also means I'll have had another payday to fund it .

Grumpy has sent me a picture text of Highly Annoying sat at my desk with the words " you don't look so hot today". I think he's missing me . Work does hover on the edges of my consciousness every now & then, but I refuse to let it materialize fully until next week .

For the rest of this week we'll be staying local as I don't have much fuel & dont want to fill up until thursday or friday - will be burning a bit more than usual with taking DD to playscheme as from next week & also need to visit rellies this weekend. I must get a new railcard as the free one has now run out & I fully intend to make the most of cheap trips to London & elsewhere for the next year - picnics will be taken to avoid extra costs.

One brainwave I had while away was to treat our home county as holiday destination from now on. There were so many brochures about places of interest at the cottage & it inspired me to operate in the same way here. I'm sure there are far more places to go than I know about within an hour's drive / train journey so we'll be trying to look at the area through visitors eyes .

Will only be needing to top up present & DDs clubs funds from home-job so any leftover cash will be for FUN for the rest of the summer.

As from DF date, all spare money will be going into the home refurbs fudn & the new sparkly Escape From Reality Fund .

Off to check out online sales now :eek:

xx