Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Some not very informative photos

Here are some more images from our week in Cornwall followed by a week in Devon. The sun shone intermittently but it wasn't quite the weather that we had ordered: the sort in which an 87-year-old sun lover (my mother) can sit contentedly in the sunshine while her daughter and son-in-law stride about and look at things. However, Mum womanfully padded around with us - not terribly fast, but covering quite a lot of ground compared to most 87-year-olds. And luckily Mr Life is a saint. Saints occasionally sigh a bit, but quietly.

Above is Lanhydrock House and its formal gardens.


Here are a few of its herbaceous borders, presided over by Mr Life.

And this, I think, is Pencarrow, another fine house. I'd check with Mr Life, who has a better grasp of geography than I have, but he's gone to bed.


Here's Mum, in a blink of sunshine. It started to rain shortly afterwards.

St Ives with lots of other people as well as my loved ones. Note the tents. Many people also had windbreaks on the beach. The British come prepared for inclement weather. Wisely.


Rather a fetching public toilet, I thought.


A St Ives street.



Mr Life is a steam train buff and here he is with one of the various engines which featured on our holiday. A man must take his pleasures where he can.



Our second week was in Devon, near Colyton: very pretty little place.


Here it is again.


Beach huts at Lyme Regis*. Mr Life took far better pictures than I did, but they're on his computer and he's asleep. The man has no stamina. Or to look at it another way, it's after midnight and he has work tomorrow. He has photos of the Cobb, which Louisa Musgrove fell off in "Persuasion" and where the French Lieutenant's Woman gazed out to sea hoping for the return of the French Lieutenant. This would have been more distinctive of Lyme than beach huts, but there we are. We work with the material we have.


The gardens at Pecorama in the small town of Beer. Pecorama is really all about miniature railways (Mr Life chose this outing) but it has rather fine gardens too, so we were all happy.


The moon garden.

The sun garden, with, appropriately, some sun.


We visited Sidmouth, which is a lovely town, but the nearby cliffs look a bit crumbly to me. I fear that this little white house wouldn't be a very good long-term investment. You might well have enjoyed seeing some photos of the nice Regency architecture or the lovely Connaught Gardens. Mr Life has some of these.


Still, here are one and a half Sidmouth houses.
One day soon I'll tell you about my outing today to meet Rachel (http://attica-slowlife.blogspot.com/) of Slow Lane Life (such fun!) and the flats that Daughter 2 and I have been going to see with a view to her buying one (interesting but a bit stressful. My last chicken, flapping her wings with a view to flying the nest! )
But meanwhile I shall go and have a bath and then perhaps I might consider a nice soothing read in bed. Still three and a half weeks of summer holiday to go.
* Mr Life informs me that the beach huts were actually in Seaton. Which proves my point about the rather unspecificness of some of my photos.
















17 comments:

  1. It all looks very interesting and attractive - love to see some more photos of Lyme Regis. When Mr Life is up and rested perhaps he could post some of his photos. Your mother is obviously much fitter than Dr P - could not get him walking about like that.

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  2. Love the photos Thanks I would not like to live in the house on the cliff.Too scarey.
    Hugs Mary.

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  3. I think if I ever get to travel to the UK again I will be emailing you for a list of places to go! All the Devon/ Cornwall stuff looks so gorgeous, and I've got my own little gaggle of steam enthusiasts who would like all those railways!

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  4. Oh, I did enjoy my little English holiday ( virtual ). I love the garden in Beer ( not the usual beer garden )and the beach huts.

    I presume the St Ives is the place with 7 wives and cats etc?

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  5. Oh I love your holidays photos! I would like to see pictures of the Cob though if Mr Life could be persuaded, as I'm reading Persuasion at the moment and have just watched two versions of it on dvd.

    In return, perhaps I could tempt Mr Life of pictures of our very own Puffing Billy (a blue steam train near here).

    ps. your mum looks fighting fit at 87!

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  6. Thanks for the tour - gorgeous photographs, btw. I've just found your blog and will be back.

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  7. If you are to be believed, your not-very-good photos are a million times better than my best. And I suspect you are, indeed, to be believed. Lovely.

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  8. Thanks for these photos. I remember a lovely weekend we spent in Beer in 1993.

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  9. Ooooh, it all looks lovely. I have been threatening to go to Cornwall for ages but there are so many places to visit and so little time.....hops from foot to foot.....one day!

    Thanks for the pics to tide me over in the meantime.

    Lesley x

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  10. Anonymous12:02 am

    The gardens are magnificent and I love the row of beach huts.

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  11. The photos are self-explanatory. And anyway as we say in the states here, one picture is worth a thousand words. Not that words aren't important too, with respect to your profession.

    I'm guessing one reason Mr. Life's photos might be better is that he has more of a panoramic view. He seems so tall.

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  12. Oh, my. So wonderful. Several slices of heaven.

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  13. Your mum is great shape for 87! There is no way we could take my 81 year old grany on a holiday like that.

    And even if she was fit enough there is no way my mum would want to!

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  14. They are lovely photos. Thanks for the tour!

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  15. Just saw this article and thought of you:

    http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12903357?source=rss

    "There were mutilated chickens and candles," said Matt Metzger, 17. "I'm from North Carolina, and I don't see that a lot."

    Merciful heavens. The mutilated chickens would be horrifying enough, but mutilated candles ...?

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  16. Isabelle, you commented recently to me that you would love to visit
    Australia, but thought you probably never would. The feeling is mutual! Your photos of the towns you visit are delightful - the streets and buildings have a charm all of their own. Sadly I doubt if I will ever get to the other side of the planet either, so I'll just have to continue enjoying my 'virtual' tours via your blog!

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  17. Your holiday in Cornwall and Devon sounds wonderful, Isabelle. Perhaps we could switch lives for a short time. I could wander in towns with such pretty names and picturesque buildings and streets....and you could sip tea on our front porch on foggy mornings and watch the woodpeckers, while enjoying the view of colourful gardens, verdant fields of corn and hay, and lush green trees. And you could weed the garden, if you felt the urge.
    (Is that too many "ands" for an English teacher?)
    Our weather in either place would be much the same...damp and not very sunny (rather British)...so not a shock to the system.
    You'll love it..there's never any worries, dust, dishes to wash, or bills to pay.
    Let me know what you think about the idea.

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