Reduced price availability

This is the front of the cottage
it has double french windows, the patio is around the side.It is more open now as we have removed the garage to make more parking.
The cottage was built in 1858
as the servants quarters and coach house to the manor next door.

In order to fill up our empty weeks this Summer we are offering weeks at a reduced price of £299 per week in our self catering cottage..we have weeks in June and May available so please enquire if you are interested...we also accept well behaved dogs by arrangement.The cottage sleeps 2 adults only in a double room with amazing views from the upstairs window..there is an ensuite shower room ect downstairs is open plan/living/kitchen /dining area with microwave fridge cooker washing machine flat screen tv (32") dvd player, outside is parking (off road) and a patio garden with furniture.The cottage is located in an area of ONB and close to the Camel Trail which is a nature reserve.It goes for 16 miles to Padstow via Wadebridge and you can cycle or walk through woods and by the river.Its great for dog walking as you are away from main roads.There are many lovely places to visit, Heligan ,Eden, Lanhydrock, Port Isaac (Port Wenn to those who love Doc Martin!) are all within easy reach as are the beaches of Trebarwith and Daymer Bay (Trebetherick) which are both dog friendly beaches.We usually ask for a deposit and then the balance one month before your holiday commences.Any questions please ask debra.pike@tiscali.co.uk

Read it? SWAP IT!

I read alot but sometimes the price of new books can be prohibitive..as i said earlier I sometimes buy books at car boot sales but I also belong to this amazing online book swap club called "readitswapit" all you have to do to join is choose a user name and submit your real name and address (which is kept private unless you are swapping with someone),then you add your list of books you have to swap...if someone sees one of your books they would like ,they send their book list to you to choose a book..if you find a book of theirs you would like to swop yours for then the swap proceeds,,you pack your book and post it to them and vice versa..within a few days you have swap.All you do is pay the post for your book its usually about £1.85 to £2.50 ,most swaps are very successful and of course you can leave feedback.So far I have swapped 90 books!You can search the book library for certain books, as its updated daily.Its a great way of obtaining books at a fraction of the cost.

A very warm day.....

Here he is, my little boy!

In his red santa coat in the Lake district,,it was the middle of winter and -8 degrees!
I will be so sad if he needs to have an operation....





I love Rose Tremains books
"The Colour" is one of her best. I have read Labyrinth by kate mosse now looking forward to this..I also love Patrick Gales books..his characters are wonderful and so alive..

Today it has been such a lovely day, the chilly east wind that was making it feel really cold has finally dropped and we are bathed in wall to wall sunshine..My husband and i decided to postpone the jobs we were doing, and to make the most of the delightful weather , we headed off , with our dog Fergus, to Crantock beach which is near Newquay.Although Newquay is large and commercialized, Crantock, is in fact the opposite..It a lovely little village with lots of olde world cottages , some with thatched roofs, and a lovely huge beach , with very fine white sand

The beach is dog friendly and its one we use alot out of season but we have never been on it between Easter and Summer...we were horrified at having to pay £3.50 to park!The car park belongs to the National Trust and we thought it was rather expensive for this time of year, but dutifully paid it, my husband grumbling under his breath...
I said "at least they use it to keep the countryside nice and look after all the old houses"(which i don't think helped much as we were still £3.50 less better off!)Nevertheless, we headed for the beach...we had brought the ball for our dog as he loves to chase it
but what we hadn't realised since our last trip to the beach was that his eyes have become really bad due to having undiscovered corneal ulcers, and his sight has deteriorated quite badly so much so that he could hardly see the ball.....it was so sad to watch...he is 13 now and we hadn't realised just how bad they were as he seems to get about ok..we have been treating him with cream for the last month but if the ulcers don't heal he will need an operation.I am very anxious about him having an anaesthetic because of his age, but he cannot be allowed to suffer.It made me so sad , that the feeling sort of hung about all day and i even had a little weep about it...i cannot believe he is 13 , we have had him from a very young puppy and it breaks my heart to think of him as old and frail but one thing you cannot do is prevent ageing.

After we had left the beach , we went to a car boot sale , where i was lucky enough to pick up some books for only 50p each,one of which I have been after for a long time..Now I have lots of books to read through out the Summer (as if I don't have anything else to do!)

Very very pleased!

Well its about time we had a bit of good luck!We have just put out dear old motorhome through its MOT and we were dreading the news..last year it cost us £500..we thought this year it might be worse..imagine our surprise when we got a phone call from tha garage saying "you can come and pick up your motor home, its ready..!" we were totally taken by surprise and quite shocked!

nevertheless extremely pleased and now we can plan a few days away in her...we will probably go down west to Hayle, where we love the beach there or maybe over to the other side of Plymouth to Wembury way..we love to get away for a few days , its like a mini holiday..we get a chance to unwind, walk on the beach with the dog and read our books..even if the weather is not so good , its lovely lying in bed listening to the rain on the roof and being rocked to sleep by the wind..

I love to cook!

One thing I have always loved to do even as a small girl , is to cook.I remember watching my grandmother (god bless her) cooking meals for us while my parents worked.She was so careful with her ingredients, I expect that came from living through rations in the war , and she could make amazing things out of almost nothing.I remember my aunt saying that when they were young, she could produce a hearty meal to feed six out of a can of corned beef and some veg...I think today, there are not so many people who will cook for their families preferring instead to use packets and convenience food.I think everyone ought to learn to cook, it can be good fun and educational-its important to know how to feed our bodies correctly , after all would you put washing up liquid in a car instead of fuel and expect it to work properly!?I think some of the cookery writers have finally cottoned on to the fact that some people actually cannot cook at all and also that some people do not have much money , and are now publishing cookbooks aimed at normal people as opposed to people who do all their food shopping at Harrods now its more likely to say "take 500grms of minced beef" as opposed to "take 500grms of fillet steak"!which is also far more realistic.Lots of people these days are having to feed their families on a budget and i think cookery writers are now realising this.I love to read other peoples "frugal" blogs on the internet, I have picked up some very good recipes, and i too, try to be careful and not to waste food, but I think the real experts are our grandparents and parents!

Whats for lunch today?

For lunch today I am trying to be economical, and to use up things such as leftovers and things close to their use by date...i looked in the fridge and this dish evoloved mainly around a dish of cooked new potatoes that were left over I suppose you could call it a hybrid of Fritatta and omlette!I sauted some onions that i had already chopped ..added the potatoes cubed up , when they were beginning to brown i added a chopped roasted pepper from a jar..i buy these at LIDL and they are amazing!I use them for all sorts of things from rissoto to salads, they are not expensive about £1.70 a large jar..I then added one slice chopped bacon , some fines herbs, s&p and some cubed feta cheese that needed using up..on top of this three whisked eggs, cook until set and put under the grill for five minutes...really yummy!(and quite cheap!)oh i forgot to mention, there are also some leftover garden peas in there too!you can add anything really!(well , not weetabix!)i was thinking about the "omlette special" that we ordered in a little harbourside cafe on the Greek island of Skopelos-we were really looking forward to it imagining allsorts of lovely ingredients-when it arrived its contents were yesterdays left over chips and beans.!...............so much for imagination!but full points for economising!

Busy busy busy...........................

Well I just don't know where the time goes these days!my gran always used to say that as you get older time speeds up , and i am sure its true! so will the person who is speeding up my life please stop as I have a million and one things that i want to do but i just don't seem to have the time!I am currently trying to get the garden tidied up seeing as we now have some decent dry days, and i get so far then i get distracted by something,and before i know it, its time to go to bed again.!As I said I have a million and one things to do..i need to finish off the painting in the bedrooom of our holiday let that i started over a week ago , but it got put on hold when the weather turned nice..i just cannot bear to be in doors when its so sunny!I have a huge pile of ironing to do and i need to start off seeds for the garden.We were watching a programme on the tv called "Edible Garden" and the lady presenter made it look so easy (i'm sure its not!) so we have decided to take part of our garden and turn it into a veg plot...i know it won't be easy because we will have to protect it from "Bionic bunny" who i am sure is hiding under a bush in my garden as we speak.....and also from "superslug" who moves like grease lightening..either that or he's invisible as all you seem to see is the damage!