I treasure an abundance of magical memories from time spent in the spectacular landscapes of the south-west of England. Family camping holidays as a child, numerous trips with my daughters, a week with Barry and my girls and grandsons in 2015, and a precious few days with my dear friend Therese, who came from Gisborne to tour UK with me in the summer of 2004.

My youngest sister, moved from Sutton Coldfield to Exeter over thirty years ago. Consequently a visit to see her and her husband, often includes the opportunity to experience more of Kernow‘s (the Cornish name for the area) extensive delights.

Viv and Ray had invited us to spend a long weekend with them in Porthleven – towards the end of our Calendar Club season. The thought of it was one of the things that kept us motivated.

Areandare seemed safe enough moored cosily opposite the Boatyard in Shardlow, as we set off on the long Motorway journey last Thursday.

We stayed overnight in Exeter, then Ray drove us all to Porthleven on Friday. This small town is reportedly the most  impressive harbour in Cornwall, and is subject to preservation orders to maintain it’s various delights.

Many people will be familiar with Porthleven due to its dramatic images during storms, the most recent being Storm Ophelia in October 2017. Waves frequently crash majestically onto the harbour walls, and scenes with the clock tower are breathtaking  It’s one of the reasons Ray wanted to stay there. Sadly (fortunately!) the scene wasn’t replicated during our stay.

Unfortunately there was a distinct absence of brilliant blue skies (apart from our arrival afternoon), but we were most thankful for four mostly dry days – despite the grey.

We made the most of our time with a spot of shopping (the best hat shop ever ‘Salt Cellar Hats‘), unexpectedly long walks, spectacular scenery, quite a few pub visits, and nights in playing six-handed-rummy and chatting about life and its pleasures and complexities.

Our cottage, The Blue Door, was cosy and perfect for the four of us. On Wednesday I was looking at a few of mum’s photo albums and came across these below from our stay in almost the same location in 1995 (excuse the poor quality of photographed photos!). If I’d found that photo some weeks ago we could’ve stayed there too –  The Net Loft is still a holiday cottage, though I suspect it’s been modernised somewhat in the past 22 years!

Ray’s stunning shots

Ray’s passionate about photography, so it’s unsurprising that when he and Barry get together there’s always a few sparks as they brilliantly capture the world around them.

I’ve posted a few of Ray’s below – I’ll hopefully get a few from Barry next week so I’ll post some if there’s anything new to add …

An absolutely brilliant long weekend on land, by the sea. More marvellous memories made.

Another visit to mum

Having returned to Areandare on Tuesday afternoon, I left again on Wednesday! I’m with mum now until Monday afternoon, when I’ll re-join Barry who’ll have moved our home to Beeston. In the meantime he’ll be aiming to complete the new flooring on the boat, and hopefully begin undercoating the walls in the living area and kitchen to lighten the space up somewhat. I’m in the process of making new curtains, with the material I bought at Lagos Market last January.

We’ll be hanging around Nottingham and Newark for a week or so from next week, before venturing onto the Trent.

One thing’s for sure, our life together could never be described as boring 😉