Sunday 7 April 2013

Easter Hols part 1 - Cornwall

When Cleggy was offered some work in Cornwall, which happened to fall in (2 of) the boy's school holidays, we jumped at the chance. Our cottage for the week was just south of Falmouth - a coastline dotted with beautiful beaches walkable from the front door.                           We very nearly didn't make it as the 7 hour journey down included serious snow drifts (the sort that suddenly make the inside lane of the motorway unusable), hail, freezing fog and a fair amount of wind. 
Needlesstosay the cream tea laid out for arrival went down very well.

The cottage was called 'An Laity' (Cornish for Dairy) and was over 400 years old. It was pretty and quaint - but man it was cold! We huddled round the log burner like it was the middle of winter. The owners were really friendly and made us all feel welcome.
While Cleggy was working we did very little (so he didn't feel like he'd missed out) but it was only for 2 days. 
His second day was in Porthleven - a lovely little village half an hour away. We tried to play on the beach but it was teeth chattering weather, so took to a lovely cafe called SeadriftWe We would have stayed for tea but they were fully booked - on a miserable Tuesday evening - must be good!

Falmouth itself was nice for a gentle mooch - and the snow MADE us take cover in another lovely place - Dolly's tea room and wine bar
You know when you are met by a festive twig covered in vintage china and a dog wearing a string of pearls that you're going to feel right at home...
I might go as far as to say it is in my top 5 favourite cafes of all time! We shared a selection of cake and tea - the best being a lavender treacle tart (with clotted cream, natch)
 In the evening they have live entertainment at the piano and serve cocktails from vintage teapots...bliss.
 
The rest of the time was spent walking the South West coastal path, in search of good rock pooling and good food. We found plenty of both.
Our favourite cafe was on Gylly beach:
closely followed by a sunny walk to The cove on Maenporth Beach.
The boys were pleased to reach the beach...
we were pleased to reach out for a cold glass! 
(and a posh fish finger sandwich!)
Evenings were spent in front of the fire
(Nice photo Kenzie!)
 blanket on knees like the old people we are!
playing the odd game of cards

and indulging in some crafty making....I pimped some jeans
(the floral fabric is a cheap pair of knickers from the local Asda - great for behind the knee patches as it has stretch!!)
...and a pair of leg warmers
 I love them - but the ripped jean/leg warmer combo made Cleggy hum Bros songs to wind me up. 
It did!
I also made a MAAASSSSIVE cowl for him - then decided I liked it for me so declared it a shared cowl.
We always have a chippy tea on the night before going home and Good Friday was deserving of a treat - so we headed to Rick Steins 'Fish'. It was DE.flamin.licious.
 We all loved the little stretch of Cornwall we saw - although I don't think we saw it in it's best light. Despite being well prepared (for once) with lots of layers and hats/gloves it was just too cold to spend much time anywhere other than indoors. 
The following day we moved on round the corner to Devon - photos to follow.
Fee x

18 comments:

  1. Cornwall is a complete joy and that lovely little tea room Dolly's with vintage tea pots and a glamorous pearly dog, oh bliss!!!

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  2. Love Kenzie's picture of the two of you! Thumbs up for your photographer (and F & A of course :-))
    (Have been thinking of you a lot these past two weeks. "Bit" messy over at my place...)

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  3. what a lovely post. I cannot rest now until I have had a cocktail served from a vintage teapot!! The photo of you and your husband is just lovely, that wants framing and well done to the photographer :-)
    Jess

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  4. Looks like you had a great time! Would murder a cream tea right now. We're off to Cornwall later this week so am hoping for some sunshine but will be packing the winter woolies just in case!

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  5. Wonderful post with the loveliest photo's. How lovely to be welcomed by a traditional Cornish cream tea and like you, I would have spent most of my time in and out of cafe's trying to keep warm and soak up local atmosphere. I had to smile at that sweet doggy with her pearls. What a divine looking cafe and I would definitely feel at home there too. Love the idea of cocktails in vintage teapots :o)
    Look forward to seeing all your other photo's. Gorgeous cowl by the way, looks perfectly snug x Penny

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  6. Looks like a fab little break, despite the weather! Love the idea of the dog in pearls (hmmm, wonder if my two would go for that look?!) and cocktails in a vintage teapot - divine!
    Xx

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  7. Lavender treacle tart with clotted cream, wow! All that and a dog in pearls. :) It all looked lovely but what can you do about the British weather, grin and bare it I'm afraid!
    V xxx
    P.S. love the cowl. :)

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  8. It looks like a great trip !!...happy week...love from me...xxx..

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  9. I so need that cowl pattern now .....I am freezing...
    daisy j x

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  10. Fab tea room...lavender treacle tart sounds sublime. What a shame it was sooo cold....love your cowl and leg warmers and the pimped jeans are gorgeous.

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  11. Wow, looks like you had a fab time despite the chilly weather! Love all your fab photos and your boys are just gorgeous Fee!

    Love Caroline xx

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  12. What a gorgeous post full of lovely photos of your time in Cornwall. Dolly's sounds like the kind of place I'd like to hang out. I love that Labrador with the pearls! :)
    Anne xx

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  13. Dolly's did it for me with a pearl wearing dog and cocktails from teapots....LOVE it. Despite the cold it looks lovely and I do love the photo of you and cleggy.
    xx Sandi

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  14. What a wonderful post full of heartwarming pictures. The weather may have been cold but you look like you had a fabby time. Sarah x

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  15. A string of pearls, seriously? It looks amazingly good in there. The cakes on every picture made me drool, literally. Really want to do some Cornwall exploring, wish it wasn't so far away. Didn't like you being there without us and don't get me started on Devon...
    Nelly x

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  16. Looks like an amazing time and you are all enjoying it so much - lovely to see such a happy family x

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  17. Wow, you really did find some amazing places to visit!

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  18. Despite the cold it still looks like you had a blast (as always), can you adopt me despite my almost being 40? Thanks! x

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I LOVE reading your comments!
fee x