Working on my List

My 60 x 60 'to do' list has been sadly neglected over winter so I'm pleased to have crossed off another wish. Today I went to St. Ives to visit the Barbara Hepworth Museum, a beautiful, peaceful space full of the most amazing sculptures.

We decided to use the park and ride from Lelant, which must have one of the most unusual views from a station platform and is a haven for bird watchers.  My friend had not been on the train to St. Ives before, it was on her 'list of things to do' and is a beautiful little train journey along the coast overlooking St. Ives Bay.

It is a bit of a photo overload today, but I fell in love with this very special place.  I don't think there could be a better setting for her beautiful work.

Her workshop

After our visit we walked along the picture postcard streets of St Ives to find a place for lunch.

These little birds were scurrying around the rocks, perhaps one of you know what they are?

I  hope you have enjoyed the tour.

Chickpea xx

Tantrums and Tramways

Saturday was a horrible day for me as I only managed to get a couple of hours sleep the night before. I can understand why sleep deprivation is used as a torture method.  As you have heard me say many times before my sleep patterns are terrible.  They are never good but some nights sleep evades me completely, even after taking a sleeping tablet. So Saturday saw me tired, extremely stroppy (sorry bearded one) and unable to string two thoughts together, I couldn't even drive!  I stopped at a traffic light, they changed to green and I put the car in reverse twice before managing to drive away, luckily not hitting the car behind me.  That is really bad isn't it, I'm sure they were muttering 'women drivers".  I have been driving for more years than I can remember but this simple task evaded me.  It really shook me up, and after completing my shopping  I resorted to buying a coffee to drink in the car before I set off for home.  I didn't do any of the things I intended to do as I was just too damn tired, what a waste of a day.

Luckily I had a better sleep on Saturday evening so we decided not to waste the lovely crisp day and went for a walk.  Not to the coast you'll be surprised to hear, but along the Mineral Tramway that goes from Devoran to Portreath.  In the past mines were dotted all over Cornwall so there were tramways that took the ore to the ports.  These have been made into wonderful cycle and footpaths that are brilliant for walking along.  You can still see the scars from the mining activities but nature has a way of healing and making areas beautiful that once were devastated.  I have not been along this bit of the tramway before, we used to ride along the Portreath end with the kids when they were younger.  I was regretting giving away my bike on Freegle last year when I saw everyone whizzing along, but they probable missed a lot of the little things that we kept stopping to photograph.  For a January day it was busy with cyclists, horse riders, dog walkers, runners and people like us enjoying nature.  I have decided to add walking the tramways to my 60 x 60 list, so watch this space.

The old viaduct next to the new one.

 If we had been in this valley during the time mining was at it's peak, it would have looked like hell on earth and been a dangerous place with all the toxic waste.  Today due to a lot of work and nature fighting back it has a unique beauty even in the depth of winter.

I hope you enjoyed our walk.

Chickpea xx

Welcome to Marlane :)

The Soundtrack to My Life

The Eden Project

When I was at school I was really into my music like most teenagers.  I read the NME and Melody Maker and knew all about the groups.  I wasn't into The Osmonds, Bay City Rollers and boy bands, my musical taste was more old Velvet Underground/Lou Reed, Stooges, New York Dolls (I still have the Album) and Sex Pistols.

When the children came along I didn't have the money for C.D.'s or to go to gigs, but it still played an important part in my life.  A piece of music can transport me right back to a place and time.  It is tied up with so many good memories and helped me through difficult times.  The nights spent sleeping next to my sons hospital bed listening to the beautiful voice of India Arie to try to sooth myself to sleep.  Listening to Radiohead 'The King of Limbs' will always remind me of the long haul flights to Australia

Just before my operation last year, before I knew the prognosis, I went to see Sigur Ros at the Eden Project.  It was an emotional experience and I wept as I listened to their beautiful music.  When I was in hospital it was their music that helped me through the long long nights.

Hoppipolla - Sigur Ros (It means Hopping in Puddles)

Tonight I went to see a band called Pixies at the beautiful Eden Project.  I will take some more photos of it on Monday when we are there to see Elbow.  Last night I filled all of the space on my phone with videos of the band.  The biomes are especially beautiful at night when lit up. 

Pixies on stage, I managed to get close to the stage and see for once.  At 5'1" it is usually peoples backs I see.

I love this band, seeing them is on my 60 x 60 list of things to do, so that is something I can tick off.  I have been lucky enough to see many bands in the last few years and loved every minute of it, I think Eden has to be the most perfect setting and I'm lucky enough to have it on my doorstep.

Most people say 'who?' when I talk about Pixies so here is some film of them so you know who I'm talking about.  I couldn't get mine to upload, beaten by technology again!  Probably a good thing really, you can hear me singing on my film!!

Punk, Ska, Electronic and now Samba are the soundtrack to my life.  What is yours?

Chickpea xx

Planning a new garden

I have been busy looking at other peoples gardens for ideas of what to plant.  I love these elegant beauties.

 The colours of these flowers would brighten up the patio.

We have a small area in the front of the house that isn't much use for anything as it is on a slope and drives the OH mad when he tries to cut the grass, pushing the mower up the hill, and sliding back down.  It doesn't look very steep in the photo, but take my word for it, it's steeper than it looks.  Especially when its wet and slippery and I have ended up on my derriere a few times.   It is also being used by the local dogs and cats as a toilet!!!  

At some stage we will be looking to move, and hopefully tick off 'live by the sea' on my 60 by 60 list, so our house has to have 'kerb appeal', according to the many 'sell your house' sites.  I hoped that getting the front door fixed would be enough, well that's if we ever find someone to come to do it.  We have had a few people come and look at it, say they will give us a quote and we never hear from them again.  But I can see that a little patio area would significantly improve the area in the front, would be a sun trap and would add that extra appeal in a very competitive market.  We have huge new estates popping up all around us, with special deals on mortgages, exchanges etc. so we have to make our house as attractive to prospective buyers as possible. There is the dilemma of how much do you spend on a house, and would it add enough value to cover the cost?  I'm not sure that this would, but we are in no hurry to move, I love my house, I just wish I could pick it up and move it. So it might be a few years before we make the move, in the mean time we would get good use out of it ourselves.  I can imagine myself sitting in this area in the morning when we don't get any sun in the back, it would also be private as we are in a quiet little corner.


When we moved in we had fields next to us, where I could hear foxes playing in the evenings. now there are houses covering the fields, and the whole area is becoming more urbanised.  It suited us when we moved here as our previous home was out in the middle of nowhere with no bus service so I found myself driving the boys everywhere.  Our needs have now changed as they are grown up and have their own homes, so it is time to find somewhere for our needs.  We are entering another stage in our lives.  It has to be big enough for family to come and stay, and have a garden to grow veg, (well attempt to grow veg) and ideally be within walking distance of a beach.  There is nothing like an early morning or evening walk on the beach to lift your spirits.  When we retire we will have the time to make the most of this beautiful county, the beaches and walks.

Anyway, enough dreaming, back to the reality of getting the garden sorted.

The huge holly tree was bought at a supermarket when it was a few inches tall, so I am very reluctant to get rid of it, ( I am very reluctant to get rid of anything which is why my garden is so overgrown) and it has become a bone of contention between us.

 The house and the garage are different levels as is the fence at the side, so it is going to be more complicated than it sounds.  We contemplated doing it ourselves, but being realistic, we wouldn't know where to start.  I'm not able to do much physical work at the moment, and the OH works long hours.   It will involve digging out tons of earth, and laying either a patio or decking, so we got someone in to have a look this morning.

I had drawn some detailed plans, well hastily scribbled doodles on a bit of paper before he arrived

He did a lot of measuring, and agreed that our thoughts on the layout would probably be the best way to deal with such an awkward piece of garden.  He also suggested he could shape the holly tree into a lollypop shape as it would be a shame to lose such a healthy tree.  Yay one to me!!  He will draw up some plans and costs and get back to us.

Watch this space for 'The Great Front Garden Makeover'