Joy in the Everyday Ordinary - September, 21-30

Hi there everyone 😀

I must confess to feeling a bit of a fraud with the title of this post as the last 10 days have been anything but 'everyday ordinary'.

We are just back from a two week break in the very lovely Bude on the North Cornwall coast. Mum and Dad, David, Alison and Bobby and Lesley and Tom were all spending time down there too and it has been lovely to get to spend some real quality time together.

It has been especially lovely getting to see Bobby exploring the delights of the beach and all the wonder that it must bring to a nearly two year old, in all kinds of weather. We've made some really lovely memories that will last for a long old time and I will be sharing lots more details of what we got up to with you over the next few weeks.

For now ... here are the best bits of the last of September ...

Day 21 - It was Friday and the end of our first week. Lesley and Tom were on their way home and we were looking forward to a nice relaxing day, hanging around at West Holm, whilst Storm Bronagh carried on blowing outside. Looking out of the back window early doors we were treated to the sight of a rainbow and I just captured it and said how lovely it was and that it didn't look like rain as Martin said ... 'it's chucking it down'. And it was. We stayed tucked up in the cottage until about 3.30pm, when David, Alison and Bobby swung by for a walk on the beach, so we waterproofed up and battled the wind for a bracing walk along the beach at Widemouth Bay and Bobby pretty much declared Martin's walking pole as being his favourite beach toy ever 😀

Day 22 - It rained all day and, other than a quick trip to the supermarket for supplies we spent the day just chilling out. I managed to finish reading the second of my holiday reading books, which I really enjoyed.

Day 23 - It was another rainy morning and we all spent a couple of hours at David and Alison's cottage playing games and eating pizza. The afternoon was glorious, but very windy, and we headed back to the beach at Widemouth Bay to give the kite an airing. After another bracing hour or so it was into the Widemouth Bay Cafe to warm up with hot chocolate.

Day 24 - The forecast for the next few days was for sunshine all the way and we spent the first day of the good weather having a wander round Port Isaac. We spotted this fellow as we wandered along the footpath which takes you from the car park around the headland, coming into the top of the village by the old school. It's one of my favourite walks, be it only a short one, and the views out to sea are to die for.

Day 25 - Today was one of the loveliest of days and I was absolutely spoilt for choice of photographs to choose from. We were all having lunch at The Weir, then we went spent a lovely couple of hours on Crooklets Beach in the warm sunshine, where the little man loved paddling in all of the rock pools ... however deep! We ended the day with cake at the Crooklets Beach Cafe, which I am sure will become a firm favourite. Before we did any of these things though ... Martin and I had a walk out to Widemouth Bay point to hide one of those painted stones that we'd found back at home and we came across the strangest of sights. Yes, this is a tortoise ... called Zola, taken out for a walk every day by her owners and clearly loving the warm sunshine 🌞🌞🌞

Day 26 - Another glorious day, most of which we spent wandering out onto the breakwater and along the beach. We were back to the Crooklets Beach Cafe for lunch and couldn't have asked for a better view.

Day 27 - It was our last full day before heading for home and it was absolutely glorious. We had another lovely, lovely day ... starting with breakfast at the Crooklets Beach Cafe, followed by driving up the coast, hopping from beach to beach and tea room to tea room. We set up camp on Northcott Beach for an hour or so and I even had a proper paddle, where I got caught out by the waves whilst in selfie mode. We finished up with a last cream tea at the Morwenstowe tea rooms before heading back to West Holm for our last evening.

Day 28 - We were homeward bound today. It was a long old journey and ended up taking us seven hours! It is always nice to get home and I can't wait to find somewhere to put these ceramic chickens, which will always remind us of another lovely holiday in Bude.

Day 29 - It was a day of food shopping and gardening, trying to get straight for the winter. We emptied a few of the summer pots and did lots of pruning and cutting down. We do still have a bit of colour going on ... this Caryopteris which we planted last year is looking lovely.

Day 30 - It was another gardening day, making the most of the weather. We managed to get the grass cut, split the agapanthus, plant the daisies and lots of bulbs. Just look at the quince though, it is absolutely laden, probably the best its ever done ... does anyone fancy making quince jelly?

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As you would probably expect, I have lots to share with you from our time away, so look out over the next couple of weeks for more pictures and plenty of tales of what we've been up to.

For now, the agenda is bursting with plenty more Autumn gardening jobs to keep us busy!

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