Heligan

I remember visiting the Lost Gardens of Heligan as a child, but not very clearly. There were bits I recognised and I had a general idea of the whole place but it was definitely good to revisit. There was probably more open than last time as they're still working on it all. For those who don't know, the story of the gardens is explained here.
The whole place combines two things I like very much; fascinating history and pretty flowers.
We started out by walking down to the Lost Valley.

Where we had to be very careful not to tread on tiny frogs.

It'd rained the night before so everything was covered in droplets.

The jungly part is full of plants from all over the world.

Giant rhubarb!


There are some big old rhododendron bushes.

Friendly wildlife

The more formal and kitcheny parts of the garden are full of nice things too.


The old boiler is still there, but very much not intact.

This was used to provide heat for the greenhouses growing tropical fruits.

The huge walled garden is now home to an amazing array of fruit and vegetables, based on the varieties traced as having been grown there previously.


It's amazing how the garden could just be forgotten, become so overgrown, and then be recovered so well. I'm too young to have paid attention to the TV series about the restoration of the gardens at the time, but it's a fascinating story and definitely well worth a visit. (even at £10 a go!)

Fowey & Polruan

The fourth day of my week(ish) in Cornwall was spent exploring Fowey/Bodinnick/Polruan.
We parked above Readymoney Cove (one of the places Daphne Du Maurier lived), walked down and climbed up to St Catherine's castle, which is looked after by English Heritage. As well as being a nice old castle it has good views, from Fowey right 'round to the sea. (pano too wide for blogging here)


We then walked towards the middle of Fowey itself, which was full of holidaymakers (and seagulls).

After lunch at The Gallion, a pub on one of the main streets, we took the car ferry to Bodinnick (Du Maurier land again), walked up the hill a bit, and followed a footpath around the inlets.

After a fair bit of steep up and down lumpiness we descended into the valley and crossed a creek, it was low tide.

We met a rather nice friendly duck, but sadly had no bread to give her. We didn't think she'd like tangerine. We continued up the other side of the valley and around to Polruan, where we bought ice creams and admired the view.


We went down to the blockhouse, which is an old stone structure which, back in the day, was connected by a chain to a counterpart on the opposite shore. The chain could be raised or lowered to prevent ships from entering the inlet & reaching Fowey/Polruan.
There were some rather fluffy baby gulls, and more nice views.

We followed the coast path up to the top of the cliffs. I spotted these on the way.

Of course the view got thoroughly photographed.

And there were even some pretty flowers.


The view from the very top of Polruan, by the remains of an old chapel (on the Saints Way) was pretty impressive, and I got waved at by a cheery man in the coastwatch hut.
We took the Polruan ferry back to Fowey and returned to the car. The £5.30 for parking for more than a couple of hours is pretty extortionate by most standards, but we definitely made sure we got our money's worth!

Mochi!

While I was in California last summer, staying with my lovely American exchange family (from school in 2005) they hosted Shabbat dinner for lots of family friends and someone brought these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi_ice_cream
Not your traditional Jewish food, but really nice. Hooray for multicultural LA.

Here's the box:

And a cross-section


Many mochi!. Possibly fake, but very Japanese in that.

It seems that they're an adaptation of mochi, which originates in Japan. It is essentially glutenous rice paste with some sort of flavouring (often green tea), usually formed into balls or cubes or used to make other sorts of sweets. Ice cream mochi is a twist on the more usual "daifuku", mochi with a sweet filling, usually red or white bean paste.
I'd love to have ice cream mochi again, and to try some plain mochi. I'm not sure where I can get them in the UK but oriental supermarkets and Japanese restaurants seem like a good place to start. Until then I can console (or possibly antagonise) myself with photos.
Flickr seems to be a great fan of them, probably because they're photogenic and come in nice pastelly colours. Here's a selection (all CC license)


Complete with recipe link, this calls for a visit to an oriental supermarket.

A nice green one, reluctant to be blogged.


Some variety.

Here're a couple of fairly simple sounding recipes to finish off:
Extremely simple, possibly heretical, microwave version.
With red bean paste filling.

P.S. In my search I also found a lot of rather cute animals.

.*.*.

I'll take this one!

Sadly this is *not* where I'll be living. But my new house is fairly nice for a student flat, and in an excellent location; it's within easy reach of the university, Sainsbury's, and the Students Union, without being on a busy road. Hurrah!
Expect many excited photos of my new surroundings to appear on Flickr, and slightly fewer here.
(assuming I manage to keep up my blogging!)

Beside The Seaside

Housel Bay(map) on The Lizard near the Southernmost Point, is absolutely gorgeous. And I don't use that word lightly (unless I'm being sarcastic!)


From the East side.


The path down to the beach there is quite lovely too.


There are alliums growing wild next to the coast path.


And foxgloves.


It's nice to just sit on the rocks and watch the water.

Late-afternoon at Loe bar

A few bits of Cornwall.
Loe Bar, near Porthleven on The Lizard.


Grasses and blueness.


The view from inside a pill box.


The sea and a suffering fence.


Sunny silhouetted grasses.


Late-afternoon fishing.

Pretty Things

They make me happy.

Acessorize is having a sale :)