A week of family fun...

As hoped last week was great!  We decided to weather-watch and go camping when the weather promised to be fine.. Late Monday afternoon we made the decision to go; spent a few manic hours collecting camping gear from various nooks & crannies, packing and preparing - Tuesday morning we were on the road bright and early.

We took a bit of a gamble and set out with no campsite booked, only to find that everyman and his dog had decided to go camping in Cornwall that week lol. We still had no real trouble finding a good place to stay, it just meant we were not as close to a beach as we like. Regardless of this we had a really fun break... We were based just outside St.Agnes, on the coastal path right by an old tin mine..



Along the coastal path heading back to our campsite (which was behind the tin mine)

 This is Wheel Coates tin mine, partially restored and very beautiful, perched on the slope heading down toward cliffs.

Just look at how TALL it is!  This doorway was already about 20feet up.

Lots of hidey holes and tiny gaps to squeeze through exploring

It was worth the squeeze and climb for this view though!

Thought this was quite interesting.  We saw lots of the medieval workings - you certainly wouldnt walk across the heather where you cant see whats beneath it!

We had 3 wildlife encounters - 2 of which were quite unexpected! 

We came across a beautiful little adder (snake) basking in the sun on the coastal path just about 300 yards past the tin mine.  Didnt have my camera to hand unfortunately, he was so pretty; about 18" long, shiny and with a clearly marked black zig-zag/diamond pattern down his back.  He gently wove his way into the undergrowth when we got to within a couple of feet from him, didnt seem all that bothered about us - it was lovely.  A lizard ran across a few minutes later but only Matt saw him (he was leading the way)... shows how quiet that stretch of coast is for them to be out in the open, they are usually pretty shy.
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While brushing my teeth ready for bed on the first night I had a bit of a fright (nearly swallowed my toothbrush!!) when a bat crash landed in the sink I was using!  He must of chased a moth in through an open skylight.  Fortunately he found his way back out very quickly.
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Our biggest wildlife treat however was planned.  We took a boat trip out of St.Ives to seal island and saw the seals lazing on the rocks there.. there were snowy white babies too :)

This is the boat we went on.. the Dolly Pentreath.  Shes a replica of a traditional St.Ives fishing boat. 

We had such fun see-sawing over the waves on the way out - it made my heart soar I LOVE it!  Rachael was less enthusiastic ("why is it moving so much?!" followed by lots of girly squeels) and turns out Amber is no sea-dog!  She would not settle till she was on Garys lap.  Though in fairness she was getting bounced around pretty well.. Jess had the good sense to lay down & go to sleep behind my feet.

Big baby!

It was funny watching them lift their heads & tails everytime a wave came along to keep them out of the water

Lying there like a sausage :)

We had a couple of lovely days on the beaches..

Thats my little man in the sand dunes - he didnt stay still long enough to get a closer picture! 

We visited Gwithian beach, Hayle for the first time - and what a beautiful beach it is!  You walk over lovely big sand dunes to get on the beach, which is 3 miles of soft golden sand, crashing Atlantic surf and dogs are allowed on all year round.  Its lovely and clean too - we will definately be going back there.  Infact we spotted a campsite nestled right at the foot of the dunes that we shall investigate further.

Favourite days!
I think they were pulling faces at me, but Im not really sure :)

And now life is back to normal.. kids at school, husband at work.  Yesterday was spent weighing fibre & dyeing, with a little bit of felting to finish off.  Today I was at Oak House (doing living history) taking on a role I rarely do; Mistress Jane - the la-di-daa lady of the house - a role I find rather tiring if Im honest.  Livened it up though with 1/4 of an hour of dancing to finish off.

Lots of felty plans for the rest of the week.

xx