Well, I am back from my trip to the West Country, having had a very intense break. We crammed in so much in a week. For me, the Lost Gardens of Heligan were the star of the show. The Jungle was extraordinary – a valley, warmer than anywhere else in Cornwall, jammed with exotic plants from all over the world. The 1.8 acres of walled vegetable gardens filled me with envy, but the thing that resonated most with me was the story behind them. Nine of the thirteen gardeners working there in 1924 were killed in the First World War, resulting in the owner leaving the gardens he had built up in 1923, claiming that he could not live with the ghosts. The house was sold off separately and the exotic gardens were no more than local myth until a descendant of the creator of the gardens asked Tim Smit, the founder of the Eden Project, to look into it in 1990. Amazingly too, much of the work of clearing the gardens, rebuilding the walled gardens and digging out the ponds was done by volunteers. I had wanted to see these gardens since they were first discovered and they lived up to expectations. I am, as always when I visit gardens, buzzing with ideas and inspiration for my own, although perhaps not on that scale!
My expectations of St Ives were not so high, but in fact it was wonderful. We visited the Tate, immersing ourselves in some amazing modern art, and wandered around the town. What a fabulous place – no wonder it is such a major tourist destination. I have become so accustomed to the grey of the North Sea that the greens and blues of the sea bowled me over. Were it not for the rather chilly wind, we might have been in the Mediterranean. We even dropped by Lands End, which is shockingly commercialised, but apparently has been so since the railway came to Penzance in the 19th Century. That was on the request of my daughter, who, to my delight, seemed happy to spend the holiday with us rather than in her new student house.
And of course, there was Falmouth and the surrounding areas. We ate so well, bought books, hung out in pubs and I inevitably spent time in the wonderful Stitches and Cream yarn shop, coming out with some amazing hand-dyed yarn and some ideas for our own stock. Apparently the next time we go down there we will be living on a boat and sailing it around the estuary and the bay, but I might need some more persuading that this would be a fun way to spend time. I am grateful to my daughter for choosing such an amazing place to study. I suspect we might never have made it that far West otherwise.
On the way back we attended a family wedding which was fun, and I discovered that the Southern Wool Show was a mere four miles from where we were staying so I managed to do an unbelievably fast visit there and come out with some lovely yarns and a book about Medieval Embroidery. We then visited Oxford on our way home, dropping off our daughter to visit one of her friends and doing a quick tour of the University as well. I have to say that I probably walked more in a week than I have done in the previous year, and also that I have become unaccustomed to walking on any kind of slope. That is what comes of living in this lovely part of the world, I guess.
One of the best outcomes of the holiday for me was that I managed to finish off three of my current Works in Progress – a pair of socks, a top and the Dustland Shawl by Stephen West, which I cast on on Christmas Eve last year. I have two more sitting on my needles so I am inevitably thinking of the next cast on which I think is likely to be another Stephen West – his Mystery Knitalong which is called the GoGoDynamo Shawl. All in all, a successful break, although not terribly restful. But Mandy was so brilliant at handling stuff in the shop, that it was a proper break for me – I hardly thought about work at all.
Back on the ranch, as my mother used to say, the shop is getting busier with the arrival of Autumn and we are delighted to see everybody. We are planning on stocking some delicious new yarns, and getting in some old favourites to amuse you all over the next few months. I will update you as they arrive. We are also having the front of the shop redecorated. Only the undercoat is on as I write, but it has made such a difference that I accidentally walked past it today, barely recognising it.
My travels are not over. I am taking my father to Scotland next weekend to visit a friend of his who he has known for some seventy years. This means that I am afraid I will not be doing my blog next week, but I will be back the week after, before setting off again to see if I can get my Day Skipper sailing qualification down in Essex. On reflection, I have not been very organised in timing my breaks – I will be better next year, honestly!