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St Nectan’s Glen
Here are the promised photos I took on my trip to St Nectan’s Glen. It’s not that far away, but the roads got smaller and smaller and there were lots of tractors, so it took a good while to get there.
First there was a pleasant walk along a little road.
Cee’s Black and White Challenge – Liquids
Here are some pictures for Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s subject is “liquids”. Any liquid is fair game!
Sharing My World 2015 Week 17
It’s Sunday, the day I contribute to Cee’s Share Your World, just one of the fun challenges that Cee organises on a weekly basis.
What is your most favourite smell/scent?
My two favourite smells are quite opposite to each other. One is the smell of bacon cooking. Mmm, bacon. The other is the smell of nature. Not cow poo or anything like that, but the smell of the forest, cut grass and flowers.
The Higher Garden at Lanhydrock, near Bodmin, Cornwall
Do you prefer long hair or short hair for yourself?
Well, quite recently I toyed with the idea of having longer hair. I decided it would be cool. However at my age it would probably just look stupid, and when my hair gets to a certain point it tends to puff out. So short is the way to go for me. If I was going to try “going hippy” I should have done it 25 years ago.
Do you plan out things usually or do you do them more spontaneous (for example if you are visiting a big city you don’t know?)
Tricky one. I used to plan everything down to the last detail. I don’t do that any more. That’s not to say I’m a spontaneous person. There isn’t a less spontaneous person on the planet than me!
However, if I’m off somewhere I don’t know, I’ll plan the route, where I can park and if applicable I’ll book somewhere to stay. That’s the limit. I might switch the car display to “map” so I can see roughly where I am but I’ve never actually used the Sat Nav per se.
I’ve discovered that planning everything to the last detail leads to major stress. Knowing where I’m going and that I have somewhere to stay reduces stress, having exact things to do at exact times – well, life’s too short to put myself through that.
What is your favourite outdoor activity?
Walking in the woods, gardens and so on I guess. And I like taking pictures of it all. So in the spirit of that, here’s another picture of Lanhydrock, looking at the main house across the lower gardens, framed by little ornamental battlements.
Sharing My World 2015 Week 6
People sing, as one rejoice
Hailing loudly in one voice
Trumpets play and flags unfurled
Now it’s time to Share My World!
(hosted by Cee at her photography blog)
What was the last time you went to a new place?
Last month I went to Cardinham Woods, near Bodmin. Not only have I never been before, but I didn’t even know it was there! It was my Godson’s first birthday and he likes to trot around the place, so I took the day off work to join him for a nice walk and lunch in the little café there.
If you were or are a writer do you prefer writing short stories, poems or novels, other? And what type of genre would you prefer?
I write really short flash fiction. Genre-wise, humour, horror, gore, dark, dark humour, sci-fi. Really pretty much everything except lovey-dovey stuff.
I know I’ve got a novel in me but I’m too lazy to start working on the plan and the characters and yadda yadda yadda. It’s a shame because it would have been awesome and a best seller and there’d be a film and I’d be walking down the red carpet and everything but there you go.
Out of your five senses (touch, taste, sight, smell, hearing) which is your favourite?
Oh golly gosh, I don’t know. I usually need at least two senses in concert. Unless I’m actually in a concert, in which case hearing would be just the thing. We have all five for a reason and I’m not really willing to give any of them up. Sorry.
If 100 people your age were chosen at random, how many do you think you’d find leading a more satisfying life than yours?
Ack. Another impossible question.
Okey-dokey. The key here is the phrase “at random”. I’m guessing that at least 50% of the people chosen will be living in poverty/under an oppressive regime/suffering from some disease/in prison/living in a war zone. So I’m already at 50. The remaining 50 have “nothing really to complain about” compared to the first 50, so now we have the “tricky” bunch.
I’m perfectly content but could be “doing better” for various reasons. So I’m going to say 30/100 people are leading a more satisfying life than me.
Am I over-thinking this?
Sharing My World Week 45
It’s “me” time again here on the old blog, with Cee’s Share Your World series.
What is your favourite colour?
Blue, violet-blue, that sort of colour. This sort of colour, which was in my garden during the summer.
I love this one, whatever it is. Such a lovely colour!
In what do you find the simplest of joys?
I quite like sitting near water when it’s warm as sunny, preferably with no-one else around. Maybe here, at Tintagel.
Or here, at Golitha Falls.
Would you prefer a reading nook or an art, craft, photography studio?
I don’t need any of these things! As a singleton, I can read or do crafts and whatnot anywhere I like :-). If I had to choose though, I would go for a reading nook, whatever that is.
What is at least one of your favourite quotes?
There are so many great quotes out there that I can’t remember any of them.
Since it’s quite topical, here’s a conversation snippet from one of my favourite comedies, Blackadder Goes Forth, which was set in the First World War. A sad commentary on the inadvisability of using a deterrent to keep the peace (the nuclear deterrent today?).
Captain Blackadder: You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent war two great super-armies developed. Us, the Russians and the French on one side, Germany and Austro-Hungary on the other. The idea being that each army would act as the other’s deterrent. That way, there could never be a war.
Private Baldrick: Except, this is sort of a war, isn’t it?
Captain Blackadder: That’s right. There was one tiny flaw in the plan.
Lieutenant George: O, what was that?
Captain Blackadder: It was bollocks.
Windows in Truro
I was in Truro last week waiting outside a coffee shop for a friend and when I looked up I saw a photo op! I thought I would submit it to Dawn’s “Lingering Look at Windows“, as it has some cool windows in it. This was taken at around 1730, a couple of hours before sunset.
This is the side of the old “Coinage Hall”. A couple of hundred years ago Truro was a “Stannary Town”. Cornwall had a thriving tin mining industry, and ingots were brought to Stannary Towns for assay.
It now houses tea houses and a Pizza Express, though the outside has been left largely untouched.
A Trip to Golitha Falls
Last week I took a little drive to Golitha Falls, an hour’s drive or so away. It’s not a big waterfall, but a series of tiny dinky little waterfalls. And I use the word “waterfall” lightly.
Here are some photos from my trip.
Sunday Stills – Power Lines
I was reading one of Cee’s posts and that put me onto a photography challenge, for which I have the perfect photo! I actually published it a couple of weeks ago as part of a set of photos I took while on a walk from my house to the next village.
This week’s topic is “power lines” and is part of Sunday Stills. I took the photo because I thought the power lines looked quite cool from down on the road. You can just make out the warning triangle at the bottom of the pole, telling people to stay clear – “danger of death”!
Welcome to Camelot
On Monday I went for a trip to Tintagel, a little village on the north coast of Cornwall. It’s a tiny place, but boasts more car parks than you could believe. Why, I hear you ask?
I parked in the “Sword in the Stone” car park. Does that give you a clue?
It’s supposedly one of the possible locations of King Arthur’s court, he of “Round Table” fame. I’ve been to Tintagel several times, but this time I coughed up the £6.10 to go onto the castle grounds (owned by English Heritage) for the very first time.
Kastel Dintagel (Cornish) or Tintagel Castle (English!) was built by Richard, Earl of Cornwall in 1233. It is said that Richard built his castle on this spot to link him forever to King Arthur, who according to legend was conceived and born here.
The phrase “Earl of Cornwall” is interesting in itself – in 1337 Cornwall was promoted to a Duchy (the first in England), and it now has a Duke (Charles, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall).
Anyway, enough of this history/myth/legend! Here are some pictures. The cliff-top part of the castle is actually on an island. You wouldn’t believe the number of very steep steps involved crossing over. I got a good workout 🙂
If you click on any of the pictures, you get a little slideshow thing of larger versions.
Cornish Hedgerows
As it is another lovely day (and I’m still on holiday) I went for a walk to the next village, Ladock, a round trip of just under three and a half miles, so an nice distance for a wander.
In Ladock I visited the village shop (which turned out to be essentially a Portakabin) and bought an ice cream. I also bought a bottle of Diet Coke to drink on the way back as I’m notorious for wandering around in the sun without drinking anything, which leads to an afternoon of headaches and Paracetamol.
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Woohoo!
I totally didn't win!
Share Your World
Friday Fictioneers
draliman on life 