Day 1 of my week's birthday trip to England was a breeze because, well...it was a short day. I told you each consecutive day would be longer. But at this pace, I may just finish the trip before g'son Nicholas arrives on July 17th!
So, moving right along....
Lisl and I got up bright and early on Tuesday, 16 June, to take the train from Westbury Station, Wiltshire, to Cornwall, where we would spend two nights with Pauline, a long-time friend of Lisl's and another Shutterchancer.
How many times have I told you I love the trains of Europe!
And the longer the ride the better. This one was 3.5 hours,
with enough time to have a bacon-buttie elevenses.
See how close we came to the coast?
There were spots when we were right at the water.
In fact, last year the heavy rains actually covered the tracks!
I especially felt lucky to get the Pegasus vane in focus passing by!
By the time we got to St. Austell, we both had taken photos and enjoyed the sun.
Pauline met us in St. Austell and drove us to her home nearby where we got settled for our stay.
Back at the end of her yard near the shed are her gorgeous chickens.
You'd swear they were her children by how much she loves them. Seriously.
And guess what! I never once heard them crowing the two nights/mornings I was there.
Here's a sampling of the scads of flowers all over Pauline's yard,
preparing me for what was yet to come.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
We spent the afternoon at the Pencarrow House and Gardens in Bodmin, 30 minutes away.
We weren't there to visit the house but to walk the land and see the gardens.
From the house there's a one-mile walk down the carriage drive to the iron age hillfort.
The closer we got, the trees whispered to us and drew us in.
By the time we got to the hillfort, we luxuriated in the strong energy of the area.
The banks and ditches aren't archeologically excavated but go back to the 3rd-1st centuries BC.
The ladies knew I wanted "old" and old I got!
And while walking along, I also got flowers!
These weren't in gardens, mind you. They mostly just lined the road,
both coming and going back to the house and the Peacock Café.
It was time for an English afternoon tea when we got back to the house,
but what I didn't know was that the ladies had planned a proper Cornish CREAM tea for me,
with candles, no less, for my 70th birthday. I'm actually welled up with tears in that above photo.
A cream tea, in case you're clueless (as I was), is tea with scones smothered in clotted cream and jam!
And that's where we saw the peacock and hen, strutting their stuff.
After tea, we headed off to the small lake on the other side of the house,
passing the largest Cornish cross of its type, found in a hedge at Trescowe ca. 1870.
Cows were off in the fields along the way, caught by my 1200mm lens, thankfully.
But it was the wee lake, covered with lily pads, that became a long resting place for us.
All 3 of us walked around, sat, and absorbed Mother Nature.
Even the flowers there seemed different.
We didn't see any foxes but the weathervane of the Pencarrow house was a treat,
in shadow and in sun.
What a way to start a 3-day stay in Cornwall!
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
I can't leave this post without a shout-out to the SCOTUS decision yesterday,
ruling that Marriage Equality is now the rule of the land nationwide in the USA.
I'll never forget the date: 26 June 2015.
My mom would have turned 99 were she still alive.
And it's still my birth month, celebrating my 70th birthday.
It happened in my lifetime, Folks!
