Christmas and New Year Opening Times

 at The Sea Garden

I shall be open daily up to and including Sunday 4th January

1 - 5pm

except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Monday 29th December

May I wish all my customers and all you dear blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to come x x x

Thank you for your company and friendship

A little Festive cheer!

For the first time I decided to have a real Christmas tree in the shop this year.....

I've really enjoyed decorating it. I seem to have a bit of a bird theme going on, with white china birds which clip onto the tops of branches, and several varieties of glass birds hanging alongside the usual assortment of glass angels. I love the way the lights sparkle off the glass, especially when it gets dark outside. Banishing the cold and wet and dismal winter days, just for a while.

(Antique French bridal crown: £95)

(Vintage map bunting: £16.50)

 (My handmade paper and lace angels: £12.50)

The latest selection of 'Jars of Inspiration', in beautiful vintage heavy cut-glass preserve jars.

 (Large buff handmade gift labels: £2 each)

I have been experiencing major problems with my broadband lately, not being able to send/receive emails, update the blog etc, and I can't load up anything new onto my web shop page, extremely frustrating!!!! (I'm using someone else's internet signal to write this......) Why oh why does my broadband fluctuate so much - one week working perfectly well, the next so slow I just give up trying? Apologies for the rant......The worst thing was I couldn't watch 'Strictly' on iPlayer! Am very much hoping things will be back to normal in time for the Grand Final on Saturday; I'm rooting for Caroline to win, how about you?

 xxx

Beach therapy

I have a cough and a cold at the moment (along with half the population I suspect!), but I thought a bit of fresh air on the beach would do me good......

As always I took along my collecting bag, and this is what I came back with.....

a mixture of shells and pebbles and sea glass, some seaweed attached to a bit of shell, and a tangle of fishing line with interesting tube worm casts.

 I found six cowries, which will be ideal for decorating the tops of these tiny old wooden clockmaker's boxes.

Here's what they look like when they're finished:

I've always believed in the power of nature to make you feel better!

Keep cosy; it's gonna be another frosty night x

Talland Bay and Polperro

Today J and I drove to a bit of Cornish coast that I have never visited before.....Talland Bay. The sea was all sparkling diamonds as we ate our bread and cheese lunch. Hot sun and no wind - perfect! A few people swam. I did a spot of beachcombing. Then we decided to walk the mile and a half to Polperro.......

only the bit of coast path from Porthallow had suffered a serious cliff fall in last winter's storms and so was closed. A detour led up this incredibly steep road, boy was it steep!

A first glimpse of Polperro, unfortunately at this time of late afternoon all in the shade.

This really is the best time of year to visit somewhere like Polperro, which gets so overrun with tourists in high season. Only a handful of people were wandering the backstreets now. 

The Shell House

Stone steps lead up to tiny cottages everywhere....

 This antique shop had some nice boaty bits and paintings for sale

The setting sun behind our backs as we said goodbye to Polperro and wended our way uphill..... again!

There are fireworks going off in Calstock as I write this...... so Happy November 5th everyone, it's a perfect moonlit night for a good bonfire! xxx

Family and Fun

A day away from the shop and a chance to spend precious time with family......my three nephews are down for their half-term break. After a delicious pasty lunch at the National Trust cafe at Carnewas we head down the steps to the beach at Bedruthan.

Waiting for the tide to go out just far enough so that we can venture onto the pristine sand beyond......

Then in the evening, a visit to Trerice Manor for some ghostly goings-on at this reputedly haunted house cared for by The National Trust. Armed with torches we step inside the large dining hall......

where a grisly ghoul emerges from a cobwebby casket. And then his eyes light up!

Upstairs a severed hand dripped blood into the bathtub, and a figure of an old crone propped up on pillows in the bedroom suddenly lunged forward and shouted BOO! (In the dim light it was hard to tell what were make-believe figures and which were real people!) 

Hope you too had a Halloween full of family and fun x

Here's a little update on how the shop's looking at the moment......

I'm sorry I haven't done much blogging lately; there always seems to be something more urgent (and more boring, like paperwork) that takes precedence.

My online shop has also been sorely neglected....I must rectify that soon!