Tales from the Sea Garden

Tales from The Sea Garden

Email me: theseagarden@btinternet.com

Wednesday 22 February 2012

A New Start....

Dear reader,
Yes I know it's been ages, but I think you will understand when I tell you that I have moved house! These last few months have been spent sorting, packing, cleaning, chucking out, (thinking: where on earth has all this stuff come from and why on earth have I kept it all?!), worrying, searching, and finally moving, into my new abode, a tiny cottage in a tiny rural village not far from Helston. And I couldn't be happier! I had a worrying couple of weeks when looking for somewhere to rent because there seemed to be so little choice available. I rang up countless times about properties only to be told they had already been let, or I would view somewhere and find a dozen others also applying for it. The rental market is booming at the moment because no one can afford to buy. But call it what you will, luck, or fate, has once again been on my side, and from the moment I walked into this house for the first time it felt like home.


And the best thing about it is the woodburner!
Ah what bliss to cosy up on the sofa and watch the flames of a real fire!
This cottage is much smaller than my last home, so I had to sell quite a few pieces of furniture; but it felt good to shed some quite frankly, unnecessary belongings. I did reach a point of complete physical exhaustion during the move, even though I thought I'd prepared myself quite well. Phew, it takes a lot out of you!
To cap it all, three days before moving out day I celebrated my 4oth birthday! So all in all it really feels like a new start to my life.... 
Over the last week I have had the chance to explore a little of my new environment. It's not a part of Cornwall I know very well, though funnily enough the road I now live on was already familiar to me as I have old friends who live just a mile away. I shan't say exactly where the village is, but the centuries old Godolphin House is nearby. The National Trust now look after Godolphin, and there are gardens and footpaths through the estate and woodlands where you can wander freely. The landscape here feels very ancient and unchanged. 

Scrubby gorse, bracken, moss-covered granite, thickets of hawthorn, holly and stunted oaks smothered in grey lichen, wind-blown and distorted. In reality this area was at the centre of the Cornish tin and copper mining boom, and a couple of hundred years ago the landscape would have been strewn with mine workings, engine houses, chimneys, stamping works and spoil heaps. The very first engine houses to be operated under steam power were at Wheal Vor in Carleen. Cornwall was at the forefront of the industrial revolution in this country, and the knowledge and expertise of Cornish miners and engineers was exported to all parts of the globe from the Americas to South Africa, Australia and Tasmania. It got me thinking... Cornwall must be one of very few places where the industrial landscape has completely disappeared and reverted back to being rural again. The only evidence now of such industrial activity are the derelict ruined engine houses and chimney stacks scattered around, but beneath the undergrowth there are disused mine shafts everywhere around here, and you have to be very careful to stick to the footpaths. Now the village is so quiet and peaceful; no shops, no pub, no church, and totally disconnected from the tourist trap that Cornwall has become. In a way it is such a relief to be distant from all that.....




In the heart of Godolphin woods I came across this enchanting little grove of Oak trees, fully mature yet so stunted in their growth as to have the appearance of Bonsai. A 'normal' size tree trunk is shown on the far right. I am glad to be seeing the woods now in their dormant state, and relish the changes that will reveal themselves as the year progresses. 



Have you seen the article on Trevoole Farm in the March issue of Country Living? This year the open days are going to be 6th May and 24th June. I really hope to make it this year, as last year both dates clashed with other commitments and so I was unable to make that long anticipated return visit. 


Talking of Country Living, The Spring Fair is just over a month away now and Patsy, Gertie and I are busy preparing for it. We have a lot to live up to after winning the Editor's Choice award last year! To be honest it's been a bit of a struggle to get back into the swing of making after the move, but a couple of days ago I sat down in my new studio and began a new collection of little brooches. Hope you like them.......






If you're thinking of going to the Fair and want to buy tickets (they are cheaper if you buy them in advance), go to www.countrylivingfair.com/spring/tickets

I promise it won't be so long till my next posting, thanks for hanging on in there for me!
xxx


24 comments:

  1. That's really funny because only yesterday I was wondering how you were getting on. Your little cottage sounds wonderful x

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  2. best wishes in your new home x
    the inside and area look so sweet and beautiful- enjoy it and your new beginnings ;0)

    x Kazzy x

    (i used to be 'a mermaids purse' blog, but ive started a new blog since last autumn)

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  3. Wishing you every happiness in your new home Christine! Life really does begin at 40 (I should know ;-))...having past that milestone quite some time ago!)

    I was just recommending Trevoole to a friend of mine this week...she hopes to go sometime this year. She's gardenalia potty(!), so would be in her element.

    'Happy Crafting' sat by your lovely cosy wood burner! (love the new brooches BTW, they are so pretty.)
    Niki x

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  4. Congratulations on your new home and may you continue to be as happy as you are now! Plenty nearby to get those creative juices flowing. ;-)

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  5. You sound settled, excited and generally tickety boo! Love the brooches, they look great.

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  6. Congratulations on selling your house and moving. will you still be travelling up to The Sea Garden?

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  7. I wasn't following your blog when you lived at your old house, so I can't say much except that your new cottage looks lovely, and I'm very jealous of your little fireplace. I live in Denver, Colorado, and even though we have the mountains, it definitely cannot be considered country living. Your region looks idyllic. It is suprising that most of the traces of industrialism are gone.

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  8. Looks so perfect Christine - you are over in our neck of the woods now, our house is the other side of Gweek between Port Navas and Mawnan Smith!I am coming down in a couple of weeks - Cant wait!!! Congratulations on the move, Happy belated Birthday and good luck with the Country Living Fair,

    Sarah -x-

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  9. It's lovely to hear from you again, was wondering what was happening. Your new cottage sound lovely, I wish you every happiness in your new home.

    Fleur xx

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  10. I went to Trevoole last year and, even in the pouring rain, it was absolutely gorgeous. http://thingshelenlikes.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/trevoole-farm/

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  11. Welcome to your new home, it looks beautiful and I think things happen for a reason, especially finding your home. I knew I had to live in my present home the second I walked through the door but I was too late with my offer. Several weeks of looking for somewhere else this house came back on the market and the rest is history. Your home was waiting for you :-)

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  12. Love your new cottage, we are waiting to have a wood burner put in at the moment and I can't wait to be cosy. The brooches are great, love the one with the little silver locket.
    Hugs
    Pene x

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  13. I love the interior of your little cottage, as well the area around Helston. We holiday each year in a tiny old fishing village around 13 miles away from there. Lucky you, living so near to Godolphin House, it's the most beautiful, fragile house. I hope the NT treat it carefully. I also enjoyed the CL article about Treveoole as your blog post really inspired me to visit there. Problem is their open days have never coincided with my holiday. Good luck at the fair.

    Tracey

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  14. How good to see you back and happy in your new home.
    I've been wondering where you were and now I can read your blog news again.

    Diane. x

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  15. Christine,

    So much beauty. What a wonderful place you have found to live, and the fireplace has so much character. I am very intrigued by the pygmy oaks and hope you will post more about them. Looks as if you have found a real secret heaven there. I have no idea where it is but it just adds to the mystery!
    xx
    julie

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  16. What a cozy little place to call home.
    Love the brooches.
    Susan

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  17. What a big upheaval! Glad to hear you're settled , and not far from me in St.Ives!!

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  18. Loved the post! Moving is exhausting, I will be doing that soon.
    As a child I remember visiting Newquay in Cornwall, so picturesque!

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  19. What a gorgeous cottage, I love the first picture of your woodburner. It sounds like a lovely area you have moved to and I can'wait for the March issue of Country Living to arrive in Australia.

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  20. Greetings! I have put you down for a nomination for a Versatile Blogger award. That may sound very official, but it's mostly just for fun. Nevertheless, you do get to discover other blogs and get 'discovered' too, perhaps in a different light. So, if you click onto my page (Seven Deadly Sins), you'll find out more. I initially came from Penzance - which just goes to show... Birds of a feather...

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  21. I'm pleased you have settled in to your new home x

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  22. hi Christine, missed your blog,glad your back.Have been to your lovely shop with my hubby while on hols,a few times.Hope to see you and Cornwall soon.Good luck in your new cottage,love Helston ,always stay there.Best Wishes Lizzie

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  23. What a lovely atmosphere the firenook gives it looks so cosy. We have stayed many times in Helston and surrounding villages in years past. Sadly I'm not up to driving the 350-400 miles now so we holiday a couple of hrs drive away in a place we also love. I wish you every happiness in your new home.

    Peg x

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  24. How lovely to have you back.....Wishing you happiness in your new home...xx

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