Where has the sand dune gone?

Four days without any rain. Bliss. Ground is really drying out too and boys got down on the beach at the weekend with their boards and winter wet suits on. They stayed in the water much longer than I had anticipated, although if I am honest I was still sat on the beach with softshell, bodywarmer and wellies on.....so it isn't quite summer yet.

Someone had stolen the sand dune we usually run down at Mexico too! From the top it looked completely normal.

But half way down, it was as if a knife had sliced into it and cut it all away, amazing.

None of the rocks usually show at all , it is a straight, steep, but soft, sandy run down and onto the beach.....not so at the moment.

Still, it was wonderful to bask in the warmth of the sun, even if only on your face and to be down on the beach and "feel" that promise of summer, just aroung the corner.

How could I nearly forget 'Pirates on Penzance Prom'

Not sure how I had neglected to compute the significance of the Pirates on the Prom event with regard to the campsite, within those little grey cells of my brain, but I nearly had. So, huge thankyou to Paula for bringing it to my attention. For all those, who like me, have not been paying enough attention......... here is the link http://www.piratesontheprom.co.uk
The good news for would-be pirates who are also would-be campers, is that Ash Farm Campsite will now be open from 23rd May.

Having had a pirate style panto this year with our amateur dramatic group at Rosudgeon, we kept hold of some swords and headscarves to use with our own pirate costumes in May.

In 2011, pirates were the theme not only for the world record attempt on the Prom, but also for Marazion Carnival.

The carnival weather was hot and sunny. Perhaps this is a good omen for 2014. Hot and sunny, I'll vote for that!
Indeed, I might have to bring out the 2011 costume - not so very different from what I wear on a daily basis really!

Looking forward to meeting all our pirating campers this whitsun.

Half way up a hill

I am just so grateful that our little campsite is half way up a hill! For although the wind has bent the newly transplanted phormiums and the camping paddock is not exactly dry, it is also not waterlogged. The rabbits have eaten the young shoots on the hebe I transplanted though...grrrrr!

The horses field I have to say is a different story, it's like a mud bath, but we are not flooded like so many places, so again I am eternally grateful. Am also glad we have an open barn for the horses to take some 'time-out' away from the mud, the rain and the wind and munch some hay. The wind and the storms have taken a toll on the coastline however, walking back along the beach last week at the end of the school day we wondered where all the sand had gone?!

February has seen the purchase of some new hens to keep our single chicken-licken company and they seem to be getting along and have not blown away as yet. Bit of a rude awakening for them though, ten weeks living in a barn and then out into the elements in the orchard, with a henhouse to snuggle in at night.....sublime to the ridiculous...  Also snuggling in, are the cats, in a sheltered spot in the hay bales, keeping warm and getting out in the sun 'hunting' when they can.

The geese on the other hand, seem to be loving the weather, completely at ease in the rain and the wind and they have just started laying their large white eggs -which need two pieces of toast to provide for their size - they have also started wandering from the barn to the campsite paddock and reservoir garden, not quite sure why they are venturing so far, but they have a good splash in any puddles they can find.

January - first month of the gregorian calender

At last a fine day. Beautiful in fact. Blue skies and sunshine. Had intended swimming some lengths at St Ives Leisure Centre, only 15 minutes away, a lovely pool, with the most fantastic view of the town and harbour and the ocean beyond, but I had other priorities. Gardening. Tried hard to garden yesterday, but it was hard going in the wet. Today would be different. So onward with the transplanting of some shrubs, hypericum, hebe and hydrangea, phormiums, yucca and a cortaderia richardii.

For all those horrified by my resolve at this time of year, I would say in my defence that, so far this winter, we have had no frost in our perfect piece of cornwall, the gorse is already in flower, daffodils are already showing, so I figured that transplanting now might actually work. Time will tell whether my judgement is misplaced.

Last year I tried hard to turn our campsite boundary fence with the the waterboard into a feature, by utilising it for washing lines with ditsy pegs for campers and pretty solar lights along the top edge. I resisted the urge to plant along its margin, because at the end of the day, when it is not a campsite, the paddock is grazing for the horses and knowing how my horses love to investigate alternatives in their herbaceous diet, I figured ornamental planting may not last long. However, I have reneged and decided to try some to compliment the washing-lines and lights. And, when the horses are in the paddock, try some electric fencing to keep them off the plants! 

Hard to believe we are already almost halfway through the first month of the year. January, first month of the gregorian calender, derived from the roman god Ianuarius, who presided over the gate to the new year. Often symbolized by an image of a face that looks forwards and backwards at the same time, time to reflect on the previous year and perhaps redress or make improvements or new resolves for the year to come. How perfect a month for Ashfarm campsite, time to review last year, reflect on what worked and what could be improved or developed for the ensuing year.  

Our second improvement for this year then, is to move the campfire, which, through trial and error I have decided was too near the entry gate into the campsite paddock. Naturally this meant that it was necessary to have a small but inaugural 2014 campfire to try out the new placement!. Beautiful night for it, stars were out in splendour.

Christmas Wishes

Tom Bawcock's eve tonight and 'the great Storm-Cat' really has stirred, the wind is whining 'like a wild thing'.  Just been out to walk the dogs and put chickens and geese to bed and check horses and tuck some hay in the hedgerow for them to forage at and I can categorically say that 'at the far end of England, the blue-green sea' has most definately turned 'grey and black' and has drawn itself up into giant waves and is 'hunting the fishing boats in their hidden harbours'.  If you do not know the story of The Mousehole Cat, written by Antonia Barber and illustrated by Nicola Bayley then I can thoroughly recommend it as a children's read or film.
 
And the 23rd December is a wonderful night to explore the streets of Mousehole and the christmas harbour lights and follow the lanterns and people's procession as it winds its way round the streets with jigs and reels. It is festive and fun with a serious side.

Rather the same as the concept of the christmas tree. Our tree this year is decked and adorned and has an array of presents surrounding it. We are hoping it survives the festive season (we invested in a little potted tree with roots this year) so that we can plant it out in the reservoir garden in the new year with a hefty shovel of horse manure to encourage it to flourish and grow!

Although the weather is a little wet and windy at the moment, we did have some pretty good weather at the beginning of the month which allowed my 'campsite support crew' to have some productive fun with a small digger, clearing and landscaping the corner of the reservoir garden which was still in need of taming. They did a marvellous job. And thankyou to the weather gods who did not send too much cornish mizzle and rain to dampen what we could achieve.We still have to rake it and grass seed it in the spring but it lends itself now to a little nurturing.

So, here we are at christmas, the stockings are hung, by the chimney with care and we are looking pretty festive. Not really the season to be camping on our campsite, but have been searching for christmas camping pictures and found this picture of a nenets' reindeer hunt camp. It has all the makings of a good campsite christmas card, snow, tents, sledges.... something to work towards for next year.

Best Wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Festive New Year from Ashfarm campsite!

November: Gun Powder Treason and Plot

Gun powder treason and plot started the month off with a bonfire and 'homegrown' firework display for just the family at the campsite. We didn't have an effigy of Guy Fawkes to burn, but we did have a significant 'figure'. Both of my sons have used, over the years, a chest of drawers, painted blue and yellow, which we rescued from a field on the shores of Loch Ness twenty-two years ago, the table we rescued at the same time and painted in the same blue and yellow hues, did not stand quite the same test of time, but this chest of drawers with its assortment of children's stickers has served us well.

With one son now finished at university however and the other looking towards secondary school and revamping his bedroom accordingly, the chest of drawers has rather reached a natural-end and so it was, that it found its way, as an "effigy-to-youth" onto the Fifth of November bonfire.

The sleepiness in the campsite has been usurped by an active period in the wooded glade as the garden takes a bit more shape, to the point where I have started calling it the 'reservoir garden', a name which may stick, as a distinction to the 'campsite paddock'.

We have started managing and rejuvenating the garden boundary wall, which has become unruly with hawthorn and elder and holly, grown far too tall, their bounties unreachable and with ivy rampaging through their branches and over their trunks, smothering and threatening to dismantle the cornish hedge to boot.

Unfortunately the process is going to make some of the hedge look a little bleak and bare for the moment, but I am planning to get some beech hedging planted over the winter to improve the outlook.

And I have been trying to turn an old access cover into a bit of a feature, by revealing some of the wall structure and putting some pots with plants along its edge. Along its upper margins I have also begun creating another path, up to the picnic area. All these improvements are in their early stages, but they are slowly occurring.

When we developed the old water shed into a family changing-room a friend said how nice the rug and cushions in there were, "too nice to put in the changing-room" she said. I think she was wrong (she isn't often wrong.) I love them in this small space. But rather than pack them away over the winter, away from the damp and the snails - who seem to be invading the shed since the campsite closed - I have borrowed said rug and cushions for our living-room to "keep them aired" and I think they look rather nice!

October

October is my favourite month and this year is no exception. We have been treated to an equal amount of warm weather, rain and some lovely sunshine, which has all contributed to making the grass a lush, lush green again. Perfect for me to play clover horseshoes with.

The balmy october weather has helped the tree fern I transplanted grow three new fronds, somewhat annoyingly I missed photographing the curly fossil-shaped fronds as they first showed, but I am so chuffed I haven't killed it! And although tempted to cut the old brown fronds away, for right or wrong I am leaving them - unsightly as they may be - in order to protect the new ones from the wind and the cooling climate. The eschiums have all taken and are growing well, but then they grow like weeds here anyway, as do all the campions and forget-me-knots and cleavers, which are multiplying at a frightening rate!

But I love the patchwork of colours as the autumn leaves fall and gather under the trees, amidst the pebbles in the outdoor shower and along the paths.  Golds, brunettes, oranges and browns. There's a sleepiness about the campsite, like a cat curled in front of an aga.
Our miner bees seem to have finally hibernated in their new home. I wait with anticipation to see if they emerge in the spring undisturbed by their last minute home-building. (Don't worry I will keep you all informed).

The campsite paddock is again a pony paddock and we have moved the stones from around the campfire, to allow the grass to repair itself. Might position the campfire slightly differently next year, a little further from the gateway entrance.
I have looked at the undulations in the field with a view to making the camping area flatter and more "mown-lawn" like, but my learned farmer-friends tell me this means spraying, ploughing, harrowing and reseeding which means no camping next year. Not really the option I was looking for. So will have to have a rethink. Fortunately most people have air beds to use with their sleeping bags or duvets, so an uneven floor to your tent isn't such a problem.

 The blackberries are ready for picking on the hedgerows and we have King Byerd, Cornish Mother and Quennie apples in the orchard, to combine into a delicious blackberry and apple crumble.

October also means that the schools are back, which means the house stays cleaner longer and their are more "me" hours, which in turn means more time to horseride. Have had some lovely rides up over Castlegate, through the heather down to the heathland, with views to both north and south coasts, St Ives and Godrevy over to my left, St Michael's Mount and Mousehole on my right.  Herrlech!

Surflifesaving club has finished its sessions on the beach in preference for swim training in an indoor pool. Took the dogs down to the beach for the last session and introduced puppy to the sea, not sure she enjoyed her swim as much as we had expected.

But the old collie had a great time, gambolling along the beach, following my eldest son, swimming parallel to the coast, which was a complete surprise to us!