Green Tomato Relish

It’s not very often that you find me cooking but this is something that I don’t mind making and thoroughly enjoy eating afterwards!!

Ingredients:

3lb green tomatoes
8 medium onions
2 cucumbers
1 red and 1 yellow pepper
2pts malt vinegar
1 dessertsp salt
2 tblsp flour (heaped)
1 tblsp cornflour (heaped)
1 1/2lbs white sugar
1/2lb brown sugar
2 dessertsp curry powder (heaped)
1 dessertsp dry mustard

Method:

Chop everything into small cubes.
Sprinkle with salt.
Leave for one hour and then drain.
Add vinegar and sugar and simmer for one hour.
Mix dry ingredients together with some of the liquid from the pot.
Add to the pot and simmer for half an hour.
Bottle.

Evening at the Arms

Paul’s mum and stepfather have been in Cornwall for the last week and for various reasons we’d been unable to spend the day with them when they went out and about.  However this evening we’d been invited to join them all at the Portreath Arms for a meal as it was their last evening before driving home to Birmingham.  We enjoyed good food and had a lovely time in their company.

King’s Troop at Gwithian

I received a phone call from Jamie today in relation to the ongoing dispute with the car parking company.  He needed some more photos and so we hopped into the Mini and drove down to Gwithian.  We didn’t chance getting a ticket so parked in the National Trust car park and walked down to get the photos.  As we were leaving I noticed a group of riders heading for the beach and they looked like they were in the Services …

We’d seen on the local tv programme that the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery were staying in Cornwall as they showed them on the beach at Polzeath but I had no idea what group this could be.  Mike went back to the car as it was really windy and sunny which was causing problems for his eyes and I followed the horses down to the beach.  They galloped up and down on the waterline and I was hoping that they’d go into the sea but they didn’t while I was there.  After taking photos I had a chat with a couple of Service Personnel who were not mounted and they told me that they were a different section of the King’s Troop from St John’s Wood and they were staying at a local farm.  Apparently that evening they were having a jumping competition against the local Pony Club! 

Meeting up with a Cousin

Last November I sent a message to someone on Ancestry. My mother’s parents were on their tree and I was hopeful of finding a new cousin.  I’d completely forgotten about the message when in June this year I had a reply! 

I was now in touch with a first cousin called Valerie and she told her brother Michael who also made contact with me.  My mother was from a very large family and there are loads of cousins who I’ve never met – until today!

Michael and his wife Maxine were coming from Sussex to Devon for a holiday and so we arranged to meet at Kingsley Village at Fraddon.  Now that I am the chief driver due to Mike’s eye problems this was going to be the furthest I’d driven but everything went well and we arrived on time.  As we were looking for a parking spot we saw a couple waving frantically (I’d told them to look out for Henry) and then it was hugs all round.  We went into the Village to get a coffee and doughnut and have a good old chat.  Apparently Michael remembers meeting me when I was a child but I had no recollection of him or his sister at all.  His father Alfred was the eldest child in the family while my mother Grace was the fifth child and eight years younger than him.  After taking photos to commemorate the occasion we said our farewells and set off for home.

It was a brilliant day and hopefully there are more cousins out there for me to meet.

Cousin John’s Holiday

My cousin lives near Northampton and he arrived in Cornwall causing trouble before I’d even met him!  We’d gone into Redruth at 6.30pm to meet the National Express coach which was due in at 6.50pm and at 8.30pm we were still standing at the bus stop in the drizzle with no sign of either bus or him!  After talking to his sister I said I had to get home to get warm and dry and hope that John turned up on our doorstep some time.  As we were putting the car in the garage a neighbour came out and asked if we’d lost someone – yes it was John!  He’d been dropped at a different bus stop but he hadn’t come down to the one he arrived at last time, he just looked in the Station car park for a Mini and when he couldn’t find one he got in a taxi and came to Portreath.  I was not happy!!  I was cold, wet and very hungry – not a good start to the week!

We spent a quiet weekend in the village and then during the week we went for a drive to St Agnes Head which was very windy.  John had had an accident which damaged one of his legs so he walked with a stick and wasn’t terribly mobile.  Mike and I walked Hamish while John stayed in the car and admired the view …

We drove on into Perranporth but as they wanted £4 to park we turned around and came on home.  If we’d been parking for the day then I wouldn’t object to paying £4 but as we just wanted to stop for about half and hour it seemed a pretty steep charge to me.

Later in the week we packed up a picnic lunch and I drove us over to Marazion.  We parked in the car park that overlooked St Michael’s Mount and when a front row space became available I nipped into it!  John and I along with Hamish went for a stroll after we’d eaten our lunch and we watched the kite surfers enjoying the waves …

John was a great help to me when I began researching our family tree as he is a mine of information regarding the family.  I was able to show him photos and census records and he was very excited about it all.  I think he enjoyed his time in Portreath and when he left us he moved on to stay with a friend in Winchester before making his way back home.

Farewell Time

With the weather forecast predicting rain by about ten o’clock this morning we were up at the campsite early to help with the dismantling of tents.  Jamie and Phill had done quite a bit last night and when we arrived their tent was ready to come down …

 

However there didn’t seem to be the same amount of urgency in the other half of the camp!  Jack was cooking bacon for breakfast!

Once we convinced them that they needed to hurry it didn’t take too long for their tent to come down as well. 

Our attic was filled with their gear once again and we all went to the Arms for lunch.  The rain had arrived and they all left Cornwall mid-afternoon.  The house seemed very quiet once they’d gone but thankfully we got texts to report that they’d all got home safely.

Surfing Dudes!

Finally we got some good news from the Gwithian Surf Academy – there are enough waves for a surf lesson!  Loaded up in two cars we arrived and parked up, checked in and the kids and Simon began the business of being kitted out with wetsuits and boards … 

Once on the beach they had a warm-up and then began the instruction for catching the wave and just pushing up …

Then it was time to attach their boards and head for the waves …

Back to the beach to learn how to stand up …

and then back to the water to try it out with Mr Clever standing on his very first wave!

They all tried really hard and eventually made it!

At the end of their lesson they were all brought in and told they could stay in the water if they wanted to – of course they did!  They posed for photos and then went back in …

It was soon time to head back …

and then we found that both cars had been served with parking tickets!  The last time we’d parked here it was free and none of us had spotted any signs by the cars to indicate anything different.  Phill was immediately on the phone to the private company and complaining about it.  We took several photos to back up our case but it had left a sour taste in our mouths after such a fantastic afternoon.  Jamie was already planning the email he would be writing to them and they’d be fighting it all the way!