Tide Race at Portreath

It was Tide Race day and the sun shone!!! There was frantic action on the beach ...

with even the littlies taking part ...

and even Jo took her shoes and socks off! A first I gather ...

Once the building had taken place it was a matter of waiting for the inevitable ...

For some reason Phil's brother and his friend decided to watch from the sea ...

and after the last sand castle had succumbed it was time for the prize-giving ...

Great fun - made all the better by the good weather.

Once the competition was over the boys went in the sea and it looked really inviting ...

I'm ashamed to say I haven't been in this year - just managed a paddle or two!

Sad Goodbyes

It was time for Simon and the children to return to Berkshire today - not a happy day. Once the car was packed and goodbyes were about to be said Mike and I were given a present. It was a lovely cushion with the words "Grandchildren - all the pleasure -none of the pain". Needless to say I blubbed like a good'un!

Football and a Party

It was footie day today because Tesco had been advertising a Skills Roadshow and they were coming to our local branch at Redruth. The boys got dressed in their kit and Ellie went along because she had to! Who had as much fun as the boys? Yes - Ellie!

In the evening we had a 'bit of a do' as all the family were in Cornwall and it is a 'special' year for me. With my birthday being in November we're not sure how many of them can get back down, so adding a few friends to the numbers we had an enjoyable evening. The boys sorted all the food for me which was just great!

Someone was tucking in!

I felt quite a fraud when they all sang Happy Birthday but the cake was good!

At the end of the evening we all went out on the veranda and Mike and Simon lit a lantern and set it off from the head of the harbour.

Cream Teas and BBQ

For weeks we've been saving the vouchers out of the Western Morning News so that we could go to Callestick Farm for cream teas and get the 2 for 1 offer. There are loads of different places to go but Callestick is quite close and we like it there. We always cause chaos but it's a lovely tea and the lady is getting used to us as we went there twice last year. This time there was a large model cow for the children to sit on ...

and luckily it was a dry day so we could all sit outside ...

After tea we had a wander round the farm animals ...

and the children had a play on the swings ...

We had planned a BBQ on the beach for the evening and were really hoping that the rain would stay away. Jo and Paul had ordered a Cantonese meal from the village so they brought it to the beach with Fred and while Jamie cooked ...

the kids played cricket ...

and I built stone piles like we'd seen in Scotland ...

As it got darker we collected driftwood and made a fire ...

Golf and Crafts

Ellie had her special treat last Saturday so today was the turn of Jack and Cameron to get their wish fulfilled for a round of golf. They went to the Radnor Golf and Leisure complex which was where their Dad had lessons when he first started golf back in the 1980's. After sharing a basket of balls on the Driving Range and a short spell on the practice green ... they set off on the nine-hole course with Grandad acting as official photographer ...



They are great little golfers and apparently several players who were also on the course were watching and admiring their swings! At the end of the day it was Jack who won with Cameron second and Dad made the ultimate sin of signing an incorrect card so the boys disqualified him!

Meantime Ellie and I were at Jo's enjoying a craft afternoon making cards. Ellie was picked up by Jo in her MX-5 which made the boys very jealous ...

and I got a lift over in our car before Mike joined the boys. Jo had us cutting and sticking all afternoon and here are the results ...

Portreath Playground

Earlier in the year we had Ty Pennington in the village doing a makeover of the playground. The kids have been down to play there several times since they arrived so here are a few of the antics that they got up to ...







The makeover is due to be aired weekdays from Tuesday 16th September at 10pm on UKTV Style (246)

The Dog Show That Wasn't!

Jo had heard that there was an event over Marazion way which included a fun dog show and so we all decided to take the dogs and see if they could win a rosette each. Jamie and Phil had arrived yesterday with Ozzie, Jo and Paul had Freddie and of course we had Hamish. There were supposed to be signs up around Marazion / Goldsithney which would direct us but we couldn't find anything at all. After driving round in circles, phoning the number on the leaflet, asking at the shops in Marazion and popping in the pub at Goldsithney we finally gave up and headed for Godrevy where the dogs could have a run and we could enjoy our picnics. Jamie finally got an answer on the phone number and apparently it had been cancelled but no signs had been put up to let people know - they thought we'd all guess!!

Godrevy was lovely and we managed to see some seals which the kids thought was fantastic ...

and after a walk around the headland and the obligatory photo taken with the timer ...

we settled down to our picnic overlooking the beach ...

and watched a helicopter fly overhead ...

before having a snooze ...

well some of us did!

Ellie's Day

We had two requests in advance of the grand-children arriving and they were that the boys wanted to play nine holes of golf and Ellie wanted to have a riding lesson.

Well today was Ellie's day for her wish to come true.

We all went up to Wheal Buller Riding School which was where her Uncle Jamie had received lessons when he was a small lad. She was fitted with a hat and she met Molly who would be her pony for the next hour. She looked very nervous at the start but after mounting ...

she walked around the indoor school on the lead rein and we had a little smile as she passed us ...

There was only one other girl in the lesson which was great as she had plenty of instruction and it wasn't long before she was walking around off the lead rein and then on her own ...


The boys were not over thrilled at being dragged along to watch ...

but back home Ellie is often supporting them when it is a football match, so it was only fair! She struggled to master the rising trot at the beginning but by the end of the lesson she had cracked it which was fantastic and all lessons finish with Round the World ...

It was finally time to dismount and lead Molly back to her stable ...

One very happy little girl got in the car hoping that it won't be too long before she can have another go.