Open Day at Homefield, Portreath

We lived very close to this new development when it was just a field, kept an eye on the objections to the planning and have since watched the progress of the building.  So today it was really interesting to get a close look at the finished properties when they held an Open Day. 

We left Hamish with his Grandma and joined Jo and Paul who’d also come down for a look around.  We began with the flats which were surprisingly spacious.  A big sitting room and a lovely kitchen with electric power points that disappear into the work surface – love them!

There was also a house open to view and this was a bit disappointing.  Whereas in the flat the sitting room was at the front which overlooked all the gardens and would be sunny all day, the house had a rear sitting room which when we turned off the light was actually quite dark.  Granted it had French doors which opened onto decking but again there’d be no sun out there and no garden as such. Another point was that all the bedrooms were overlooked by the houses behind in Sunnyvale Road.  They’ve used eco-friendly radiators which looked very smart but it will be a job and a half  to keep them dust free!

The main problem with the site is that each unit only has one allocated parking place and most families have at least two cars these days.  When I asked about this we were told it was down to planning rules and second cars would have to be parked on side roads outside the gated community.  That’s not going to be very popular with the locals!!

Trerice House and Gardens

Jo had a few days of holiday to take and so we set off this morning for Trerice which is a 16th century National Trust property near Newquay.  As it’s still early in the year there are plenty of gardens open to the public but Trerice is the only building open.  Mike had visited many years ago but it was a first time for both Jo and myself.  After checking in at reception we emerged to find a mass of daffodils, some in bloom and many about to bloom.  There was a lot of digging happening in the grounds by archaeologists but nothing spoiled the look of the house – it’s beautiful!  We saw a little summerhouse and Jo took a rest on a bench then we went through the archway and walked away from the house so we could turn and get the benefit of a full view.

We went inside and were told that unfortunately photos were only allowed in the Great Hall.  There was a lovely fire burning in the huge fireplace, suits of armour and chain mail …

Up above us was the Minstrels Gallery which we would be walking across on our tour of the house and where we managed to get a photo looking down …

Outside once again and we made our way around the house on our way to the tea-rooms …

We tucked into treacle tarts and lemon meringue pie with coffees and it was all very yummy!

We then went to look at the view from the rear of the grounds and looked down to where you can have your snack in the summer when the weather is warmer …

A quick look in the Hayloft at the photograph exhibition …

Jo and I then photographed some flowers before making our way back to the car park …

We were really lucky with the weather as we’d left behind a very wet Redruth.  It was a lovely house but it’s quite small and so the tour was over pretty quickly.  With time to spare we moved on to Ann’s Cottage Surf Shop and then Kingsley Village before heading home.

Crystal Side Repeaters

The last time that Phill and Jamie were in Cornwall Phill noticed that the side repeater was broken on the driver’s side of Henry.  Well I finally got around to ordering new ones online from My Beautiful Mini, choosing crystal ones instead of the original orange ones and this morning we went up to Jo and Paul’s where Paul did a brilliant job in replacing them for us.  He also sorted out the rear washer which was just dribbling water and re-aligned the passenger side windscreen wiper.   Many thanks Paul x

New Houses

I last blogged back in May 2011 about the new houses that were being built at the end of Greenfield Terrace / Rose Villa Farm.  This was how they looked last July …

and this was the progress by October …

We noticed that the fencing is now down and the road is open so wandered up to take a peek.  I was pleasantly surprised as it’s looking quite good!

Bottling Chateau Portreath

We’ve had a 5 gallon container of red wine waiting to be bottled for a little while now but with Mike’s poorly eyes it’s a job which has been delayed until he felt able to do it properly.  This morning he suggested that we get it done, apart from anything else we wanted to try it!  I helped him with the specific gravity testing as the marks on the hydrometer are very tiny and then after sweetening it up very slightly, it was over to him to bottle and cork.

At six o’clock the first bottle was opened and it tasted as good as ever! 

Chateau Portreath is the best!  Cheers!