Frugal Friday…

 

I was tempted to call this a “Thrifty Thursday” post instead when I decided to use the photo above as the header - resisted temptation though! This is of course a bank of Thrift down at Gunwalloe on the Lizard Peninsula, taken on our recent week’s holiday down there. As you know, we budget for our annual fortnight up in the Western Isles, that money is set aside and only used for that purpose and things related to it, so any other trips we want to take during the year are funded separately, and this one was no exception.

We knew we wanted to do a full week away, but we’re also determined that it couldn’t cost a fortune as the budget simply isn’t there for that, so decided from the start that careful choices around where we spent money were going to be the winner here to let us have a really enjoyable week without breaking the bank. Accommodation is of course always the big ticket item for a holiday - thankfully we have the tent and are more than happy to use it - and our chosen campsite is a very reasonable £15 a night for a tent, two people and car. To that was added the single night  in a Premier Inn on the way down - £53 there, but it made the difference between getting a full day in a Cornwall on our arrival day and not, so worth the spend. It also provided us with a good breakfast that day for no additional cost, and full travel mugs for the onward part of the journey. Accommodation total then: £158.

When staying in self catering accommodation of any type when away, it is extremely easy for food to become a really significant spend - when in the Hebrides we tend to have lunch out and about, then cook our evening meal back at the cottage, and we took much the same approach for this trip too. We have two camping stoves, a saucepan and a frying pan, and can rustle up some tasty options using those, this time round we mostly opted for salads of some description with an added protein element, and sometimes some cooked pasta thrown in to the salad. It’s straightforward to cook, fairly healthy and balanced, and most importantly tasty. Breakfasts were eaten at the campsite each day - either bacon & egg butties or simply toast - and an even got a double-Yorker in a box of supermarket eggs! Lunches out and about were mostly toasted sandwiches or pasties, with an ice cream or cake for pudding - not cheap in that part of the world, but also not the most pricey choices. Food totalled a fraction over £200, plus some odds and ends that were purchased directly from our own spending accounts - and some household purchases such as topping up our levels of the delicious Cornish Salt flavoured blends. 

Of course there was diesel - for the journey down and travelling about while there. We used the petrol prices app to find the best priced filling stations, and managed to fill up more cheaply throughout than we would have done at home, including stumbling across one exceptionally well priced for the current time option on the Lizard where the service was still attended too - definitely not something you see in many places these days! We put in £152 worth of diesel while away, including a tankful on the way back which will see us through the next week or so of regular driving. There was also some additional travel - two days spent using a day Ranger train tickets (£11.30 each with our railcard) and buses totalling £12 on Saturday to save using the car on a day when we knew we would be visiting some pubs. Parking in a few places too - although generally we opted for reasonable street parking and a short walk to our destinations - another £6 or so - £63 odd in total there then.

Spending not mentioned here came straight from our own spends accounts - beers here and there, oddments of food as mentioned, and I’m not totalling that up simply because it was all stuff we might well have spent during a week at home anyway. 

The total then - roughly £575 for the bits mentioned above. Not “cheap” - but still an extremely good price for a thoroughly enjoyable week’s holiday. There were ways we could have saved more - by choosing to make sandwiches at the tent to take with us for lunches for example, or by taking more food with us. We try not to do the latter in particular though - because when visiting places that rely on tourist spending for their income we’ve always felt it’s important to try to support that. For that reason we choose independent stores over chains where possible, try to buy local products, and aside from things like tea bags, coffee and condiments, take relatively little from home. We do always empty the fridge and fruit bowl of anything perishable- so the remainder of my bottle of oat milk went with us, plus some apples and citrus fruit. Our trusty plastic box full of gleaned sachets of salt, pepper and sauces came in handy as always - including helping out a fellow camper who had found himself without sugar one morning! 

A truly lovely week, funded from a mixture of personal fun money, a surplus accumulated in our food account (deliberately accumulated for just this reason) and some surplus from our bills account too - it will mean a little less into savings this month, but so be it. We’re fortunate to be able to take trips like this, all the more so at a time when many folk are struggling with the increasing cost of living- and we definitely do not lose sight of that privilege. We didn’t consciously choose not to spend on entry fees to places - there just wasn’t anywhere much we found ourselves interested to visit which had such fees. At Tintagel we arrived after the main site was closed and were delighted to find that we could still explore the area up to the bridge for free. Our time on the trains let us see huge amounts of the county as we passed through it, and included a trip across the Tamar Rail Bridge and back, something I’d never done before. A lot of the things we enjoy are simply free anyway - just wandering about and exploring different places.

Robyn

A circular walk and an unusual view of our tent!

 

We’ve camped at Magor Farm a few times now - it’s a lovely location for exploring Cornwall, just outside Camborne and backing on to the Tehidy Country Park, less than a mile from the coast. We’ve often talked about doing the circular walk from the site out to the coast, along the coast path and then back through the park, but until this visit time has always been too short to fit it in - this time though we were determined that we ought to make the time to do it as we were down for longer. 

MrEH had sketched our chosen route out on Google Maps so we knew roughly what distance to expect, and as usual we used the OS Maps app to navigate- we actually pay the annual subscription for that as although we love proper paper maps, we certainly wouldn’t want to be paying out for an OS map for everywhere we visit, and the app makes it easy to always have decent mapping on hand. This one was fairly straightforward anyway - with the only really tricky bits being working out where we needed to cut back inland from the coast path, and then the route through the Country Park.

Out of the site then and a short distance along the road to the village of Coombe - little more than a cluster of houses really - ignoring the first footpath we saw which would take us into the park itself, in fact we would see that one later in the walk. Instead we opted for an uphill path slightly further on which took us through farmland and out to the coast. Sure enough with just 0.8 of a mile ticked off on my watch we found ourselves crossing the road and turning right onto the coast path with the most stunning views towards Godrevy to the left and Portreath to the right. 

The coast path is beautiful - just a riot of wildflowers at this time of year, plus of course the amazing views. We had glorious weather too - in fairness it probably wouldn’t be quite so much fun in driving rain!  It was sunshine we had though, and we ambled along stopping to identify this plant or that, or to see what birds were about (the trip added plenty to our year list and one “lifetime first” as well in the shape of a Lesser Kestrel which was hanging about at Goonhilly Downs on the Lizard Peninsula) before finding the right turn onto the track which would take us across to the road, back on ourselves for a few yards then across into Tehidy Country Park. 

This really was a walk encompassing most of the various different terrains you might expect from the South West - starting (and ending) with country lanes, farmland, the coast, then the woodland and even some ponds and lakes later on. All the way though and everywhere we looked absolutely swathes of spring flowers in bloom. 

We’d timed our walk so that an early lunch could be had at the cafe in the park - and that absolutely didn’t disappoint. A small menu, but a thoughtful one including several choices for vegetarians. We opted for pulled pork ciabatta toasties which were an excellent size and arrived served with a deliciously crisp mixed salad. I followed that up with the cream tea, just look…

…that cream generously covered both halves of the enormous scone, gave MrEH a blob to have with his chocolate brownie and there was still some left! The teapot too was a generous size, I had a cup and a half from it, and MrEH finished the remaining cupful after finishing his coffee. At £6.80 that was certainly one of the bargains of the trip! 

From there it was back to the woodland path which eventually lead us along the back of the campsite - although there was plenty to be seen ahead of that - including some friendly squirrels happy to pose for photos. Also the lovely carved from a fallen tree otters denoting the “Otter Bridge”  which crosses the stream which eventually runs alongside the other side of the campsite - and indeed eventually we glanced to our left and there through the trees we could see our tent! 

Then the final stretch out of the country park, via the footpath we’d spotted earlier, and retracing our steps back along the road to discover that we were the only campers on the site which felt like quite the treat - it never did get busy although as expected the bank holiday weekend saw quite a lot more people. The facilities are plentiful though, and there is plenty of space for people to spread out - our carefully chosen little spot in the middle of the site served us well. Magor might well be my favourite site anywhere now I think - the family who own it have farmed here for generations and are lovely,  it and they have precisely the laid back approach we enjoy from a site, and it’s safe to ensure that we will be back! 

Robyn

Cornish adventuring…

 

Everyone loves a bank holiday weekend, right? And most of us love them even more if we can use the benefit of a free day off to create a nice holiday around it, using less actual holiday days from our jobs! This is precisely what MrEH and I have done - with an extra 3 days for me, and 5 for him tacked on to give us a full 10 days off, by the time weekends are accounted for. It’s sometimes possible to combine Easter and the early May bank holiday in this way too for. Really extended break - although not this year as they are too far apart. 

With a new tent to play with, we decided to start our time off by heading down to Cornwall - and the additional day off before the weekend meant that we decided to travel part way down on Thursday night to attempt to get ahead of the traffic. At exactly the right time an email arrived from a popular budget hotel chain offering free breakfast for a stay within dates that were just perfect, so we opted for the £53 spend there enabling us to head to Taunton for our first night, and breakfast well on Friday morning too. An early ish departure from there meant that there was very little traffic heading west for the last leg down to one of our favourite campsites near Camborne too, and all in all it was a very satisfactory way of doing things! 

We’ve stayed at Magor Farm Campsite a number of times - it’s pretty much our perfect site, quiet, slightly dated but decent (and spotlessly clean) wash blocks, a small room for washing up, drying wet clothes etc (and now - joy - with the addition of a freezer for ice packs too!). Aside from the freezer, it has a timeless feel as though little has changed since the 1950’s.  At the time of writing I think about 9 pitches are occupied - it was a little busier on Friday and Saturday nights - but still quiet enough that you never seem to have to wait for a toilet, or a shower cubicle. Children play quietly, with parents respecting the general laid back vibe of the place, and old-school fun like donning wellies and splashing in puddles is very much much favoured.

Friday was a lazy day - after the drive down we decided we’d take our time getting pitched, then just potter about in the afternoon, so we had a short wander at Portreath, followed by a drive round to Hayle, then back to the site for food and a couple of beers. Saturday however was well planned in advance- we’d decided to leave the cat at the campsite for the day and use public transport. Just under a two mile walk (almost entirely up hill!) to the bus stop and a short though meandering, round the houses bus ride to the station, where we purchased day ranger tickets - letting us travel wherever we wanted in the county. With our railcard these cost just £11.30 each, an absolute bargain!  We opted to start in Truro - the market there has a Cornish Sea Salt stall and I wanted to top up supplies of their fabulous flavoured salts, and a short walk away in a back street is MrEH’s favourite Tugboat Coffee - he only uses their beans these days, and usually orders online, but likes to pop into the shop if we’re down here. To my delight I also found a lovely independent sweet shop which sold salted liquorice! 

Back to the station then (uphill all the way - are we seeing a theme?!) and the short ride down to Penryn. A walk to the back of an industrial estate (I bet you can guess the nature of the in line to get there, yes?!) saw us first aiming for food - The Aussie Smoker who we first encountered a few years back when they worked out of a shack (their words) next door to Dynamite Valley Brewery. They’ e expanded since in a snazzy unit with an event space and undercover eating area,  and we thoroughly enjoyed the enormous portion of loaded fries we each had, prior to heading to the Verdant Brewery and taproom. I’ve long been a fan of Verdant’s beers, and it was a delight to spend several hours enjoying not only their delicious keg beers, but relatively unusually several in cask too. The original plan had been to head from there down into the town to Dynamite Valley’s micro pub, but a combination of heavy rain and so many beers to try actually kept us at Verdant for longer than planned. 

All in all an excellent day - and the train tickets were such great value (and made life so easy) that we pretty much decided there and then to do another day using them later in the week. It is a very odd feeling getting in a train knowing that you can literally just choose where to get off though! 

Robyn

April Reading...

Another month, and another crime thriller to start us off! David Baldacci this time - with Long Road to Mercy. I've read a number of his Amos Decker series, but this book introduces a new main character in the shape of Atlee Pine - an FBI agent with a unique history. A strong - if in this case very slightly implausible  - female lead in this sort of book is always a great thing. When I come to think about it, Pine has a little of the Jack Reacher about her, and implausibility has worked for that character! The book was enjoyed anyway, and will be headed to the shelf with the others from the same author. 

At some stage I will have a bit of a review of books I have opted to keep - and give some thought to whether I really am likely to read them again. If the view is that I will, they are well worth keeping - I can happily read a good book many times over, and if an author is particularly tricky to track down then they earn their shelf space for sure. Although we do have the shelf space in the house though, I’m still not in the market for simply keeping books “because” so an occasional review is a necessity. For so many years in the flat with no space we had to operate a “one in, one out” rule - so having the luxury to choose to keep a book without turfing another one out to make space is wonderful! 

Second book of the month was Susan Lewis' Silent Truths. I've read plenty of her books before but for some reason found this one quite hard going. A combination of factors I think - a lot of the storyline felt quite far-fetched; it dealt with the sort of lifestyles which I can't in any way shape or form identify with (not always a barrier to enjoying a book, but that relies on other factors being spot on I think) and one of the main characters being - to my mind at least - really quite unlikeable! The second half of the book gathered pace and was far more readable, but I think this one is heading back to the charity shop.

The monthly dose of Reacher followed - Lee Child - Blue Moon. I've read this one before - and not all that long ago either - but Child's books are always worth reading again, so no issues there. It follows his usual formula for the Reacher books - our hero encounters a situation where his help is needed, then encounters a load of bad guys. Blood is spilled and it all ends happily ever after! As usual this will be joining the others on the shelf because although I'd read it before, it was clearly at a point where we weren't keeping hold of them. 

A quieter month on the reading front - partly because that Susan Lewis one took me quite a while to plough through, but also because with increased daylight hours and warmer temperatures the garden is calling for our attention more and more. That said, as you can see from the photo, sometimes the two hobbies do collide and when it's warm enough I like little more than a sit in the garden with a cuppa and a good book! 

Robyn

April in the garden…

The month opened with the Easter long weekend. We always planned to make this a productive few days for the garden, and in fact had a list of jobs to focus on, with the two main ones being more painting of the garden office wall, and the relocation of the compost bin. This was placed where it was when we first moved in as it seemed practical, but we fairly soon realised that in fact it took up more space than needed there and used a valuable chunk of the bit of the garden that gets the most sun - so the very area that I want for tomatoes and peppers! Three sacks of immediately useable compost were dug out of the bottom before we got to the stuff that would be moved across and put back in - those sacks will be used to fill our tomato pots for this year. The bin is now in a less intrusive location as well as being slightly nearer to the house - it will work little slower because of getting slightly less sun, but that isn’t likely to be an issue for us. 

Last year’s Calendula planting is finally giving us some joy- for some reason these did absolutely nothing last summer, but we left the plants in place to see what would happen, half assuming that winter frosts would see them off. Instead they have thrived on the cooler temperatures and we now have beautiful orange flowers cheering things up! I’ve sown plenty of seed for this year already - Calendula/Marigolds are a valuable companion plant as they encourage lots of beneficial insects so I’m quite happy to have plenty of them. 

 Trust me, the size of the rhubarb in the top photo is NOTHING to how it looked by mid-month, and indeed by that stage we had already harvested a full kilo of the stuff! We're concentrating on trying to take quite a bit out on the side where it's desperately trying to smother the redcurrant bush in the hope of at least slightly weakening the growth on that side. We've also started coming up with ideas of uses for it, as there is only so  much gently stewed fruit one can eat - looking at the progress of the strawberry plants though it does seem that some rhubarb & strawberry jam might be one option. 

The mini greenhouse is now back in use too - it’s been housing seedlings for tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn, cucumbers and various other things. We've had to build the second mini greenhouse we had for this year - we bought two at a bargain price when the local Wilko store closed, and the first did two good years before the cover split on removal last autumn. the staging from it is still going strong though and starting to prove extremely useful as things no longer need protection from the elements while still benefiting from being raised off the floor. One of the issues through this month has been that we’ve still been getting fairly regular frosts - so the balance has needed to be struck between getting seedlings started and keeping them as sheltered as possible. 

Meanwhile in the front garden things are filling out quite beautifully and we’re really beginning to get the look we’re after - we’ve added some more bulbs too which should give some added colour in the late summer and autumn. We’ve added various new plants over the last few weeks - mostly “hospital ward” rescues from the clearance sections in various places (that’s where most of our plants come from!), plus our home grown sunflowers and sweet peas have been added into the mix. In the front right of the photo above is the rather lovely “Sweet Tea” Heuchera which spent the whole of last year after we put it in there looking deeply sulky, and we honestly thought the winter would finish it off. Instead it seems that the colder temperatures made it buck its ideas up!

Until next month then! 

Robyn

Looking back...

 

This is the interior of the Italian Chapel on the island of Lamb Holm in Orkney, taken when we visited in 2013. Built by Italian prisoners of war sent to the island to build the Churchill barriers during World War 2 - a system of barricades originally put in place to close off most of the entrances to Scapa Flow to protect the home fleet, and now forming causeways joining up Orkney Mainland, Lamb Holm, Glimps Holm, and Burray.

The chapel is quite literally two nissen huts joined together, then embellished and decorated with anything the prisoners could lay their hands on. The interior decoration was largely created with paint - what looks like panelling or tiling is pretty much entirely painted on. one of the prisoners was a blacksmith - he created the ironwork from metal rods donated by construction company Balfour Beatty. Another was a cement worker - he created what now appears to be stonework also from Balfour Beatty.

It's an astonishing place - created out of almost nothing purely to allow the men who had been sent to what must have seemed to them to be an unforgiving island to have somewhere to worship - in the end it provided far more than that as it gave them a focus, something to spend their spare time working at. 

If you want to know more of the history of the Italian Chapel, that can be found HERE

Robyn

New wheels!

 

Did I mention my new wheels?  I’ve been thinking about a new bike for a while - I’ve been cycling semi-regularly since our old Neighbours gave me a Dutch-style step through commuter bike a few years ago, but I’ve found myself wanting to do a bit more, and the old bike wasn’t quite ideal. 

One of our local bike shops has occasional “scratch & dent sales”  which ai suspect are  mostly about stock clearance when they get new ranges in, but still, some excellent discounts to be had, so when they launched the last one I decided to keep an eye to see what was available. I knew roughly what I wanted - a hybrid sports bike which would cope cheerfully enough with both road cycling and some light off road trails too.  I settled on the one above - at a very reasonable price and so far she and I are getting on a treat!

So what of the old bike, you may ask? Well, handily a lovely pal alerted me to the fact that another local bike shop works with a charity that provides bikes to those who need, but can’t afford them. My old bike is off for a full refurb and will then be finding its way to a new custodian - maybe helping them to and from a place of work or study. As I was given her for free in the first place, that seems fitting, don’t you think? 

Robyn