Scilly

No apologies for the massive number of pictures in this blog post. 

This was June and now its July but I've been BUSY. 

On 9th June we drove 6 hours to Penzance and stayed overnight so we could be up and off to the Isles of Scilly! Yes! Its more than 10 years since we've been and more than 25 years since we first went. We fell in love and decided to re-visit. I'd been seeing ads on Facebook and decided to just have a little look to see what was available..and we found a cute little fishermans cottage which was not megabucks an was available two weeks before Woolfest.

We sailed on The Scillonian III from Penzance and on the way we saw a pod of Dolphins (and also someone who I know from Home!) We sailed to St Marys and then on to St Martins. It didn't disappoint.

Here's the beeeautiful beach next to the harbour as we arrived.

 This is the 'main road' from Higher Town to Lower Town via..yes you guessed..Middletown. Oh and not to mention Churchtown (next to the church)

 On the way we passed the little triangle of grass and the tortoise was still there.

 Spectacular Tree Echiums which are astounding and full of bees.

Scilly had a huge flower growing industry and much of the land is divided into flower 'pieces' surrounded by high hedges to protect the blooms (mainly daffodils) from the biting  salt laden winds. At this time of year (and who knows, all year round now?) they are full of wild flowers.

At the end of the road in Lowertown we found our cottage. 

Here it is adjoining the owners bigger house. Its the bit on left. A little gem

Beaches are all around the Island so we didn't have far to walk to sand.

On our nearest beach we found this huge length of seaweed which really reminded me of a nuno felt scarf. (please forgive finger in photo..if I'd cropped it it wouldn't have worked)

 

The tides were low low low and you could have almost walked to St Mary's and Tresco across the shallow sea.

This is a distant view of our little cottage from the beach. The little bit on the left.

The climate is sub tropical and the plants are amazing.

The very first time we were there we were a week earlier and these rock pennywort were just coming and were just little 'pennies' sticking out of the walls. By the end of our two weeks they were flowering like this and inspired my first City and Guilds piece.

 Not all days were brilliant sunshine but this field of wild poppies glowed in the mist.

Shopping can be a bit sketchy n St Martins with deliveries to the local store happening every few days so most stuff has to be ordered in advance. However local produce is delicious.

 Years ago we went to a Ceilidh in the 'Reading Room'. The music was provided by a record player and when the dancing got energetic the needle jumped off the record.

That reading room has gone and a new all singing and dancing Island Hall has taken its place. It looks lovely and must be such an asset to the islanders and visitors alike.

Just down the road is the garden where arum Lilies grow like weeds.

I love these 'things' Aeoniums. The same as the yellow flower ones earlier.

 There are memories meet me around every corner. 25 years ago I walked down here with my two little boys and my big hair.

Nothing changes much but the hedges have grown higher, I've grown a lot fatter and my little boys are men.

More cottage pics.

It had the best garden on the island! Just about two minutes away from this beach.

Look at that water. So clear.

Brian always manages to get a cat sitting on him wherever we go!

We walked up to Highertown to have lunch at Polreath Tea Room. We'd stayed there on other visits but it has changed hands and wasn't the same. Nice but not the same. Here's the view from the top of the road looking down onto Parr Beach. The little island you can see is the gloriously named 'Hanjague'.

Some more amazing vegetation.

Madonna!

The view of the beaches along the South Side of the Island with St Marys beyond.

Unusual Palm in the gardens at Polreath.

The distinctive Daymark. No lights so I suppose it only acts as a mark in the daytime.

The stunning and deserted Perpitch Beach. Deserted apart form a seal which may or may not be the same one we saw every time we went there in the past.

Here I found a sea-bean 25 years ago. I knew exactly what it was even though I'd never seen one before.

Someone had been there before us. 

On another day we went to Great Bay and Little Bay. On the road we saw a friend...

and on the beach we saw some...Jellyfish.

I love how there is a small sun on this.

Lots of varieties.

Both in and out of the water.

We sat on this little bit until we realised the tide was coming in. Fast.

Walking around to the end of the Island we came to the 'mazes'. 

The followed the paths through a woodland and downwards and came across this, which we later found was a DIY playground that kids love. Not a bit of plastic in sight.

The path led us conveniently to the Seven Stones Inn and very delicious crab Salad, 

 Moo pie and chips,

 delicious lager and beautiful views.

What more could anyone want?

As I said , there were memories around every corner....this had been the view from a holiday cottage we had when the boys were about 8 and 10. That year they met up with another family with four children and a couple of other friends, and they all spent the days just roaming around the island.  Once we looked out at this view and saw them all lying on the cricket field. We discovered later that our oldest was teaching them to use the cricket stumps as a snooker cue to get the ball into the stump hole, just to confirm the other family's suspicions of our northern credentials. 

  Our youngest spent most of the holiday leaping off the Harbour into the freezing water. My heart was in my mouth whenever I went near to them. I swam but I didn't leap.

That year there were many times when none of us knew where the others were. Brian went off drawing. I could just sit and stare at the sea. It was bliss.

This holiday was lovely but very different. The cottage was the best we've stayed in, with a beautiful garden. Steps up from the road to the upstairs and the super little patio.

Hassle free and self indulgent. But I couldn't help remembering  the happy family times.

On the return boat  I met this little family, 11 weeks old. 

The Cornish weather was not nice on the way home , and a six hour drive was hard work.

 But we went gladly because we knew someone would be happy to see us.