I’m back in Cornwall again. It’s only about 6 weeks since I was last here but the garden and the field have exploded into green growth and flowery abundance. I came back so quickly because I needed to see my dogs and cats and couldn’t wait till August. All of them have had one problem or another and seemed to be messaging me ‘Come Home’.   Teeth, back legs, front legs, gum infections, loss of appetite, excessive appetite, mystery stomach cramps……have I missed anything? 

Now I am here all seems well but it is clear that old age is affecting at least two of them and so, as we sit for our virtual vermouth, I can breathe a sigh of relief but also tell you about my concerns over how to look after them all and most important – where?

We can sit here in the evening sunshine looking out over the Cornish hills – the last hills of England before the cliffs at Lands End drop down into the Atlantic
Yet again the weather here is beautiful.  The sky is blue and the sea is calm and the bluebells are out.

Or maybe you’d prefer to come and sit by the pond and listen to the blackbirds singing their evening recital

The dogs come and go between two homes – my old house where my two still live and my neighbours who also help look after them.
The houses are linked by this stile

 As we sit and sip our drinks they will probably appear and then run off again in their pack of 5 – four border collies and one bearded

Blue is the oldest and she is now having problems walking on the gravel so today my friend and I put some paving slabs on the path. A sort of doggy equivalent to putting up a handrail for your old aunt.

Now she dances along rather than looking like someone walking over broken glass.
I am a bit all over the place – as usual when I come to Cornwall. It’s a strange feeling – my old home, my lovely dogs, the garden which I never have enough time here to look after, the pending decisions all hovering over my head. Friends to see, thoughts to think, feelings to feel, walks to walk.
Some part of me copes. Another part is paddling madly under the surface.
I notice that sometimes before speaking I automatically practice what I need to say before opening my mouth.  Then I remember that I don’t have to. I can speak English!
Walking down Morrab Road in Penzance today I thought how interesting that here at the end of the road there is often a splash of blue sea

In Granollers at the end of so many streets there is a hill. I like both views. Different but similar.
Leading your eye out into the unknown. My friend Tiffany also commented on this in her blog.
This made me laugh today in Penlee Gardens. The plaque says In Memory of XXX

Please, if you ever plant something in memory of me, don’t choose something so spiky and mishapen!
Well, if you have come to have a virtual vermut with me this evening I must apologise for being late, for rambling on about totally disconnected things and for getting up in the middle to wave goodbye to my friends in their beautiful Morgan

It has been that sort of day and I am still adjusting to the change of environment. See you soon!