Well what a year it was last year and not one I hope will be repeated any time soon.  The sooner we are all vaccinated and we can go out and about without the worry of getting ill, the better. The weather has been very wet again this winter and the grass is water logged - unusual for sandy soils. The garden is coming on apace and our new - ish gardener is doing a sterling job. He put up a screen on the seaward side of the garden to protect the plants from the wind and it seems to be working as we haven't lost many plants this winter. Today the rain is very heavy and even the dog doesn't want to go out! Lets hope for a let up in the weather soon, to bring a smile to everyone's faces.

The weather in recent weeks has been very good and we had experienced a lot of sunshine and little rain.  It has been spoiled a little by the chilly winds coming of the sea but nothing that a jumper won't shut out.  The garden has burst in flower and grass and weeds so now an every week task to try to get all the weeds but I'm not winning at the moment! Super golfing weather here just now and I have started playing again, back and shoulder willing! The surfing has been good with some good  choppy seas thanks to the winds. We have been busy entertaining friends and . family for a few weeks, but now we can relax and welcome our guests, especially those who are now firm friends having been coming to The Links for several years.

We have had two weeks of lovely sunny weather  which outdid Spain and Portugal but the colder spell has come back again. However we can't complain as it is only March. We have had a very busy February and March to date in redecorating and cleaning the flats and our hallway. The decorator reckons we have gone for Fifty Shades of Grey - he could be right! We have grey wallpaper, paints and carpets. We love it but it remains to be seen how it bears up to guests coming and going and the animals.  We are also hoping to update the kitchen in Flat 2 in cream and, yes, grey! Currently the cleaner and I are washing everything in sight. It's a good day for it as the wind is blowing a hooly and the rain is coming at us sideways. Brrrr!    More pictures when we have finished.

Well, we've had a lovely summer with lots of sunshine and high temperatures but we always have some sea breeze so it is rarely oppressive. The agapanthus which I thought I had lost are coming back again but won't flower this year - hopefully next year will see some flowers. Today we have had a little rain but not enough to penetrate the ground so I'll have to water again tonight. The golf course which had gone brown during July has started to go green again since we have had a few rain showers.  The dog is enjoying the slightly cooler temperatures as well and is shedding his coat like crazy. I brush him most days but he still leaves chunks behind when he moves on. More for the birds to use in their nests.  We now have a colony of over 30 sparrows in the garden so keeping up with their daily food intake is quite a job, not to mention the cost, but we love to watch them and see the older ones feeding the young and watch the squabbles when the starlings barge in to get the fat balls. WE'll have to lok inside their nesting box at the end of the month and clear out any debris ready for the Winter.

Over the long wet and cold winter where it rained from October into March when we had snow, which lasted! We were snowed in for 3 days as our little lane had drifts of up to 4 feet of snow, blown off the golf course. It was such a depressing time. Bob became a snow shifter with the car, but it wasn't an effective snow plough and got stuck. He had to be dug out by some willing helpers!
During these months, the cold and wet were working their harm and killed off my beautiful Geranium Maderiensis which had been such a picture of lovely pink flowers which went on and on flowering over last summer. The echiums were also killed off and became black spires in the garden. The agapanthus were also half killed off and look so dejected. I'm leaving them to see if they might spring into life again, but know that his year there will be few flowers. Every geranium in the garden also perished. Normally they survive the winters, but not this year. However the good news is that the dhalias are coming through again and the palms weren't affected bar one canary palm. Two lovely German friends who stayed here a few weeks ago bought me two new echiums to help replace the deceased. I doubt they will flower this year but should bloom next year - winter weather permitting!
We are well into summer visitors now and enjoying renewing friendships from those guests we have known for many years. We also visited the St Ives Food and Drink festival last week and had a lovely time there sampling the local gin and seafood - a must visit for next year.

Well, we said that we wouldn't have any snow this week and we learned the error of our prophesy as we had snow. Lots of it. The first snow to stay in over 10 years. It looked very beautiful and the dog loved walking in it but we didn't so much. The local children soon cottoned on to the hills on the golf course and were there in numbers with their sleighs. Makes you wonder where they kept the sleighs for the past 10 years or so. It caused problems on our lane and the easterly wind drove all the snow off the course and into our lane. It then had nowhere to go as there was a wall in the way - Cornish hedge - and we had drifts of over 3 feet deep. We couldn't get out other than on foot. Yesterday a brave soul tried to drive out and got stuck, so it was all hands to the pump to dig him out of the snow and on his way. Today, there is hardly a sign of any snow left. The rain washed it all away last night, apart form in the bunkers on the golf course which were full of snow. The temperature has risen quite a few degrees and I didn't need gloves or a hat when walking the dog today. Our next visitor arrives next Saturday and we are all pleased that she will be able to get here without her sleigh!

The weather has been so wet over the past month that it has been lying in puddles on the golf course - almost unheard of. This is from a friend re Mullion Golf Course on the other coast from us "It has been wet in Cornwall this winter. On Mullion golf course there has been 303mm of rain since beginning of December. This equates to 564 million gallons of water on the course, of which 12 million gallons fell on the greens, equivalent to 24 years of irrigation water." However, the odd day has been glorious and sunny and fills you with hope for the summer to come. I've not been playing golf because of a bad back but neither has the weather encouraged me to play . Instead we have bene refurbishing the flats.  Flat 1 has been replastered and decorated and now a wooden floor is being laid.  We have also changed the large bedroom in flat 2 to a sea room - blue and white for a change. Photos to follow.

Well, the wind blows and blows and the poor sparrows in the garden are clinging onto the bushes and bamboo for dear life. Most of the feeders are on the ground but one lone rabbit is out grazing on the lawn - below the wind! The sea is looking wonderful with white horses breaking near the beaches and the lighthouse partially hidden by spray. The golf course is empty, no brave souls out there today; a day for staying inside and hoping the electricity isn't cut by falling trees....All Christmas cards done now, I think, and the decorations to concentrate on for next week.

The weather has become more seasonal over the past week and today it is very windy - Dougal will be getting a very short walk today I'm afraid. We have a new gardener who has ravaged the back garden - under instruction of course!- and dug it all over so that I can replant and repaint the trellis. It had been overrun with Jasmine which had invaded the whole bed. I have lots of plants in waiting to put in the garden plus lots of bulbs  so now I have to wait for a nice day to get stuck in. Having said this, the sea is beautiful with white horses all over the Bay - thinking of getting a webcam so that you can all see it as well. The birds are all still flying round the garden despite the wind - braver than me!