Just Humans Being...

This year we have vowed not to buy anything other than food & really essential things. This also stands for both of our birthdays, so we've got to be creative. Mine's coming up soon & I've asked Sime to write me a story & make me a meal consisting of several courses. Though saying that, I'm not sure whether I could eat several courses anymore... Maybe it would have to be tiny courses! What we hadn't contemplated - is that our vegan diet would make us lose weight... The trousers I've been wearing today are now a couple of sizes too big & hanging off me, so because I really don't want to go down the road of buying more - Sime has sewn a couple of tucks in them for me tonight. Where has that flesh gone to? It's not like I'm working out - though I suppose we are more active. When I first became ill with Graves Disease, I lost about 3 stone & looked dreadful (as everyone kept telling me). The disease causes muscle wasting, which lef

King Neptune! Read about it here Happy Sunday  K&S xx

This was our view on Wednesday... Portmellon looked like a Mediterranean village... It was 14C & warm enough for us to eat outside... Last night the fog arrived & now it feels like Spring was never here... Our lawn (more like paddock) which our landlord likes look after - glad he's left the daffodils!  We could grow enough vegetables to feed the hamlet...  Maybe we can persuade him this year - how long have we been saying this? Our guest room is coming on & we hope to unveil it to the public next week(ish)... Our landlord has offered to buy new curtains & anything else we may need - he really is a sweet man!  Ok time to get on...  We've got a mountain of work laundry to wash & iron, milk & bread to make, etc, etc. Hope it's sunny where you are today! Have a good weekend.  We will - 2 days of work free bliss... Kay (& Sime - who's out cleaning carpets) xx

Why does it seem to be trendy to sleep in one of these? Not sure how popular they are, but around here - couples even have matching single duvets. Most of our private cleans are mainly for retired folks, but surely there must be some older couples who like to snuggle up? It's kind of left us feeling like this is the way we're all expected to go... We love our little pine bed & have had it for nearly 20 years. It's where Hugo was born & all the kids used to pile in early in the morning many moons ago. We couldn't imagine life with a king size bed, let alone twin mattresses - waving goodnight to each other over the vastness would be very odd. Anyway, we rely on each other for warmth & enjoy curling up together... On a different note, I've just finished off sending out invoices & filling our diary with this year's holiday let bookings & now I want to write a piece for our Transition Group's page in the Parish magazine. I'v

We've been busy with lots of Spring cleans just lately, mainly with older people who seem to be suffering with colds, flu or chest infections. Over & over we have the same conversation about garlic & what an amazing healer it is... Long term use of garlic boosts the immune system, it also has antibacterial, antiviral & antifungal properties. It can prevent & treat colds, lower blood pressure, prevent heart attacks & strokes. It can be beneficial in the treatment of yeast infections, allergies, diabetes & even cancer. We've used it to reduce fevers - puréed garlic taped to the soles of your feet at night will work wonders!  We eat at least one clove each every day - raw in houmous & it goes into our main meals, a couple of cloves get cooked up with onions & then another couple go in the dish right at the end.   People always get concerned about the smell, but if you eat it daily it doesn't - your breath will only smell of garlic if you just e

Although we don't have a TV - we do hire DVDs from  Cinema Paradiso . This company are brilliant, especially if you love world cinema & unlike some of their competitors - they treat their customers very well! We have 3 films a month, but during the Summer we don't always get a chance to watch them, but they just keep getting carried over to the next month until we do - which is nice during the Winter... Last week, we watched  Cinema Paradiso , an Italian film made in 1988, which made us laugh & cry - a wonderful film!  If you like  Life Is Beautiful  &  Amelie  - you will love this film too. And although not world cinema,  Harold & Maude  is still a big favourite of ours (Kay's especially) & although a little odd, it is very uplifting! Does anyone else have a cult or world cinema film favourite?  Kay & Sime xx

I've been on the go since 6.45 this morning... I made bread dough for 12 rolls, as it was Hugo's home ed group today & it was our turn as volunteers this week.  We have to set off early to get cheap parking for the day & for the first time since helping out at the group - it really wasn't a chore to get up & get things done! Once at the group we were non-stop, but we were organised - lunch was ready early (we made a big pan of vegetable soup to go with my rolls). The kids were chilled & we were too... Since getting home, we made a feast of salads, vegetables & home made soya pulp burgers. Sime went off to band practice & I've just carried on... I've made 2 loaves, a litre of almond milk, washed all our laundry & lovingly (hahaha) draped it on the airers in the spare room. I continue to astonish myself with the amount of stuff I've become capable of doing - is it what we're eating or what we're not eating? Well whatever it is

The sun was shining yesterday again, so after a fairly busy week - we decided to get out for a long walk. We walked into Gorran Haven & took the coastal path back home... Gorran Haven Harbour. This part of the coastal path takes you around the Lamledra pennisula, which heads towards Vault beach... Gorran Haven. It was chilly, but warm in the sun... Black clouds started coming over & we thought it was going to rain, but it stayed dry! First sign of Spring... Dodman Point ahead & the blue skies were back... We made the most of the sunshine & stopped to eat... With a lovely view of the beach... Lamledra House. We used to clean it, but quit after a year - because we only had 3 hours & felt we just couldn't get everything done - it sleeps 20! The owners are lovely though, but their budget is tight with constant maintenance.  They do have some interesting guests there... It got to 5pm & we still had a long way to go, so we left the path & took the ro

We went along to  Eden  on Friday to renew our passes & due to our usual faffing about - we arrived just 3 minutes before the last entry time at 2pm...  If we'd turned up just 1 minute late, we would have been refused, so we were lucky! We just had an hour - so as it was a rare occasion.  (Hugo was with us) He chose to head down to the biomes...  Taking a detour through the spiral garden...  Over the ammonites...  Around the back... Past the recycled electrical appliance giant... And into the cafe for some warming vegan grub...  chocolate & kale chili, which only Sime liked.  Red lentil & sweet potato soup with rocket & pepper salad. It took ages for the staff to confirm what was vegan, but at least they had something... While we were eating the biomes closed, so we didn't get a chance to visit this time - but at least we now have free entry for the next 12 months...  Although we're still togged up - it's getting milder. Is spring on it's

For love... ( From here ) Happy Valentine's Day! Love from Kay & Sime xx

To Live In This Village? We'd love to know it's history... It's half term in parts of the country, so work has kicked in this weekend. We've  also taken on a couple of new jobs - one starting Tuesday & the other will start at Easter, so we have a last meet with the owners tomorrow to make sure we're all ready to go. It feels strange getting back into the swing of things, though it'll go quiet again by the end of the month & then we'll be preparing for the Easter holidaymakers before the end of March... It soon comes round!  We're a bit tired tonight & not liking weekend work... Hope you all have a good week - we've got some nice photos from a rather soggy Eden on Friday - which we'll post at some point, along with the usual nonsense... Night, night. Kay & Sime xx