Tomato season

The season begins.

I plant the same tomatoes each year, variety Marmande, grown from seed. They are big and beautiful.

There's nothing quite like the feel (or the taste)of a warm tomato just picked from the stem.

Pots of Basil are a necessary extra, leaves sprinkled over slices of tomato drizzled with a little balsamic dressing, added to tomato puree and pasta sauce.

These were just the first few. Since that date I have picked on average a couple of pounds a day, just from my small greenhouse.

They are mostly processed into puree or sauce and frozen for Winter dishes.

So lovely to know that we are eating home grown food.

Visitors

Visitors to Cornwall, especially if they have come from France, deserve to see some of our beautiful coastline.

Our close friends, whom we haven't seen for six years, came on a visit this week. As you can imagine, it was a great thrill and we spent so much time catching up with news.

We wanted to take them somewhere local for lunch. Somewhere with perhaps a little feel of France - open air, sea view and good food.

Where else but Mylor Churchtown? It's the harbour home of a Yacht club, a mooring place for many many boats, and with walks along the beach it was perfect.

Mylor Cafe is set right on the quayside, with a deck where you can sit under a parasol and gaze over the water. There is no real village, just a very old Church, some houses and the Sailing club. Most of the activities are set on or in the water.

Besides the prestigious 'look at me' boats, there were lots of children's dinghies around. They were having such fun racing each other in the harbour.

Crab sandwiches featured on our lunch menu among other things, and we sat for a while enjoying the view with a coffee. A little walk on the beach ended our afternoon, and our friends said how much they had enjoyed their day.

Summer garden.

So much to enjoy in a Summer garden.

Do you like green flowers? I love them and this patch of Nicotiana has done very well. The sweetness of its scent permeates the sun room, as it is planted just by the doors.

I thought my Peace rose had finished, but here is another lovely flower about to open.

A magazine came with a free pack of Sunflower seeds, a variety called Velvet Queen. She is spectacular.

 My Summer garden is never complete without pots of all sorts full of Geraniums, Petunias and Diascias.

A little drift of pink Cosmos sways in the breeze. In our French garden we used to watch a tiny mouse run up the stems to the seed heads!

And finally, a tiny vase of Sweet peas, scenting my kitchen very beautifully.

Back in Cornwall.

Back in Cornwall after a wonderful fortnight away in Brighton.

This photo is of the view from the Centre, nothing between it and the ocean.

My husband had a few days in the workshops studying Soapstone carving with a Tutor. I shopped a little, swam a little and also met a friend for lunch. Betty (The Wood Fairy) and I met three years ago and it was lovely to have a non stop chat with her again.

We flew up from Newquay to Gatwick, which is when one realises how unused to the city we are. So many people.

Now, in the heat of Summer, I'm trying to dampen down the garden. Kind friends watered the greenhouse for me and I found a beautiful bunch of my sweet peas in a vase on the table when we got home.

The Peony surpassed my expectations, and kindly flowered just before we left. I must plant more next year.

I am dropping in and out of your Blogs catching up with so many posts.