‘Chough Cottage’ has been getting busier since the Easter holidays, and so far we have had wonderful reviews and comments from satisfied customers who came to stay a week in the cottage. It really is the perfect location if you have children and/or dogs, as there is plenty of space to run around, wonderful walks, and no busy main roads to worry about!

Over the last few weeks, we have been working on our pond here in ‘Trelugga’ and have now made it very pretty with stones that run all the way around the edge! We also have been on a foraging trip to collect water-plants from a nearby pond owned by a good neighbour, Farmer Bosustow. These include various types of reeds, irises and water oxygenising plants to encourage wildlife and algae to thrive. We have already spotted tadpoles, water beetles and, most exciting of all, a newt! When summer comes we hope also to have lots of dragonflies and damselflies milling around, as we did last year. Of course, last year it was also a big hit with the ‘Trelugga’ swallows and it was a common sight to see them flitting down to drink, gather mud and snap up tiny insects around the pond.

The garden is awash with colour now that we’re properly into March; the purple, white and yellow crocuses are peeping up from between the grass, the daffodils are swinging merrily in the breeze and the bulbs we planted earlier this year are beginning to climb out of the earth! Soon, there will be tulips; we have already spotted the early buds making an appearance. We have also replanted our broad bean and pea seedlings outside in our vegetable patch as they are big enough now to be out of the greenhouse- they will be ready to eat in the summertime. Spring is definitely making her presence known in ‘Trelugga’!

A very late, but very happy, ‘Gool Peran Lowen!’ to you all! Peran Lowen is Cornish for St Piran’s Day, which is celebrated on the 5th of March and is named after the patron saint of Cornwall, St Piran.

Many places in Cornwall had their annual St Piran’s Day parades, walks and celebrations in honour of the patron saint of tin miners- tin mining is a historic Cornish profession (perhaps you know about it from watching Poldark!? Just in case you didn’t know, the Poldark Mine is actually very close to Helston- the nearest town to ‘Trelugga’- is open to the public, and provides a lot of relevant historical interest). Although the working tin mines have all been closed down now, St Piran’s Day is a good time to enjoy a pasty (and protect it from a seagull!), and look forward to the warm spring arriving!

On the 28th of February, Greenpeace were at the nearby port of Porthleven to launch a new campaign from the waters of its harbour! They were leaving from Porthleven on a voyage of knowledge and teaching about sustainable fishing in Britain. Greenpeace plan to sail around the whole English coat, holding events and inviting MPs (with the help of local residents) to pledge to become ocean champions and to convince voters that they will put local fishermen before large trawling companies if they win the next election. There was a family fun day at Porthleven harbour on the 28th before the Greenpeace boat, the ‘Rising Tide’, set off on her mission around the coast, where she will be visiting ports on the whole length of the country, including Lyme Regis, Weymouth, Bournemouth and East Anglia, before arriving back in Cornwall!

Every day this week, a Greater Spotted Woodpecker has joined the flurry of different birds visiting the Trelugga bird table!

Just received this from my friend Sarah, who is joining us shortly at Novel English:

‘Deborah and Sarah first worked together in 2010 in Oxfordshire; teaching, organising plays and generally running riot making fun, educational activities.

Sarah studied Spanish and Linguistics at university and after travelling in Central America she went to live in Spain where she taught English. Since then, she has taught in a variety of educational settings, including Eastern Europe and Southern Asia as well as working for British Council. She has also worked with EAL (English as an Additional Language) and SEN students in secondary schools in England. She’s kept up with her passion for languages and as well as learning some Russian and Myanmar she would like to brush up on her French, bonjour! Currently though, she is studying for a Masters in Education with an applied linguistics specialism.

Like Deborah, Sarah enjoys theatre and literature and is also musical too, she can play the piano and would love to learn how to play the cello.’

We are looking forward to having her here for this season!

Spied the blackbird in our back garden…..I haven’t seen him for ages! Last time I saw him was in the late summer with a female and five juveniles….at this time I was watching the ‘ family ‘daily in the early mornings.

The magpies are dominating the garage area !

Preparing ‘Chough Cottage ‘for visitors who will be arriving on Saturday.

Another rainbow! This month could be called ‘Rainbow Season’ I can not recall seeing so many rainbows as I have seen this month! One virtually everyday!

Toad is found in our cupboard under the stairs in Trelugga!
How did it get there? We manage to remove it safely to our garden, close to the pond.

Poppy wreaths are laid out in Mullion church with a full band ceremony.