12th February: Back Down via Bodmin

We're back down in Cornwall, for our usual half-term visit. Traditionally, this is a time for us to check how the cottage is surviving the onslaught of the winter weather and to start doing some interior decorating for the coming season. With our two eldest daughters now at university it was just my VLW and our ten year old son accompanying me on the journey down on Sunday. I'd initially been somewhat reluctant to come down as I have so much work on but the more I thought about it the more I realised that actually I really needed a break so it was with a sense of optimism I loaded up the car ready for the long slog south west.

We set off at around 11 a.m. and only stopped briefly at the Bodmin turn-off to look for a Waxwing that had been reported yesterday as coming to Crab Apples in a garden. Normally en famille I wouldn't bother trying to persuade the rest of them to make a detour on the way down but as this bird had been reported literally no more than a couple of minutes off the A30 they were happy enough for a bijou stopette. I'd spent no more than a few minutes peering into the gardens by the side of the road before a lady came out of a house and told me that it had been her who'd reported the bird yesterday but that there'd been no sign of it at all today. Disappointing but at least good to know so I thanked her and we continued on our journey down, arriving at some time after 3 p.m. for our traditional tea and shop in Sainsbury's before heading over to boot up the cottage. It was nearly dark by the time we arrived at Pendeen and the only bird I came across was a distantly cronking Raven. We unloaded the car and hurried inside to shelter from the freezing north easterly wind that chilled to the bone. Fortunately the forecast was for much warmer weather for the rest of the week as the cottage was unpleasantly cold in these conditions. We ate a hearty meal to warm up and then pootled about the cottage in the evening before retiring to bed early.