The service at breakfast was not as efficient-much slower-than it had been the previous day. Several people were seeking out the waitress for their order to be taken only to be told to return to their table, someone would be along soon.

The waitress eventually came to take our order (after taking an order from others that had arrived later than us). I chose the blueberry pancake stack. It was delicious.

The temperature had dropped enough for us to follow the local history walk around Padstow. We stopped at St Petroc’s church where we heard the organ being tuned. Shortly after, we arrived at Prideaux Place just in time to join the guided tour at 12pm. When the tour had concluded we enjoyed mackerel pate whilst sitting outside overlooking the deer park.

We then resumed the Padstow walk which ended at the harbour. We continued to the nearby National Lobster Hatchery which we found fascinating. As we arrived, the lobsters and other marine life were being fed. It was fascinating to watch the lobster eat.

We returned to the town and had refreshments in the delightfully named Cherry Blossom café. We shared a cake and I had my usual Elderflower Presse and Mr C a cup of tea. We then returned to the billet to chill out with another cup of tea enjoying the view from our room.

Later we dined in Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant. The service from Olly was excellent but once again, as in Winchester earlier this year, we were left slightly underwhelmed by the food choices. I chose Indonesian fish stew which turned out to be one of the larger meals.

We have dined in Rick Stein’s before these two occasions and enjoyed what was on offer, but something has changed over the years.

We had a nightcap in the Old Ship Inn before retiring for the evening.

Breakfast and the associated service were excellent. There was a buffet selection and a menu offering cooked-to-order choices. I selected a child’s vegetarian breakfast.

Mr C wanted to tick off some of his bucket list items, so we headed to Land’s End via St Michaels Mount. We paused briefly at St Michaels Mount for Mr C to take some photos before continuing our journey to Land’s End.

Both places were a lot more commercialised than I remember from my previous visits. At Land’s End there were lots of tacky over-priced gift shops. You also have to pay a professional photographer to be able to get anywhere near the ‘famous’ signpost. What a rip off! The views, however are stunning and the breeze was a welcome relief given the 90F temperatures we were experiencing.

I got chatting to a couple whilst we were looking at a signboard of marine life that could be spotted off the coast. They were excited to tell me that they had encountered a seal whilst they had been paddleboarding nearby the previous day. One of them had also had a less pleasant experience, he had been stung by a jellyfish.

Before we left, Paddington Bear offered me a nibble of his marmalade sandwich. We decided not to have lunch at Land’s End and find somewhere on route to St Ives which was our next destination.

A signpost directed us to a lovely St Buryan farm shop where Mr C was able to sample a Cornish pasty and I, still being full of breakfast, chose an apricot slice.

When we arrived in St Ives, we hoped to visit The Tate St Ives but we found it impossible to find a parking space. By this time, it was getting too late to park further away and enjoy the gallery to its full. We chose to return to Padstow rather than wander around St Ives.

Back in Padstow the heat was still unbearable. We decided to cool off with a Mr Whippy, there was a mobile van parked up just outside the hotel. I was warned about the seagulls and as I was making my way to safety, and before Mr C had even paid, a seagull did a swoop-and-dive from behind, taking my flake and most of the ice-cream and leaving me with just a cone and a startled couple who were walking towards me.

As I turned back to Mr C the owner beckoned me back and very kindly gave me another ice-cream for free. This time Mr C and I both made it to safety without a repeat offence.

We sat and whiled away the rest of the afternoon in The Old Ship Inn before freshening up for dinner in The Jetty at The Harbour Hotel. We found that the hotel was not actually in the harbour where its sign is situated but on a steep slope above the harbour. When we eventually arrived at the hotel, I chose fish and chips. A thunder storm was brewing up over the sea bringing with it sharp gusts of wind (and later rain) leading the staff to tidy up the outside seating so that it didn’t get blown away. This led to a delay in our food being served, but when it arrived it was delicious.

After eating we decided not to chance our luck with the weather and returned to the hotel for a nightcap. The service in the bar was just as chaotic as it had been on our arrival the previous day.

The first destination of our holiday was Padstow. When we set off (on time), the temperature was 94F s0  we were glad of the car’s air conditioning. We stopped for lunch in Gloucester services where we sat inside after we decided it was too hot to sit outside. Later, we stopped at Exeter services for a leg stretch and another cooling drink.

Padstow, was positively cool at 81F. We parked the car and checked into our hotel, The Old Custom House, which was conveniently close to the car park. We arrived at the most inconvenient time; the hotel was experiencing a power cut. In fact, the whole of Padstow was experiencing a power cut. The power kept cutting in and out for the next half an hour or so.

We dumped our bags in the room and visited the hotel bar just as the power cut out again. The bar maid was in the process of telling us that she couldn’t serve us when the lady who had checked us in intervened and told her that we were residents and she could serve us. All she needed to do was bill it to our room number.

One glass of wine and a cool beer later, we were chilling out in the lounge which overlooks Padstow Harbour. Whilst we were driving to Padstow the restaurant we had booked to dine in that evening phoned to tell us they weren’t able to honour the booking as both of their Chefs were ill. The journey to Padstow had been a long one so, rather than look for somewhere else, we decided to dine in the hotel restaurant for convenience.

However, when we arrived for dinner most menu items  had sold out leaving us with the options of burgers or curry. We told the person serving us that this wouldn’t work and we left. We were able to find a table at the Harbour Inn which is next to The Old Custom House. The food was nice. I chose scampi. This was served with chips cooked in beef fat. I know that many people rave about this type of chips but I was not convinced the flavour worked with scampi. I found the flavour clashed and I think I would have felt the same way if I had ordered the fish instead.

After dining we had a leisurely walk around the harbour before enjoying a nightcap in The Old Ship Inn. We returned to the hotel to find it was buzzing as we sat relaxing in our room with a view over the harbour.

Just as I was settling into bed, I remembered that I had forgotten to pack my lovely new alarm clock that worked so well when we were in Winchester for Easter.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Today I was one of the walk leaders at Attingham Park. We only had one walker so we were able to adapt the walk route to show her additional points of interest. It was the hottest day of the year so far so the cool breezes from the river and shade from the woodland were quite welcome.

Later, after visiting mum in the care home we enjoying ‘fine dining’ on the patio before watching the sun set and the moon rise.

Thursday is the day I volunteer in a local school, helping children with their reading. I walk to and from the school and today I chose to walk home the long way round.

Back home I tried on a new dress I had ordered for my upcoming holiday in Cornwall, then chilled and read a book until it was time for ‘fine dining’ on the patio. The smoked salmon and horseradish fishcakes were delicious.

The morning was spent doing admin for mum, some of which required a visit to her bungalow. Then later we visited her in the care home where she has been for a while. She was very sleepy so we didn’t stay long.

On our way home we picked up the ingredients for our evening meal. By this time the sun had come out and I had just enough time for a local walk before ‘fine dining’ on the patio.

I was volunteering at Attingham Park, no chance of walking whilst scanning in visitors to the park. Later we visited family, so only a short walk today.

But beauty can be found on the doorstep.

My first walk of the day was with a friend at Dudmaston Hall. It was our second attempt at a walk there, our first attempt was a failure when to our surprise Dudmaston is not open on a Friday! Our walk was followed by lunch.

The weather was so lovely that when I returned home I decided to go on a local walk in and around Apley Woods.

The weather was looking favourable so Mr C decided today was the day to visit Harlech Castle which had been on his ‘To Do’ list for some time. Before set off he prepared some brisket and vegetables and put them in the slow cooker to bubble away whilst we were on our travels.

Along the way we stopped for lunch at the Bluebell Park Café where our choice of food was freshly prepared for us. We arrived in Harlech to glorious sunshine, perfect weather for exploring a castle.

Before heading home we had cake looking over the spectacular view of the Snowdonia peaks. We were accompanied by sparrows hopping on the table to pick up stray crumbs. One cheeky little Chappy thought he might do a duck and dive for my cake, even when I picked the plate off the table and held it closer to me. When I finally put the plate back on the table he returned, grabbed the largest crumb and flew off with it.

Photo taken by Mr C

Photo taken by Mr C

Photo taken by Mr C