It has taken so long to get this far but we have been sleeping in our new bed for some weeks now. The house is really taking shape and having run out of money and energy we forget to look around us and take in the transformation of our little cottage.
Snuggled against a Welsh hill side with a copse of trees across the lane to protect us from the worst of the weather the little cottage sits. It was white and now is almost the colour of milk on 3 sides waiting for us to find a match to repaint the front.
The garden sits half covered in buttercups, bits of left over things from the build and a large container. The parking across the little lane also houses another container and these have held our lives worth of things for almost a year.
Slowly we have been bringing our possessions back indoors to the half painted home muttering every evening that we must do more painting. The upstairs is almost painted if you ignore the door frames and skirting while the downstairs is not even a quarter painted – another little job on the long list.
Jescat is sleeping in the study, he likes the smaller room while Vickie dog (or the Vicklar as we have nicknamed her since the comedy TV series Gavin and Stacy as in the Gavlar) is still in her kennel and run where she keeps an eye on us from the garden. The good news is that we have doors, windows, walls and floors. No home kitchen or stairs as yet but Rome wasn’t built in a day as they say. Although we could do with a battalion of men to help us get this place finished I guess we will have to wend along doing it bit by little bit.
We’ve been back for a week now and it seems a distant memory but we returned to Cornwall for a weeks holiday.
Yes we should have been painting and yes we should have spent the money on the house instead of a week away but sometimes it’s worth being a bit naughty…..
We did however walk about 6 miles a day and go swimming in the indoor pool at the resort.
The accommodation was self catering, set in some very pretty acres of land with a not so pretty club house and leisure centre. The leisure centre did have a nice warm swimming pool and Jacuzzi and from the inside looked fine.
We stayed a 15 minute walk inland from Bude town enabling us to enjoy a couple of days out without moving the car.
Highlights included
Bude beach and cliff top walks.
Rectory farm tea rooms at Morwenstow –with a cliff top walk before and after the cheese scones…… http://www.rectory-tearooms.co.uk/
Dinner at http://www.treeinn.co.uk/ in Stratton – we could walk there in 10 minutes and the steak was scrummy!
Lunch at The Olive Tree overlooking the quay in Bude – great seafood pasta dishes. http://www.olivetreebude.co.uk/
Driving down to the South Cornwall coast to retrace our steps to a wonderful restaurant on the beach. ‘Sam’s on the beach’ at Polkerris where they serve great food. If you go on the right day you can watch the sunset into the sea. http://www.samsfowey.co.uk/index.php/onthebeach and I have to say I didn’t think them expensive.
At Sams I tried the calamari which tasted so good I asked for the recipe. In true chef fashion they gave me a rough idea of how it was made and I experimented and did a bit of research when we got back and this tastes just like it………
I can only say that I have never cooked squid from scratch before but many recipes blanch the rings briefly so that is what I did and neither of us became ill.
I purchased 3 squid from Morrison’s’ and the very kind fishmonger at the Carmarthen branch showed how to remove the plastic looking cartridge. I suggest that if you don’t know then ask as well.
The marinade was
8 tablespoons each of
lemon juice
Olive oil
White wine vinegar
And a pinch of salt.
I cleaned the squid thoroughly inside and out removing all the milky, wet looking material and skin like coating. I removed the heads and then cut off the tentacles.
The heads went in the bin.
Cut the suid into rings. Mine were under a centimetre thick but I think it’s all down to personal taste.
Put a bowl with really cold water in ready to put the squid in to stop them cooking.
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and gently put the squid rings and tentacles in. let it come to the boil again and I timed mine boiling for 2 minutes – much longer and it becomes the rubber version the Brits commonly produce.
Drain the boiling water off in a colander and then put the squid quickly into the cold water to stop them cooking.
Mix together all the marinade ingredients in another bowl and add the squid. Make sure the squid is totally immersed in the marinade. Leave it to marinade for at least 3 hours, then remove from the marinade.
Serve with a bit of salad or crusty bread as a starter or add to other seafood to make a seafood salad. Cooked crab is good (tooooo good)
