Long Mizzle Garden

 Hello m' whistling kettles, It has been many years since I've been down to the precise point where Restronguet Creek becomes the seaward Carrick Roads. The thatched roofed pub and its jetty are still there, busy with beer, ice cream and tourists. The swans are still there on the shaley beach, nipping at the fresh water outlet, gurgling it down by extending their necks. The million pound houses are still there, in prime position. Their boundary signs seem to have got somewhat angrier : 'Private land', 'Do Not Enter', 'Closed Circuit Television in Operation'.. but further along the path... is something altogether more interesting than the ostentatious lawns and oversized cars...   A little more off the beaten track... Hidden behind a wild hedge, wooded and steeply tumbling down to the creek.. glimpses of a wonderful barge boat garden.  Thank goodness for signs of good old fashioned bohemian living -   Even the garden gate sign seems nicer somehow - 'O...

 Hello m' shivering timbers, My ideal birthday treat ? Forget the champagne, diamonds and posh restaurant. Boring! But a wee road trip to a weird plant nursery and reclamation yard full of rusty junk.... now that's my cuppa!!! It is not often I head out west across the Cornish Peninsula, Penzance way. There are pirates in these parts after all.  Back in the early 2000s, whenever I visited my brother, we'd visit a fantastic reclamation yard in Longrock. It was by an old railway line that overlooked the glittering deep blue of Mount's Bay. I'd mostly leave empty handed, but would dream of having my own truck and place to fill with plants and wonderful junk. I remember there was an old long haired hippy that ran it. It was rumoured he liked to visit India. The sound of world music would drift through the rickety building and out-structures. Somewhere I have some dusty photographs that I took of it back then. One day, when I drove past, it had gone. Longrock never drew ...