Oz & James in Cornwall - Aug/Sep 2019

Polperro, a quintessential Cornwall fishing village

Back down the country we go to care for a couple of cute kitties in Liskeard, Cornwall.  James had looked after these guys before some years ago, so when we saw this advertised on Trusted Housesitters it was a no brainer really.   We wanted to do a bit more fishing in this area so cats again would suit us well.

Book ends, James and Oz

These two are absolute characters!  They both enjoy their cuddles very much.  Oz likes to be nursed ... at every opportunity

Whilst James, who is a little more reserved would sidle up to us and ask to be picked up for a cuddle

Always happy to oblige

That first weekend, Clare boarded a bus and headed for London to spend a long weekend with her sister (who was visiting from NZ) and who's daughter and family live in London.  A fun weekend was had by all.

Meanwhile, back at the house, there was more 'bonding' going on ;-)

James took the car apart to replace the heater matrix, which was a huge job involving removing the whole dashboard, amoung other things..  He was the only one not worried about getting it back together again.  Thank goodness for Mr Google!

Back on the road again it was time to check out some fishing spots.

Spinning and soft baiting in the river mouth, Looe

Directly opposite to where we were fishing

Looking back at Looe

But our favourite by far turned out to be night fishing at Seaton.

The lights of Looe in the distance

You don't realise how frequent shooting stars
are until you spend some considerable time
watching tip lights after dark

We caught a great collection of mackerel and bass.  Enough to give a few to our neighbour.

A tray full of macky

A couple of sea bass - our largest bass being 55cm

The cats also enjoyed some fresh fish.

More please ....

One evening, on our way to Seaton, we spotted a couple of enormous Puffballs on the side of the road.  And you know how we love our 'wild' food.

Our favourite way of eating them was cut into this slices, breadcrumbed and fried. A meal in itself.

We also enjoyed a day out to the gorgeous wee fishing village of Polperro.

And on those days that we didn't make it out fishing or exploring ... there was always these two to amuse us and keep us company ....

3D TV

James getting caught helping to block
Clare's newly knitted jumper

From country bumpkins to city slickers - Aug 2019

Dorothy and her ten babies

We drove straight from Devon back to the farm in Cumbria to take care of things while Louise and Stephen went down to Suffolk to prepare for the wedding of Lou's daughter.

To our utter delight, Dorothy had recently given birth to ten gorgeous squeeling bundles of delight.  

Mucking out

We also took on the challenge of cleaning out the spare/storage/dog's room and building some shelving to keep things in order.

The garden was in full swing also which kept James busy shelling and freezing peas ... with a little bit of help from his 'friend' ;-)

Poppy enjoyed sunning herself wherever she could find a spot of sun.

Just look at that beautiful view!

Jeeves and Wooster enjoyed their usual cuddles.

And there were plenty of shenanigans left over for Reg and Poppy.

Watching the cat on the window sill

Bedtime cuddles

 Clare got bitten by a horsefly whilst poo picking the horse field and got cellulitis!  A heavy course of antibiotics soon sorted it out but we were surprised at how aggressively fast the swelling and infection grew.

We handed over to the next house sitter so that we could make it down to the wedding ourselves.

James and his family

Clare busting out moves on the dance floor

From here, we went straight to Sizewell to sit Gail for Jenny for a few short days.   Jenny is one of our repeat clients and was in between houses, staying in a self contained unit right on the beach .... which suited us down to the ground for obvious reasons. 

Gail enjoying an evening at the beach

Jenny's landlady had recently injured herself and was finding it difficult to walk her own wee dog, Tigger.  We were more than happy to oblige and Gail enjoyed his company too.

Tigger making himself at home

Out in the forest together

Gail looking for squirrels

There are definite benefits to repeat sits.  One of them is that we already know the area which makes walking the dog/s so much easier.