Happy Birthday Dr X!!

Everyone helped to make you this special birthday card. It took a long time as there were lots of disagreements about what should go on the card and where to put it.  The ducks wanted to take a straw poll, but the Swiss cows had eaten all the straw... ha ha (every birthday deserves a lame joke, right?!) 
Although your time in Earth years seems long, I know it is short in comparison to the intergalactic time measurement on Planet X. 


I love you the most. 


p.s. Now we've got your birthday out of the way we can start re-focussing our energies back on mine again.
p.p.s We've already eaten all of your birthday cake.

The Apple of Guilt

You've been sitting in my fruit bowl for more than a week
Your brooding, bruising presence leering out at me from within the glassy confines
You mock me for not making my five a day (heck, five a week!) target
You speak with my mother's voice and frown with Dr X's displeasure
I don't want you. I want the dark chocolate hobnobs.
I want to compost you. I will compost you.
I lift up the lid slowly but then close it in a rush. It's too soon to tip you in there...
The banana of guilt is still lurking there from two weeks ago.
I can sense it's slithery tentacles trying to lift the lid. The horror!!
You go back in the fruit bowl. I turn you over to hide your bruises.
If I am lucky Dr X will pick you up by mistake.
Thank you for making my life a misery, o apple of guilt.

I want to live in Oxford!

Yes please to cobbled streets, rides on bicycles with baskets, visits to interesting art galleries and museums, famous authors, golden buildings and ancient gargoyles. 

Dreaming of...

my visit to a cute French market at Easter time...

And so to bed

Hope you've had a perfect day. Sleep well. xxx

In the garden today...

The Swiss cows decided to leave a carrot in their vegetable patch to see if it would keep growing - these amazing  flowers are the result!

The Swiss cows visited their bee house to see how the honey production was getting on.

The Swiss cows on location - surveying their kingdom

Taking a break in the shade.

The Girl with Glass Feet

"In a hammock of moss the size of a cupped palm, dangling between green-barked branches, a moth-winged bull slept. It had folded back its papery wings and drifted to sleep kneeling on the dank threads of it's makeshift bed. Around it the bog stretched to the horizon in every direction., a mottling of glistening peat, ochre grass and trees whose bent trunks formed low archways." (Ali Shaw, p.34)


A beautiful, magical modern fairy tale which requires you to put aside logic when you read it. The cows loved hearing about their winged contemporaries, although they found some parts of the story too sad to keep reading. Wonderful work from an author who was born in the South-West of England. 

Simply follow the owl...

So excited to learn that in October 2011 JK Rowling is launching a new website for Harry Potter fans called Pottermore.

There will be some new content about the wonderful wizarding world of Harry Potter. The Swiss Cows and I can't wait!

Belated Birthday Loot!!!

My birthday is in April but as I was away on holiday at the time, the Welsh girls wisely decided to hang onto my birthday pressies until I returned. They then forgot about them (as did I) until they stumbled upon them during a tidy-up. What a lovely surprise I had this morning when the postie handed over the package. I LOVE surprise gifts.  I also LOVE the fact that I received so many sheep related items (I didn't realise my farm animal obsession was so well known...).   The little package in front of the Sheep tea cosy (in the top picture) is a Welsh chocolate dragon. I had already gobbled down half of it before I had the bright idea of taking a photo of my lovely gifts. A big THANK YOU to the Welsh girls and also to KK.  XXXX


p.s. Do I really have to share the gold bunnies with Dr. X??
p.p.s The Swiss cows are starting to feel threatened by the competition.

Mean Girls

The Swiss cows texted me when I was at work on Thursday to say they wanted to watch a movie with Lindsey Lohan in. They'd enjoyed her work in Freaky Friday and wanted to see what else she had acted in. I dutifully visited Blockbusters on my way home (you can get five old movies for £5 and keep them for 7 days - a bargain!) and picked up Mean Girls. Written and directed by Tina Le Fey I was sure it would have high comedic value and bring back some memories of my own high school days.  The film delivers on the title. I'm glad my high school days are over, even though they were tame in comparison to this film.
Mama Swiss Cow was glad that she went to finishing school in Switzerland. "Everyone was very dignified there", she sniffed, swishing her tail in displeasure at 'the plastics' clique of girls in the film.

Why do the English always talk about the weather?

"...our conversations about the weather are not really about the weather at all: English weather speak is a form of code, evolved to help us overcome our natural reserve and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows, for example, that 'Nice day isn't it?' , 'Ooh isn't it cold?', 'Still raining eh?' and other variations on the theme are not requests for meteorological data: they are ritual greetings, conversation starters or default 'fillers'." (p. 26, Kate Fox)


A brilliantly funny book which delves deep into the mysteries of English culture and helps us understand why the Brits say and do the things they do. The Swiss cows found it enormously entertaining and are composing a letter to Ms Fox to see if she would turn her attentions to the slightly more interesting world of cows.  10 moos of appreciation for Ms Fox. xxx

It's all about the rain...

Adele wants to set fire to it :

Billie wants to kiss it:

Prince, well he sort of went his own way and coloured it:

I just like to put my wellies on and go paddling in it!


How about you? Do you love the rain or not?

The Tiger who Came to Tea

I came home from work today to find that the Swiss cows had been reading one of my childhood favourites:

Not familiar with the story? You can have it read to you here


Unfortunately this book should not be read without adult supervision. The Swiss cows began to take liberties...

They cracked open my ginger pop

They gobbled up my jelly beans

They fought over the leftover Christmas Quality Street (I was ok with that)

And they started getting ideas about my flowers

I think I need to get cow cam installed to keep an eye on them in future. Do you have problems like this in your home? xx

I (don't) hate Monday!

This week-end I had to work on Saturday, so as compensation I took the Monday off as leave. There's something very decadent about taking a work day as holiday when most people are at work. I say most, but in reality as I live in a sea-side town and we are edging into the busy tourist season, I found that lots of other people were having a day off too. There was no other choice but to go for a wander to the beach and see what the sea was up to. Would you like a peep at some photos?

There's a heavenly scent of gorse and other floral type things on the cliff tops

Miles and miles of golden sand...

The sea and sky pull off the moody metallic look so well

The ice cream shack was closed!! Outrageous.

Surf's up!

Ship Ahoy!

Look at the tentacles on this beastie.

Ouch - that's gonna hurt...

I wondered where I'd left my bikini.

I wasn't hardy enough to swim.

What do you like to do on your days off? xxx

Out on the wily, windy moors

The moors pull off the granite look so well!

A magical place full of fairy bogs and mystery

If you want to have any peace NEVER feed the ponies

Could this be the black beast of the moor?

I recently finished reading Wuthering Heights, which is set up on the Yorkshire moors. This made me want to look through my own photos for images of moors close to my heart - Dartmoor and Exmoor.  The moors are a fabulous place to visit, although you have to be prepared for sudden changes in weather. I've seen lots of ponies and sheep, granite rocks and birds flitting about but luckily no Mr Heathcliff.  

I also can't get Hayley Westenra's version of the Wuthering Heights song out of my mind. She's as good as Kate Bush in my opinion. 

Pink Flowers in St Ives

Emma Jeffryes is one of my favourite Cornish artists. Whenever I get the chance I visit the New Craftsman Gallery in Cornwall so that I can stand and gaze at her happy paintings. One day I hope to be able to own an original. For now I am making do with the card version.  What kind of art makes your heart skip? xx

Coastal Style

Every couple of weeks I love to visit my local library. On my last visit I borrowed the above little gem. It's pages are filled with lovely eye-candy for people who want their homes to reflect a lifestyle spent near the sea. I have to give the book back soon but don't feel ready to yet. I want to dive inside the pages a bit more. The Swiss Cows are getting out the white paint and drawing up their deck-chairs... xxx

The Thatch, Coverack

Last year, Dr X and I rented the most beautiful, serene and perfect little chocolate box of a country cottage down in Cornwall for us and the French relatives to enjoy. Our mission: to show the French that it doesn't always rain in England, that good food can be found on the other side of the channel and that Cornwall is a beautiful place to relax in and unwind. We hired the Thatch through Classic Cottages (five stars for them) and it was perfection. Would you like a little peep at some holiday snaps?

The perfect holiday cottage

The cottage was beautifully decorated with a sea theme throughout

Ship ahoy!

A curious little Gypsy encampment, just down the road from the cottage

Coverack has a lovely sea front and fishing harbour

The road much travelled

Can you believe this is Cornwall and in April??!

Watch out for the rare choughs

The best ice-cream in Cornwall!!

My heart will always be in Cornwall. xx