Cats, Mussels and a Castle

As I finished my book yesterday, I have dug out the book club book I have to read next, which is A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly.  This year we chose to read the TV Book Club books from the previous year, partly because it is easier than everyone trying to get to a unanimous decision on a myriad of novels and partly because they are heavily discounted throught the TV Book Club. 

We added three other random books to make up the necessary amount, to take us through the whole year, but I couldn't get hold of this month’s book,  Hold Tight by Harlan Coben, so shan't be reading that.  However, I won’t be recovered enough to go to July's group meeting anyway so that’s worked out well.

There’s no meeting in August as so many people are away or have guests staying. So I shall be well in time for the September meeting.

Another quite sunny day here with a tiny bit of breeze after a misty start. I hadn't seen the weather forecast, but optimistically hung out the washing and it's drying well.  I have one of those brilliant ceiling airers in the kitchen, so can always dry things overnight without a problem whatever the weather.

The cats finally woke up from there sleep on a settee, and I sat out watching them playing in the garden, while I ate a late breakfast of crispy bacon, fried bread and fried tomatoes and taking a few photographs.

A pair of pink poppies and single poppy in the driveway, and opposite the poppies marigolds.

It was lucky that the washing dried by just after lunch, as it suddenly poured with rain, really hard, like stair rods, and then just as quickly stopped again.  The weather has been very strange for the last few weeks.  Hard to know what it's going to do from hour to hour.

I cut back the delphinium that had been so wonderful from April to June, to a few stalks at the end of June, and it is already shooting again.  I wonder if I'll have more of those fantastic flower spikes later this year.

This evening Moules Marinière is on the menu for supper.  I make it with mussels, chopped shallots or onions, garlic, Muscadet wine, parsley, seasoning and a good tub of full cream.  Here are the ingredients set out ready for me to start cooking.

This was a meal which my children loved from an early age, and when I lived in Cornwall we used to pick mussels, each filling a small popcorn bucket with the lovely purple shells,  from the rocks on Porthluney beach just below the wonderful Caerhays Castle, owned and lived in by the Williams family. 

The Williams family were responsible for many of the new camellia varieties in the last century and some of these wonderful plants are in the castle grounds.  They also have Highland cattle in the grounds too, with  huge horns and wonderful dark rust coloured coats which gleam like burnished copper in the sunshine.