Melanie’s February Reflections

Welcome to our latest blog post, Melanie’s February Reflections. It’s been a cold month here weather wise and pretty wet. Our garden has been almost reminiscent of a village pond. I’m surprised ducks haven’t moved in! We are hopeful however for springs arrival soon. We have the appearance of snowdrops spilling down the steps to the studio, which is a good sign. As you can see from the featured image this month, I even managed to capture our resident garden rabbit who has been living here for the last 6 months! I named her Jemima.. and she and the chickens get on very well!

We haven’t been that adventurous going out this month, mainly due to the weather and being busy in the studio. Lily has been quite happy to play with her toys indoors and sit on the sofa. Also while looking utterly cute waiting for a treat!

Cornwall Visit

We have been and visited family in Cornwall though.. in the rain! I think rain will be the theme of this blog post! The photo below was taken at the Dutchy of Cornwall Nursery. It is an absolutely beautiful place to visit. They have amazing plants, a shop where you would want to buy ‘everything’ and a really lovely café. Lily was under the table and well looked after. It’s always good to find places that are dog friendly to eat. But a huge tick for the Dutchy for being dog friendly!

Nicholas and I had their carrot cake, which was absolutely delicious, with very generous portions too. The café comes highly recommended! I would say overall a spring time visit would be better than early February if you want to look around outside. Or make sure you take a raincoat!

Lanhydrock

We also headed to Lanhydrock which is a National Trust stately home. Thankfully the rain held off while we were there which was good. The estate dates back to the 17th century. The house which you can just about see in the photo below behind the gatehouse, showcases a rich history and when you go inside, it gives a good glimpse into the lives of the aristocracy during the 17th and 18th centaury.

This is the gatehouse with Nicholas, Lily and our family walking along past the gates. It has a mix of formal gardens, woodlands, and riverside paths and if you go at the right time, the Magnolia trees are magnificent. I remember seeing them many years ago, I was full of cold and felt quite unwell but we wanted to see them in all their glory. They really are beautiful.

Lily was allowed to go off lead. We were hesitant at the start as it was so muddy, but she got so filthy in the end, that we decided it was too late to keep her clean. There were plenty of other dogs around too as you can see from this fellow running along to see Lily. We did have to take her home and give her half a bath but she had a fun day!

Melanie’s February Reflections – Early Morning Walks

We have had some amazing early morning walks this month and the sky’s have been quite incredible. Although you do have to get up early to catch them. It feels like January and February should be hibernation months and its often very easy to pull the duvet over your head when you can hear the rain on the windows! However when we do get up on the lovely mornings, it really is rewarding.

Melanie’s February Reflections – Lily Grooming

Lily has also been groomed this month and what a good girl she was for Dylan our groomer. She really doesn’t like being brushed, particularly by me! Lily will put up with it for a certain amount of time, but when she has had enough, she will start complaining.

She is good for Dylan though and never complains! I have to say after the initial….please don’t leave me here I don’t want a bath…when I drop her off, she is apparently very well behaved which is all that matters. I think she is always relieved to be home after though! Both Lily and I have developed a selfie ritual after we have had our hair done, so here is her selfie…

… and here is mine after my hair dressers this month. I just hope that we don’t ever get mixed up and Lily ends up going to my hair dressers by mistake… I think they might have a bit of a shock!

Saturday by the Sea

We took advantage of a really lovely day a couple of Saturday’s ago to visit the coast and find somewhere for lunch. We ended up in Aberporth and did the coastal walk from there to Tresaith and back again. It was absolutely lovey and at the start of Aberporth continuing half way to Tresaith, they have tarmacked the path so it is all inclusive. It was busy with people of all ages pushing buggy’s and wheelchairs. Well done council for doing that. Here is a little video of our day, mainly featuring Lily the dog! She has such a lovely time on the beach.

The waterfall there is so pretty and probably flowing much more this time of year due to the amount of rain we have had. The rock was pretty slippery too, so if you head that way this time of year, definitely be careful clambering over the seaweed!

The beach was pretty empty as you can see, but it is always busy in the summer months. We did comment that we wouldn’t be brave enough to stay in the caravans on the cliff edge…

Lily enjoyed her run on the sand. It did of course end up with another mini bath when she got home. Otherwise the sand stays in her coat and it trails everywhere in the cottage.

The sunlight was quite bright as you can see by Nicholas squinting! But we had a really lovely day, perfect in fact and lunch was delicious! Roll on spring as we need many more days like these!

Follow us to read our March Blog…

Finally We hope you have enjoyed our Melanie’s February Reflections blog post along with our little video. I do need to take the time to make more of them. Roll on March and I will try!! I hope that you are all keeping well. We are sending our very best wishes to you all. Thank you for reading our blog and keeping up with our news. If you missed our January blog post head on over the Melanie’s January Journal. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to subscribe!

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