Author Archives: Christine Taylor


About Christine Taylor

Charles and Christine Taylor have hosted Luxury Bed and Breakfast at Ednovean Farm Nr Penzance in West Cornwall since 1991 and live there with three cats and eight horses including a Spanish Stallion called Danni. Christine writes a weekly blog about life on the farm and garden with an occasional series about places of interest in West Cornwall

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Ednovean Farm’s spring garden in March

Spring growth, bright greenleaves

I opened the top door and spotted the climbing Hydrangea had sprung into growth over the last few days

This month I’ve watch the spring develop around me and I’ve celebrated each tiny progress in my weekly blogs charting the burgeoning daffodils that have brought bright swathes of colour in casual drifts under the palms. So for this final blog roundup celebrating the beginning of spring in Cornwall I took one last walk around the garden to record some of the broader views and enjoy the layers of texture of the palms shrubs as the garden moves forward to the next chapter of its life.

Gardening just above the sea in spring, at least has the benefit of the warmer maritime climate keeping the frost away and lending extra light to the garden as the sun bounces off of the water. Continue reading “Ednovean Farm’s spring garden in March” »

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Easter 2016 Wishing you a very Happy Easter!!

Perranuthnoe church framed by blue seas seen from Ednovean Farm

I took a snap of the church in Perranuthnoe as I walked across our lawn at Ednovean farm this week

A very happy Easter to you all!!

I hope you are enjoying the first Bank Holiday of the year with its curiously unfixed date. As we celebrated Easter with our guests at Ednovean Farm this year I wondered exactly why it was such a moveable holiday. Each year is different from the last, as the seasons change and each year gives a different experience and atmosphere to the holiday and so in this blog I set out to find out and also share our Easter Morning here at Ednovean Farm Continue reading “Easter 2016 Wishing you a very Happy Easter!!” »

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The spring equinox and spring days

early morning dew on spring morning

A spring morning in our garden and the day almost seems to shimmer with anticipation

There has been an almost tangible air of expectation in the air in the days leading up to the spring equinox. I felt it so strongly this week as I walk down through the dew laden morning to feed the brood mares and I stopped to take a snap of the morning magic as each droplet of water magnified the rising sun thrice fold. The very early Easter this year at last coincides with the height of the spring flowers as it always seems rather sad that the very brightest flowers have long finished before our guest arrive for their Easter break.

In this week’s blog I’ve looked a spring changes in Perranuthnoe, the growing momentum of spring in our garden and Danni our Spanish stallions special spring treat –  a dressage course with Jenny Rolfe, just because I thought you’d like to see his picture!

Continue reading “The spring equinox and spring days” »

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The March Lion

Daffodils in a cornish spring garden

After the storm and the Daffodils are unruffled

“March roars in like a Lion and out like a lamb” Well March has certainly roared in like a lion this week, treating us to (hopefully) one final flourish of the #stormwithnoname as social media dubbed it. Now I’m waiting patiently for the second part of the edict “out like a lamb”

Still this morning, the viciously cold wind of yesterday, gave way to a gently warm day today and the wild storm capped waves that yesterday raced across Mounts bay have settled down once more with the mellow blanket of spring once again wrapped around us. Continue reading “The March Lion” »

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My February Garden diary

early spring garden border with spiral topiary at Ednovean Farm

Evening sunshine on a spring border

As February gives way to March the month which brings with it the official meteorological first day of spring, the sunshine still conceals a chill in the air. And yet the garden is leaping into life around me, with bulbs emerging throughout the garden, each flower bringing bright splashes of colour to our lives after the long winter. How carefully I look at the new delicate buds each day, as if they could predict the year for me, as the Jet stream sinuously weaves its powerful spell over the British Isles. It never stays in one place or should I say position for long enough for me to predict my week let alone month and so the unrelenting progress of spring brings its own reassurance of the continuity of the season. Continue reading “My February Garden diary” »

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Storms and Valentines

Cat on a bench in a rfemal courtyard garden Ednovean Farm

After the storm and s[ud-Cat was the first to find a sunny spot in the courtyard for the morning

We have had such a week that ranged from ferocious storms to gentle calm in the run up to Valentine’s day. This week I spotted the first pale pink cherry blossoms starting to break today, as I passed a farmhouse garden on Danni  in Rosudgeon riding along the narrow ancient lanes edged with moss covered banks studded with primroses. I seemed that  no sooner had I written my last blog following the steady step of spring than storm Imogen scorched in to the British isle bringing wind gust of up to 90 miles and hour and sixty foot waves to be seen just off of St Ives.

This time I thought I really would make an effort to captures an impression of the relentless ferocious rhythm to the seas that these storms bring and headed down into our local village of Perranuthnoe to visit the local beach. Continue reading “Storms and Valentines” »

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The steady step of spring

Bright pink tulips vintage Dining room

Fresh burst of spring colour in our dining room

I’ve noticed the steady step of spring of late, bringing with it a subtle change in the light and with it the momentum of the season changing  from winter into spring.

I love to tweak our home to reflect the change of the seasons and this week I’ve suddenly wanted to edit some of my little still lifes that brighten up some corners in our home at Ednovean Farm by adding splashes of brighter fresher colours. Suddenly the the wonderful texture of the vintage apple basket in the hall that felt so right with its soft colours and bold textures for the winter season, was ready to be moved to a quieter corner. This week in Cornwall we’ve had days of brilliant sunshine and blue seas, rainbows and rain storms, all treading the steady step into spring Continue reading “The steady step of spring” »

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January and time to plan the garden year

Cornish spring daffodil

The multi headed Narcissi where the first welcome flowers of spring this month

January is a great month to take stock of the garden and plan the direction of the garden year and this year we’ve started work quite early. The mild winter has brought the new spring growth so far forward that now is the time to start, although I must admit I step gingerly on to our lawn sometimes as I feel it gently yielding like a soft green cushion under my feet. As our gardener remarked as we toiled away  “I’m usually still in my winter hibernation now!” still as our garden has been formed over the last twenty five years now, some areas are ready for reassessment and rejuvenation to allow the garden to breath again with fresh new growth. this months diary looks at :-

  • Garden rejuvenation
  • Planning garden changes
  • January photo album

Continue reading “January and time to plan the garden year” »

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Photographing the Blue room and other news

French bedin the blue bedroom at ednovean farm

The pretty French bed in the Blue bedroom

This week’s snaps of Ednovean farm travel from a glorious sunset over the sea to my attempts at interior photography in our elegant Blue bedroom. i must say that I ind interior photography very hard and I had sneakily planned to wait for the complimentary disk to arrive after last years interiors photo shoot here but in the meantime I wanted to show off our elegant Blue bedroom a little more on our website and so with the tips gathered from  the visiting pro photographer in mind I set to work. Continue reading “Photographing the Blue room and other news” »

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Countryside and seaside beyond Ednovean Farm

January landscape west Cornwall

A January view over west Cornwall

The gentle weeks of winter seem to speed by us now and I love the soft muted colours at this time of the year as somebody remarked on Google+ “It is just a matter of editing your colour palette” Each day as we exercise the horses  (and a horse is great for looking over those Cornish hedges!) I look down over the broad sweeping valleys interspersed with those particularly short rounded trees of Cornwall made magical in the low angles of the light and hinting back to older landscapes. They seem to huddle in the sheltered crevices of the contours before the land sweeps broadly up again to the bracken covered hills. This week was St Hilary Feast and the hounds were paraded in Goldsithney as they had always been but somehow we hadn’t expected to see them when we set out for  a ride with Danni our Spanish Stallion and Archie his first son – danni is looking slightly concerned as you can see but happy to stop to chat before we continued on our way deeper into the Cornish countryside.

Continue reading “Countryside and seaside beyond Ednovean Farm” »