Crackin On It in Cornwall

Six years ago a lad from England came and stayed on our farm for a month. We knew that we couldn't come to England without seeing if we could visit John! On Monday, July 27 we crossed the River Tamar from Devon to Cornwall and started our four fun-filled days in this county in southwestern England! It was lovely to reconnect with John and explore another beautiful area of England!

Our first stop was checking on some steers. After staying with us, John introduced some Jerseys into his herd. Dana and I may have been excited to see Holsteins, but...

A Jersey! A Jersey! Our first Jersey sighting in four months! We were so excited!!! 

We jumped right into helping on the farm and got cracking on all the work. This is one of our favorite sayings we picked up in Cornwall; just another way to say let's get moving. In what has become the norm, Dana took care of the calves and I helped milked. As John and his family are all quite tall, their milking parlor was made for them, not me! However, I figured out a way to prep the cows and put on milkers. 

Dana preparing to mix up milk for the calves!

Another Jersey! So sweet! 

After a super tasty fried breakfast cooked up by John, he shared with us his Cornwall pride and took us about to many lovely places. We enjoyed a walk along River Fowey, stopping to take many photos and for Dana to catch up to John and me. Or maybe it was John and I running behind Dana! After passing some quaint cottages, we boarded a passenger ferry to visit another cute fishing village. Here we experienced true Cornish Pasties! Pasties can only be called Cornish if they are made in Cornwall and originated in this wonderful county of England for the miners to eat! Unfortunately, we took those photos on my camera so we don't have them to share with you. We had a traditional one which includes beef, potatoes and swede. It was delicious! 

View from the ferry

Dana on the ferry!

The next day was filled with more adventures. We had planned to do some cycling but all of the bike hire places were out of licenses so we came up with plan B - a picnic! In classic Dana and Julie style we picked a supermarket and got the essentials. None of us had shopped at Lidl before so we thought we would see what it was like. It might become a new favorite! We drove to a lovely grassy area and found a great log to sit and enjoy our picnic. We shared with John the way Austrians eat bread, meat, and cheese and think we convinced him of the superiority of their ways! Disclaimer: We love the English, too!

At Lidl!

All this for under 10 quid!

After finishing chores, we headed to Looe for "Learn to Row." John is in a rowing club and they teach others to row! Dana and I sat at either end of the boat, watching the others row with John as their coach. We also enjoyed seeing the sun set and the moon rise on the sea. Next thing we know, John is asking two of the more experienced ladies to switch with Dana and me. So yes, we got to learn to row! It was such an incredible experience and I think we both would like to become better at it. Hopefully next time we will be able to master our skills.

We rowed here!

Feeling accomplished after rowing!

 Dana, our wonderful host, John, and me!

Rowing is a great workout and we worked up an appetite! It was time for another traditional English meal - Fish and Chips! They were seriously amazing!

For our last day in Cornwall, we explored the grounds of Mt. Edgecombe. We loved seeing the manor house, which was lived in by the original family until the 1980's. We enjoyed all the beautiful gardens as well. Plus, we had a delicious cream tea at The Orangery!

There is a bit of a rivalry between Cornwall and Devon but Dana and I are staying neutral between the two as we love them both. We had such a great time reconnecting with John and chatting with him. Thank you for hosting us and showing us around! Each and every day England and it's fantastic views and people amaze us!