Although we have bleak days (just like our new home environment), we are still thrilled really to be here, in this wild, wondrous place.

We were remarking on seeing new things, that we’ve never seen before – last week we saw a mating ritual between two Robins – the male doing all in his power to attract a very nonchalant female! (hee hee go girl) Today, David actually saw Sherri lay an egg – you know, I don’t mean sit on a nest, I mean watched the egg pop out, heralded by Mo, making the announcement to the whole family and anyone else who would listen!

DM was hopping around with excitement when I got home from my morning of graft and chores, he couldn’t wait to show me the photos of the sequence of events! I am green with envy at him witnessing this – I don’t suppose many people have ever seen this moment. The funny thing was that this was all going on in a patch of montbretia, on top of a dry-stone wall. After we thought we’d got them beaten by finding their last nest (14 eggs in it) subsequently they went back to laying in the boring old nest box for a bit, now this nest was discovered with three eggs in it, one still VERY warm!!!

We have walked on the moor this afternoon in glorious sunshine, watched buzzards and jackdaws, not to mention sheep.

While I was ambling about in the garden, I picked up this – rock (in two distinct colours – I’m sure John, our geologist friend will have something to say about what exactly they are), topped with a row of pearly teeth…..well, really a row of crystals, looking like teeth. It kind of looks like a jaw doesn’t it? There is loads of the pink rock lying around here, but this is the first I’ve seen complete with teeth.

I can’t imagine I’d have ever just picked anything so beautiful up off the ground in Sandhurst.

Apparently, when the mines were open, it wasn’t uncommon for miners to come home with big blocks of crystal and bury them in their gardens – they weren’t allowed to take stuff out of the mines, whether copper, tin or anything else. With a life expectancy of 23 years old, I expect quite a lot of lumps of crystal are still under the soil in gardens in these parts.

I doubt this is from a mine – I reckon it’s just ‘here’. But it does confirm my view that this is a wondrous place.

John (my on-tap expert) says:

The specimen is comprised of four layers from a copper-zinc-lead-tin vein, from the top or outer layer of yellow-brown iron stained quartz (citrine) with disseminated zinc blende (sphalerite)/cassiterite (tin)/ and copper (possibly bornite or peacock ore) which also forms a distinct basal layer to the quartz (layer2). The next layer looks like the wall of the vein with fine metallic copper sulphide, iron pyrites perhaps in a micro-granitic or felsitic ground mass. The lowest area of the photo shows the clean country rock that the vein or lode has been intruded into, probably microgranite. Much of the speciment shows fine felspathic veining intruded from the granite host as the last stage of injection of the vein.

There is a good chance that this specimen has been found almost in situ rather than hidden by a miner. Ore veins run W-E under/across the foundation of the house andwe are probably looking at a sample of the vein refered to in the survey report. Remember, before mining underground the miners would have dug the vein at surface until they could go no deeper safely or or ourse it may be spoil.


Last year self-flagellation was my thing!