A postcard from Cornwall

It was summer, the roses were blooming in the garden despite bursts of heavy rain. One day Laura received a letter.

"Who can it be from?" she wondered

Inside the envelope was a postcard puzzle

Laura tipped the pieces onto the table and started doing the jigsaw puzzle

It was not too difficult to see that there were 4 pictures divided by white borders

Soon she had all the edges done and started working on the middle pieces

"Last piece" said Laura as she put it in place to complete the picture

It was four photos of a village called Boscastle in Cornwall

Laura carefully turned the puzzle over (yes, it can be done) and read the message on the back.  It was from her friend Henry.

"Dear Laura,
We are having a lovely time in Cornwall despite the weather not being the best!  We arrived for a day in Boscastle and it is now pouring down with rain so had to wait in the cafe for ages until it cleared - no real problem as we enjoyed lunch and a cream tea! We went for a walk and admired the wonderful views once it stopped raining it was rugged, wild and wonderful!  We did have a couple of days when the weather wasn't too bad and will blog about the places we visited.  Much love, Henry :-)  P.S. Hope you had fun doing this puzzle postcard."

"Thank you Henry, I did enjoy piecing this together and reading about your Cornish holiday" said Laura

Laura hasn't visited Boscastle but her girl has been there twice, when she was much younger as we had 2 caravan holidays at Tintagel. Boscastle was severely flooded in 2004 because of a severe cloudburst (it hit the national news).  In our visits to the village it was good to see all the repairs that were done and improvements to the flood defences so it was a relief to know that despite Henry's rainy visit the village wasn't flooded again.

Flowers for the Queen

To celebrate her Majesty the Queen's 90th birthday, Laura took her little brother Edmund to a Flower Festival in a nearby church.

The first arrangement they saw was called 'The United Kingdom' - it had red roses for England, leeks for Wales, thistles for Scotland and Shamrock chrysanthemum flowers for Northern Ireland.

Laura and Edmund admired the 'United Kingdom' flower arrangement

They discovered the Queen's handbags on a table.

Laura liked a handbag decorated with hydrangea flowers

Edmund tried to lift a handbag of small white flowers just like Mia Tindall (the Queen's great-granddaughter) did in the 90th birthday portrait

They found a display commemorating the Queen's close association with the Commonwealth countries. There were postage stamps, flags and a portrait of the Queen, as well as vibrant flowers including pincushion protea flowers from South Africa.

Edmund and Laura liked The Commonwealth flower arrangement

There was a magnificent display of the Queen's Coronation including photos of the event and a stunning arrangement symbolising the crown and clothes she wore for that historic event in 1953.

Edmund and Laura admired the Coronation display

The Coronation display was so elegant

Nearby was a tribute to all the soldiers lost in war, called 'Lest we forget'.

Laura and Edmund bowed their heads at 'Lest we forget'

Edmund was fascinated by the red poppies and spotted a bugle in the display

There was a red, white and blue display called 'Diamonds and Pearls' which represented the Crown Jewels

The 'Diamonds and Pearls' display matched their clothes very well

Edmund liked the display called 'The Royal Family Tree' which celebrated the changing of the guard and the garden parties at Buckingham Palace as well as a family tree showing images of the family closely related to the Queen.

Laura and Edmund had fun spotting different characters in 'The Royal Family Tree'

Edmund particularly liked the little guard figure while Laura liked the crochet hats which represented the hats worn at the Buckingham Palace garden tea parties

Seeing the garden party display made them hungry for cake which they found in the hall.

Laura and Edmund were glad to sit down for a rest with tea and cake

  Laura and Edmund found the Queen's crown depicted in flowers.

Edmund and Laura with the Queen's floral crown

The floral crown was beautiful and Edmund was pleased that Laura allowed him to stand beside such an important symbol of Royalty.  He was on his best behaviour and stood to attention like a Buckingham Palace guard.

Near the crown was a large urn for donations towards the cost of the flowers.  Edmund added a few pennies while Laura watched to ensure he didn't tumble inside it.

Edmund added his pennies for the flowers

 At the door of the church they found the Queen herself!

Edmund and Laura met Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Edmund and Laura with the Queen

I had made the dress Laura wore in 2013 (I sent a matching one to Erica for Christmas 2012 Secret Santa swap), however when Edmund knew that Laura was taking him to see the Flower festival he asked for a waistcoat in the same fabric.  My younger girl made the lined waistcoat for him (she did all the machine sewing, turned it the right side out, ironed it and had a bit of help with the buttons (decorative) and press stud fastening. His waistcoat pattern is a scaled down version of one which we bought from Lorraine at the Sasha Celebration Weekend in May.