Jersey Trio

I met up with the delightful blippers Nickimags888 and TheAphid and husband/father Rik from Jersey today! I was so looking forward to this blipmeet as I love both their photography and Nickimag's interesting and informative writing. Needless to say they were at Cotehele before me! But not by much and I did bring them eggs! It was just so easy talking to them ( at them?!) and we seemed to do just that for ages over a cup of tea and a teacake for me! Next stop the house - it was drizzly so seemed a good way to start! After the house I drove them down to the quay for lunch- where my melted camembert came covered in ground pepper - not on the menu and not asked for so they all said take it back - which I did! What is it with people and their liberal use of pepper and chilli?!!! Grrr!
After lunch we walked to the mill and as well as having found out Jersey has no foxes or badgers, they also have no rivers! But they do have red squirrels and frogs in abundance! Also found out that there is an "amicable" discord with Guernsey - I had asked whether  the book about the Book club on an island was set on Jersey  -it was of course all in the title I couldn't remember - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society!!! I had earlier admitted to having to look up where Jersey was when I first started following them on blip as all their flora and fauna seemed earlier than mine!!! Two strikes so far for me then! 
On coming back to the quay we found the two swans that come down to Calstock - with babies! I had only mentioned on blip the fact I couldn't remember seeing cygnets apart from on blip! The parents were being hissy whenever a dog came into view so I didn't venture too close! 
Back up to the house to wander round the gardens - fabulous waterlillies on the pond, lots of busy bees around the hives, cut flower garden sweetpeas looking and smelling gorgeous - mine are about 5cm high! This was when Rik corrected me - seems I had been calling the cygnets goslings!! It seems he heard a woman correcting her husband over this misnaming - so maybe I had subliminally consumed this in my excitement over finding them! Perhaps it was because I have been following sgall18's exploits with a gosling!! So this was my third conversational strike and I think they must have found me most ill informed on a whole host of subjects - I plead the menopause for my confusion!!
Our final bit of marvel was in the lower garden where there was an immense sound of bees buzzing - I thought it was a swarm in a huge blossomed covered tree, but it was just a phenomenal lot of bees gathering nectar. 
So time to part as they had to book in to their second place of accommodation. Oh dear actually there were 4 strikes! Just before I was due to meet them I wondered how they were getting to me as they came by boat. I asked Nikki this when I met her presuming they had hired a car, and she said they had brought the car over - oh my, said I, you must have some boat! Errr no! They came by ferry! 
I do hope I will meet them again, such good company, but I fear I may have confirmed my name to them! It was also Rik's first blipmeet so I also hope I haven't put him off doing anymore! He did say we both took less photographs than he expected - well both too busy talking! You can take photos other times but blipmeets are special! 
Oh and guess what they have where they are staying? Chickens!!