As the garden visiting season comes to a natural end and we anticipate the next winter project- a total rebuild of the cafe glasshouse. Making our last cups of tea and claiming our last memories of the glasshouse we look forward to the long planned and finely detailed new building that will welcome you next April.

Time then for me to catch up; and it has been encouraging to see familiar faces from through the years and to find they are introducing their friends to our little oasis of peace.

On Friday I was entrusted with 12 visitors from the USA. They were on a week long painting holiday in Cornwall. Staying in St Ives, many for the first time in England they were in awe of our beautiful county. Compliments including "the best meal I have had all week" swelled our pride in our ethos of fresh from the garden vegetarian food, after all do Americans have vegetarians? My 10 year old American nephew once told me very knowledgeably that indeed they did. I was pleased to hear and listened on to hear his explanation "in America vegetarians look after animals". I had to agree that here too in Britain vegetarians were keen to promote good animal welfare before I realised that he was confused and was in fact talking about 'vetenaries'!

The Potager is very gracefully falling asleep, settling amongst the Red River lilies- Schizostylus coccinea- and the Japanese anemones are the leaves of autumn, vibrant torches of vivid orange 'red hot pokers' and huge windfall apples punctuate the season.

Hope to see you next season.