Windy.

Wild and windy today with a few short showers. 

Having heard the dreaded words 'a chance of frost' on the radio I allocated the day to making sure the tender plants would be safe for the winter. But as usual there were things to do before I could move any plants. Trays to be washed and the raised bed behind the cold frame cleared. The knautia that had been flowering all summer had to be cut down and the climbers they'd been hiding tied back on to the trellis.

And there tucked away was my first rose. When we moved from Barnstaple I took some cuttings from a lovely David Austin rose growing in our garden. Two of the cuttings survived and now one is flowering.

Finishing the cold frame was simply a matter of placing two sheets of perspex on top and weighing them down with wood and stone. Before putting the trailing geraniums and the osteospermum in for the winter I cut them right back and then poked in some cuttings into the same pots in the hope that some might grow. 

I had foolishly planted one of the osteospermums straight into a big terracotta pot and it was so heavy that carrying it to the back garden did not do my back any good. To avoid that happening again I replanted the osteospermum in a plastic pot which can be slipped inside the heavy planter.

The succulents including my collection of aeoniums have gone in the porch. As they won't need so much watering hopefully there won't be as much condensation as last winter.

Above - a surfer and a kite surfer in the bay today. Below - a surfing seal on Porthmeor.

You can see just how close it was to the water's edge.

Four hours later it was back again (Peter spotted hit from the window seat). This time it was even closed to the water's edge. (That's the sand right at the bottom of the photo.) It swam along, popped its head up and then decided to swim on its back.

Then had another long look at the people taking photos at one point opening its mouth as if to say 'Feed me', before finally swimming off.