Amy, Queen of the Fete

Saturday was our Parish Fete day. We were lucky - the sun shone and the skies were blue, loads of people came and the money rolled in! Amy attended as a competition once more ... this year she was "Guess my Birthday". Here she is proudly sitting next to her prize, a cushion featuring the signs of the Zodiac (made by me!). What you can't see in this photo is her harness,

And it hasn't come out very well in this photo ... it actually gives details of the competition and asks, "Am I a Furgo? Or maybe a Pawsces? I might even be a Hairies! Scpawpio? Or not?" I can hear the collective groan!! Anyway, she did really well, raising nearly £25 which is a lot of 25 pences.

Similar to Amy's prize and available for sale on DevonBear Designs.

And of course Amy always enjoys the opportunity to meet her young fans!

The fete was held in the grounds of Stokenham House which has wonderful views down towards the sweep of Start Bay. The lawns were soon dotted with people simply sitting, enjoying their icecreams and the wonderful gardens.

The icecream stall did a roaring trade

So did the raffleWhilst there was face painting, Splat the Rat, a coconut shy and other events in the field. People came from far and wide to enjoy themselves, and it was a hot, happy and totally exhausting afternoon. There was jazz in the Church House Inn, the pub next to the church on the village green and the merry making went on well into the evening. Then we went home, to be met by an irate Ben who demanded to know where Amy had been and why he hadn't gone too!

Maybe next year Ben!

Keeping Busy

I had a great time at Exeter Craft Festival - sold out of loads of stuff and all my little knitted animals have found new homes, not a single one came back with me. I'm so glad I took their photos before they left. I've started on a new family already as I'm hoping to attend the Craft Show at our own village hall in Stokenham. (that's Hester, the new baby elephant at the top of this post.

Of course the village hall is home to lots of other activities including our very own Lunch Club. Last week Elona took baby Sasha in for the first time and we had our photos taken. We're hoping they'll appear in the local newspaper, this must be the first time ever that a pensioners' lunch club has had a baby! (Yes, there are more club members - the seated people - but the photographer couldn't stay until they all arrived).

I've been busy in the garden too - and indulged in a spot of bartering with a lovely lady called Sarah who has her own website, Heading Home. She wanted my paper bunting, and I fell in love with her cabbage patch rabbit. So the deal was done and he now lives in one of my old wooden fruit boxes where I plant courgettes, tomatoes, beans - and the tiny plants are aubergines which everyone tells me I won't be able to grow outside. I'm persevering though - the crates are sheltered in the woodstore which faces due south. The only danger comes from Ben's happily wagging tail when he dashes past on his way out for a walk.

And did you know that in Devon an old superstition stated that if a young woman plucked a rose at midnight on Midsummer Eve and wrapped it in paper it would remain fresh until Christmas Day. If she then wore it on her dress it would be snatched away by the young man who was destined to become her husband. Now I'm not looking for a new husband (one is definitely enough!) so I brought these roses inside to admire instead.

Finally, Amy has become unbearable. Last year she was a competition at the village fete - "Guess the Weight of the Dog." This year she is returning by popular demand - yes, she was such a success and so popular that they want her back again! She is absolutely full of herself, and this time the competition is to be "Guess Amy's Birthday."

Here she is in her special outfit from last year - I expect she'll want a new one this time round - still it will keep me even busier - there's never time to be bored down here in Devon!!

Sunday afternoon ...

Oh, what a wild, blustery, sodden afternoon we had yesterday. Outside the skies were an unremitting leaden grey as the rain hurled itself against the windowpanes and rushed down through the drainpipes to the well below the cellar. It was dark by four o'clock and I was glad to pull the shutters closed against the stormy weather. It was an afternoon to forget all outdoor pursuits - I had planned to get out into the garden ... being a subscriber to Vita Sackville-West's philosophy that:

"If it is true that one of the greatest pleasures of gardening lies in looking forward, then the planning of next year's beds and borders must be one of the most agreeable occupations in the gardener's calendar. This should make October and November particularly pleasant months, for then we may begin to clear our borders, to cut down those sodden and untidy stalks, to dig up and increase our plants, and to move them to other positions where they will show up to greater effect. People who are not gardeners always say that the bare beds of winter are uninteresting; gardeners know better, and take even a certain pleasure in the neatness of the newly dug, bare, brown earth."

But it was not to be. So I closed the shutters and we all settled into a long, peaceful Sunday evening in front of the fire....

Amy chose to stay with us in the living room, but Ben became far too warm and retired to snooze on the chilly flagstones in the hallway. Husband was busy with the papers, so I picked up my latest project...

The knitting!

I have been inspired by a great blog I found called "Little Cotton Rabbits". I purchased one of Julie's patterns for her knitted cupcakes

and am knitting my own to sell at the Yuletide Fair at Saltram House in aid of our local animal rescue centre, Gables Farm, which helps unwanted and abandoned animals find new homes. Up until Ben arrived I'd always had rescue dogs - you can read Susie's story here from my blog entry of March this year. Her tale was so sad, and now I have a house full of newfies I can't possibly adopt any more - but maybe this way I can help give other animals a second chance.

Susie

The cupcakes are turning out rather well, and if you'd like to purchase one, then you can do so on the DevonBear website. Profits are going to the Gables Farm Animal Rescue Centre - I'm not making them on a commercial basis. To make the little cakes extra special I've put a sachet of organic lavender into each one, so they smell as good as they look, and will keep those pesky moths away!

And finally, from my trusty Book of Days ... on 10 November 1960 D H Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover was first published in its entirety, and the first run of 200,000 copies had sold out by the end of the day. So there!

Homegrown is best!

As an amateur vegetable grower I must admit to some doubts regarding the productivity of my patch. Flowers - yes, I've grown flowers all my adult life, but vegetables - no - not until now that is. My kind next door neighbours started me off with some tomato and courgette plants, to which I added runner beans (almost foolproof), aubergines and peppers. We may well have had one of the wettest Julys ever down here in Devon but, fuelled by the warm sunshine we have enjoyed between the rain, my plants have grown and grown and grown.

And tonight I was proud to present my adaptation of Gordon Ramsay's Fish and Tomato Chowder. It was DELICIOUS!! Here's how it goes....

First put on your very beautiful DevonBear apron

Ingredients

good splash of olive oil
1 or 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
couple of handfuls of small new potatoes (pre-cook these or use up leftovers)
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
a few thyme sprigs from my own garden
2 bay leaves from my own garden
400g tin chopped tomatoes (but I think when my own are ready I shall use these and just add more stock)
1 pint hot fish or chicken stock
2 courgettes, roughly chopped from my own garden
handful of green beans cut into short lengths from my own garden
some chilli flakes to taste
1 lb white fish fillets (the fish van that visits the village every Thursday has a good selection of mixed fish fillets - only £3.50 for 1 lb)
bunch of parsley, roughly chopped from my own garden

Method

• Heat olive oil in heavy casserole. Add onions and celery, cook for 6-8 mins to soften. Then add carrots, pepper and herbs, then saute for 5-10 mins until veg are lightly golden.


• Add tomatoes and stock to pan, plus courgettes and beans and chilli if desired. Simmer for 5 mins. Thicken with a bit of cornflour/water if desired, then add potatoes, and simmer to warm through potatoes.


• Put most of the fish fillets on top of the vegetable mix in the pan. Give the remaining fish to the newfies who are absolutely starving as they haven't eaten for oh - at least 2 hours.


• Cover and simmer for 5-10 mins (bottom oven of Aga for me) until fish is just cooked through.


• Break the fish into large flakes and gently stir through casserole. Ladle into bowls and eat in secret so that the newfies don't realise what you're doing.

And that's it! It's so delicious you don't even realise it's healthy too. (Can always be followed with chocolate icecream, chocolate cake or best of all chocolate dipped strawberries if desired!)

An English summer's day

Today has been a perfect summer's day. I consulted the Book of Days I keep on the study windowsill and was informed that "An English summer is three fine days and a thunderstorm." On Saturday we had the storm. Hailstones the size of grapes rained down in Kingsbridge - the town turned white with ice and Fore Street became a raging torrent as the hailstones melted and the water ran downhill to the top of the creek. But by the evening the sun was shining again. I am hoping that we have had the thunderstorm and are now enjoying the three fine days .....

The rose that scrambles over the woodstore is now in full bloom and shedding its petals on me like sweetly scented confetti when I water the old stone trough of geraniums below. It is highly fragrant too, but has wickedly sharp thorns and is very vigorous. I have to keep it well pruned, or it tries to invade the gazebo above and twine itself into the hair of unsuspecting diners when we lunch al fresco!

On these warm days, the house stays beautifully cool, thanks to the thick cob walls and cool slate floors. The hall floor is quite beautiful - I've never seen such a beautiful old floor. I think it must have been laid by the gentleman who improved the property back in 1838. I can be exact about the date as he left a letter hidden in the chimney breast for future generations to discover - in which he refers to "our new young queen, Victoria, a young lady of great promise."

Again consulting my Book of Days I discover that the Roman Emperor Nero was born on June 9th AD 68 and that he shares his birthday with Cole Porter and Johnny Depp (although of course they are considerably younger than him!!) Today is also the feast day of St Columba, the 6th-century Irish missionary who founded a monastery on the Scottish Island of Iona.

Finally, having carefully omitted to write about Amy and Ben in this post, I shall say that I spent some time yesterday afternoon painting Ben. I don't normally paint direct from photographs, but was enchanted by the shot of Ben carrying his teddy that Jack managed to take during our DevonBears photoshoot. So here it is .....

The Photoshoot!!

For days I had been anxiously watching the weather forecast. Sunny or raining? Raining or sunny? What would it be? Fortunately the day designated for the Coombe Leigh DevonBear photoshoot dawned fine and reasonably sunny, although there was a cool breeze. Never mind - we were on!!

Jack, our photographer arrived with his assistant/girlfriend Jen and began to set up the scenes. It was all very exciting and I was amazed at the amount of preparation that goes into what seems - when you see it - to be a very simple shot. Here are Jack and Elona (a victim - sorry friend) who agreed to model for me - setting up the picnic shot.

Meanwhile Amy and Ben appointed themselves as doorkeepers, anxiously watching to see who went in and out, and that no bones, stuffed toys or other canine treasures were being removed from the premises. Ben at least though, had other plans ....


When he saw Elona in the hammock, he felt that modelling was clearly a very simple task and one that could easily be undertaken by an enthusiastic young newfie.

Sadly both he and Amy had to be forcibly removed from the garden when Julie and Elona shot the picnic scene as neither dog would believe that the bags and flasks were actually empty. They were both convinced that cake would somehow miraculously appear - or even better - ham sandwiches!!

Soon it was lunchtime, and Ben took the opportunity to have a quiet word with Jack. Some sort of agreement must have been reached as the following photos appeared in the final batch I received ..

Seems like I don't even have control over my own photoshoot these days!! Trust Ben to have the last word. Seriously though, I'm so pleased with the photos, they really show off the DevonBear products to the best advantage. And all that energetic gardening paid off too, although some of that could be down to Jack's photographic expertise.

Now we're off to the Craft Fairs. Saltram House next weekend and Exeter a couple of weeks later. Still loads to do and not enough hours in the day.

Great excitement at Coombe Leigh

We are all very excited here at Coombe Leigh. We are going to have a photoshoot here at the house with a proper professional photographer. (Not just me with my little digital camera!). Jack is coming to take some lifestyle shots for DevonBears publicity so we are all running around trying to make everywhere look beautiful.

Of course Amy feels she is already beautiful and when the words "camera" and "photograph" were mentioned she immediately started posing madly. She was made worse by the coincidental visit of Kelly, our lovely grooming lady, who came to give her and Ben their regular beauty session. Here's Kelly hard at work ..

Amy feels that she should be the centre of attention, so keeps edging closer and closer to Kelly ..

Meanwhile Ben is surreptiously chewing through the lead Kelly has used to attach him to the railings!

Afterwards they were quite worn out. I didn't have the heart to tell them that we weren't actually planning to include them in the photographs. I expect Amy at least will manage to push her way into one or two of the pictures ... and where she leads Ben usually follows!

As you can see, the grass has been cut ready for the shoot, and look at that lovely edging - shame it's not straight!! Never mind, perhaps wonky will become the new trendy after our uber-cool photographs demonstrate this new look?! (That's the studio/workroom on the left in this picture and the handrail leads to the steps to the courtyard. Our house is built into the side of a hill, so the garden is actually above the house).

While all this activity was taking place, I was in the gazebo painting - Christmas cards!! Surreal or what? But my summer's going to be so busy I thought it was best to start early rather than risk running out of time as they'll need to be at the printers by the end of August.

Here's the first (still rather rough) version of card one for the set of dog cards. More will follow..

An afternoon in the garden

This last week has been so warm and sunny that we've spent almost all our time outside. This afternoon I took my paints into the gazebo and completed the picture above which I think will make a great postcard, and possibly a patch for a canvas bag. I'm off to a number of craft fairs over the summer months, so I need some images that will appeal to visitors to the area, and hopefully this will be popular.

Of course Ben has been very bored by all the painting and gardening - here he has collapsed in a stupor of boredom. But I told him the beach wouldn't be nearly so much fun if he spent all his time there. I don't think he believed me though. So he decided if he couldn't be digging in sand, then he'd dig up the borders instead. Check out the muddy nose below!!

I was given a couple of tomato plants by Nick from next door, and I've planted them in an old wooden apple crate. It's hard to believe that one day they'll reach nearly to the top of the canes and that I'll be picking my own salads before long. I'm also planning to put in some aubergine and pepper plants, it'll be very Mediterranean in my courtyard!

The lanes here are at their best now I think. They're smothered with bluebells and pink campion, with cow parsley frothing in wild abandon. Some of the wider and sunnier verges are even studded with wild orchids. I have been told that they're a very common kind, but then that doesn't make them any less attractive. I often think that the summer visitors miss our countryside at its best, since by late July and August the wild flowers are mostly over and everywhere is beginning to look tired and dusty. At this time of year I often think of the poem "Lanes in Summer" by Malcolm Hemphrey which I learned as a child...

I love the little winding lanes,

In the sweet days when summer reigns;

The eglantine and hawkweed's plume;

The dog-rose and the bramble bloom,

Like stars from heaven gone astray;

The fragrant scent of new-mown hay;

The poppies in the green-aisled wheat;

The bees that find the clover sweet;

The last song of the wren and thrush

Breaking through the drowsy hush -

If kindly peace be anywhere

'Tis surely there, 'tis surely there.

One swallow ....

Yesterday I saw the first swallow of spring on our telephone wire. One swallow might not a summer make, but surely now we can hope that summer isn't too far away. I love to watch their aerobatics over and around the house - and last summer in the house - one besotted pair swooped low through the back door then up to the top of the house where they left just as swiftly through an open bedroom window.

I'd rather have swallows indoors than our bats. I'm very pleased that they've decided to call our attic and cellar home, but don't like it when they come into the house proper, it's so difficult to send them outside again. I usually just open the window and close the door of the room they've invaded and hope they find their own way out by morning.

All this rain and then warm weather has brought the garden on - it's so rampantly fertile you can almost see and hear it growing. My runner beans are already 12" tall and the borders have recovered well from the puppy's excavations during the colder months. Trouble is, we now see the rise of the super-slug. Armed with bionic rasping jaws unless checked these creatures munch their way through my wisteria, hollyhocks, beans and anything else they choose to devour. I do try to garden organically, but must admit that I resort to slug pellets at this time of year, though choose the ones that are harmless to other wildlife.

Indoors is just as busy. As well as preparing for craft shows, I have realised that the stronger sunlight is revealing areas that, from the look of them, have not been properly cleaned since last summer! Sand and dog fur are the main problems, together with liberal sprinklings of mud where the dogs shake after coming in from outside. Alas, as fast as I clean, the problem recurs. I'm sure those pesky canines are deliberately trying to recreate some of their favourite outdoor places indoors. Certainly the floor resembled Lannacombe beach this morning. Clearly they enjoyed romping across the sand so much yesterday they decided to bring the beach home with them too. Batson Creek later today I think .... but back to the sewing for now.

Spring is here to stay!

Walking up to the woods yesterday I realised that spring has really arrived - no cold snap or arctic blast can put it back into its box now - it's well and truly here. Although there was a frost on Wednesday night, by 8.30 am it had disappeared from all but the deepest shade, and the sunshine was hot on my shoulders. Amy huffed and puffed along like a black furry steam train. She is not fond of the warmer months as a combination of thick black fur and a round body does not make for comfort when the days grow hotter. Her favourite place to snooze is in the old stone courtyard at the back of the house where the sun barely reaches even in the highest dog days of summer.

Today we walked down to Batson Creek. We haven't been this way for a while and I was struck by the sheets of acid yellow rape with its distinctive smell. I don't mind it, I think it looks like sunshine fallen to the ground on even the gloomiest days, though I know many people think it's too bright and alien in our mellow English landscape. Luckily the swans weren't around today and we spent a long time at the creek. I found some lovely broken pieces of old blue and white china half buried in the mud, while Ben and Amy found some less lovely smelly seaweed and unidentifiable slimy objects by rootling around where the trees overhang the water.

I shall try to paint the china pieces, I love the combination of blue and white, so classic and timeless. I've just finished painting two Bernese Mountain Dog puppies for friends in the village, so the china will be a different challenge, quite different to my usual subjects.

I've been re-reading Vita Sackville-West's epic poems, "The Land" and "The Garden". Although I find some parts very heavy, others really sing to me as she is so in tune with nature and the seasons. As our gardens and hedgerows burst into life, I particularly enjoy these few lines ....

" .... But for this summer's quick delight
Sow marigold, and sow the bright
Frail poppy that with noonday dies
But wakens to a fresh surprise;
Along the pathway stones be set
Sweet Alysson and mignonette,
That when the full midsummer's come
On scented clumps the bees may hum,
Golden Italians, and the wild
Black bumble-bee alike beguiled:
And lovers who have never kissed
May sow the cloudy Love-in-Mist."

Great planting plan, beautiful evocative words .... spring is really here now!

Tomorrow Kelly is coming ...

Tomorrow Kelly is coming. Kelly is our dog groomer and her arrival is anticipated with some trepidation by my two dishevelled canines. We have been watching Crufts and although it is clear to Ben and Amy that to be sandy, muddy and generally unkempt is a much cooler look for newfies, than to be shiny and well-groomed, I regret to say that I disagree. So Kelly is coming to sort them out.

At this point I hasten to say that I do groom them both, but Amy in particular has an extremely thick and fuzzy coat and grooming her is like painting the Forth Bridge - we start at the nose on Monday and by Saturday, in 20 minute increments, have reached her rather substantial behind. Kelly visits every 3 months, and December was Ben's first session with her. As you will see from the photo, he was not entirely comfortable with the experience!!

We have had brilliant sunshine for most of the day here, with the odd heavy shower, and it's hard to believe that there is a dreadful storm on the way. I spent some time this afternoon dead-heading the hydrangeas. Last summer they were especially beautiful and I still have many dried flowerheads in bowls around the house. They even formed my Christmas wreath on the front door - with the addition of a little gold spray and a big red raffia bow. But the heads in the garden are dry and skeletonised now, and I love taking them off in the spring to reveal the bright fresh growth beneath. Hopefully the predicted gales won't cause too much damage and the sun will return soon to shine upon my beautifully groomed newfies!

Hare today ....

Up at Blackdown Rings today I was lucky enough to see a hare in the pasture beneath the fort. Although I remained still for a long time, I didn't see its mate, and eventually it lolloped away. I first saw a hare on a smokey autumn day in Warwickshire when I was probably about 12 or 13. The cornfields had been cut and the hare rose up from the stubble only a few yards in front of me. Until then I had believed that hares were simply rabbits with longer ears, but was instantly struck by how powerful and angular this creature was - not cuddly in the slightest, but all muscle and poised for action.

Walking around the Iron Age ditches I noticed the gorse is in full flower and the resident robin seemed almost to be bursting with song. I have hung my special "dog-fur station" in the garden now. It's simply a wire coil stuffed with the fluff I groom out of my two hairy hounds. The birds take it for their nests - I'm sure it will make a lovely soft bed for their newly hatched youngsters.

The garden is so colourful, it's hard to believe it's only February. There are small clumps of crocus, narcissi, hellebores of varied hue and bright pink camellias. The roses are showing new growth too, particularly the far too vigorous pink climber that rambles all over the log store roof and drops its petals on our heads all through June.