Today the weather is ...

Sunny!!! Yes, after the wind and rain we've been experiencing over the last few days the sun has finally emerged to dry us all out.  All over the village people have been out in their gardens repairing the damage - my sweet peas were nearly horizontal and the last of the roses were blown away in the night .. but if it stays warm then everything will soon start to grow again and we really did need the rain.

The sweet peas are wonderful this year ... I'm picking a bunch this size nearly every day ... it's important to keep picking so they keep flowering.  Their fragrance is wonderful -  I keep a vase on my desk and can smell them now as I'm typing.  Next to the jug of sweet peas in the picture above is a jar of sea-glass or mermaids' tears, mostly found on the beach at Lannacombe - our favourite.

                                   

And Lannacombe is where, after a nourishing lunch of cheese sandwich and homemade elderflower presse, we headed off to ...

                                   

Ben loves to charge around pretending to be a pirate's dog (after all his kennel name is Mileoak Captain Jack!), whilst Amy is happy to simply sit in the sunshine and soak up the atmosphere (plus a large amount of seawater and sand into her fuzzy coat!)  Feels like we've waited a long time for summer this year .. let's hope the warm weather continues now.

Amy is ten today!!

Happy Birthday Amy- 1o today!!

Seem here with my daughter - one of her biggest fans.

Happy Birthday Ben!

3 years old today

Get well soon Amy!

Amy is not well. She has hurt her back and simply lies on her bed whimpering in spite of the vet's best efforts. She reminds me now of the picture I took when I first had her ....

That was 4 years ago .. her coat was such a mess that it had to be clipped very short and she was so unhappy with life - this photo tells the whole story.

But these days she's not in any pain with her crippled legs and is a great favourite in the village, taking a starring role at the village fete with her own stall .. "Guess the weight of the dog." Here she is with a young friend at last year's fete...

Now not even a gentle push of Ben's nose can make her smile. The vet says she will get better with plenty of rest and love. Hmmm.... she did manage to nibble on a little chopped chicken tonight... perhaps she's turned the corner. Get well soon Amy!

No snow at Salcombe!

Snow, what snow? No snow here!! Sorry the rest of the UK is cut off from us, but we're enjoying some (relatively) warm sunshine here today.

The car's thermometer told me it was 11 deg C in the sunshine as I drew up in the car park at Snape Point, just above Batson Creek. We set off down the track ...

The hedges had been trimmed and below us in the valley a bonfire smouldered, but we didn't go down to investigate. I love this walk, normally we trek right around the point, but it's been so wet lately that I decided to stay on the track. The views across Batson Creek to Salcombe are beautiful and so I kept stopping to take photographs ....

Which made Ben very impatient. He doesn't see the point at all.

You can just see the bottom car park at Salcombe on the left in this picture, with all the masts of the boats that have been put into winter storage. The pontoons you can see are crammed with boats during the summer season.


Salcombe was bustling though, we could hear traffic and the sound of hammering from one of the workshops. I didn't take Ben down to the creek as I knew the path would be pure liquid mud. Here in Devon we do very special extra-slidey mud and I've ended up on my bum more than once in the past. With a drive home and a visit to Morrisons en-route I didn't want to be walking around covered in mud, so I refused to go down through the gate.


Instead I took this very artistic (I think) photo looking out to sea. Looks like a holiday brochure!

"Ha!" says Ben, "I'll take my revenge. If Mum won't take me down to the creek then I'll wallow in this muddy puddle instead."

And he did! The end.

January brings the snow .....

January brings the snow..... makes your feet and fingers glow.
Makes those newfies feel so good ... walking in our frosty wood.

Ben and ..

Amy (this one's rather good, I think) She looks very wise (which she isn't!!)

"Are there wolves in these woods Mum?" "No, only big black bear-dogs!"

Soo pretty - and so unusual for us to get snow here in South Devon.

Our House

Found this poem when browsing - describes perfectly the situation here at Coombe Leigh.

The Month After Christmas...

'Twas the month after Christmas,
and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store
(less a walk than a lumber).
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."
As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt---
I said to myself, as I only can
"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"
So--away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
"Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie--not even a lick.
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore---
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!
~Author Unknown

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R!

Start Point with Newfs

I could have blogged about the bonfire last night .. our fireworks here in Chillington are famous - and justifiably so, we feel. Amy used to adore fireworks, she'd gaze upwards in wonder and her eyes would sparkle with reflected stars. But now she doesn't see so well, and fireworks have lost their magic for her. So I decided to give her a treat she can still enjoy and this morning took both dogs down to Start Point.

This is a great walk for them both as Ben can bound up and down the cliffs pretending to be a mountain lion, while Amy paces sedately at my side. We were the only people there which was great ... and the dogs couldn't wait to go through the gate.

Before WW2 the narrow road down to the lighthouse didn't exist - it was constructed by US forces to drive their jeeps up and down to the point.

Now it's a great newfie track!

Very moody and atmospheric - the lighthouse just peeping out from behind the jagged rocks. Last night its beam made a dramatic backdrop to our display as it strobed across the sky behind the fireworks field.

Looking back towards Start Bay - a wonderful panorama. I tried to put three photos together, but it didn't really work very well. Just look at the colour of the water!

Ben always knew he was a superstar!! He definitely made the most of this photo opportunity!

Then he tried to continue along the coastal path. But I had to say NO as Amy simply can't manage this walk any more. Another time, Ben.

Ben is making sure Amy's OK. They do love each other!

Then home again. Maybe later we'll go and examine the bonfire and see if it's still smouldering.

The year has turned ...

... and autumn has definitely arrived. Each day is a little shorter, the lights go on a little earlier and the back door is closed before the evening chill enters the house. The atmosphere in the village has changed too with the departure of the summer visitors. Everywhere is less crowded and people have more time to stop and chat again. The schools have gone back and other autumn activities have commenced - lunch club has started and I've joined a choir based in Kingsbridge.

The newfies love the cooler weather and the freedom to return to their favourite haunts without worrying about the reactions of those who are unfamiliar with my two furry friends ... no more squeals of fright or anxious crossings of the road ... it's such a shame that people often react like that even when the newfs are on their leads. Amy in particular is such a sociable old lady and loves nothing more than to collapse at someone's feet in the hope of having her tummy tickled. Luckily most local people know her well and are more than happy to oblige!

No more buttercups ....

Today we went on one of our usual walks taking in the woods above the village. We were joined for part of the way by Belinda and her terrier doing the school run(!) but they soon outpaced us as Amy does not walk very fast and I was stopping to take photos....

Autumn berries

Apples for scrumping!

An autumn view ...

and a happy Amy (loves having her photo taken)


Still some blackberries to be had (yum!)

Then we turned at the top of the woods and headed down the path towards home.


Ben is worn out - and Amy wants her tea!!

Frogmore Regatta

Today was the Frogmore Regatta. The sun shone and it was wonderful! There were icecreams, swingboats, lots of people falling in the water - and a dog show!

I had hoped to be able to report that one of the Newfies at least had won a rosette, but sadly this was not to be. Our classes - for most handsome dog and prettiest bitch were right at the end of the show - which was moving veerrrrry slowly. It started at 1 pm and by 1.45 only the first class, for waggiest tail, had been judged.

Now this was great in one way as it meant we had more time to meet friends, lick icecreams (and small children), lose money on the tombola etc etc, but in another way it was very bad as the heavily-coated Newfs just became hotter and hotter and more and more uncomfortable and, in Ben's case, worse and worse behaved. So we came away again. Never mind - there's always next year!

Of cabbages, kings and thrift shops!

From "The Pleasures of Gardening" by Angela Stanford

I love thrift, or charity shops, the pleasure of going in and never knowing quite what I'll find, the thrill of spotting something special (well special to me anyway), knowing that I won't be charged the earth for it and the little I do pay will go towards supporting a good cause. We have 2 or 3 in Kingsbridge and I patronise them all. Some very wealthy people live, or holiday, in the South Hams and so there are often real finds to be had.

I search for vintage textiles, old shirts, pillowcases and blankets, all of which can be cut up and remade into DevonBears products as I adore patchwork and applique and have recently been moving back towards "painting with fabric" rather than watercolours, after all, fabric has always been my first love ....

Country Cottage Big Bag

As well as textiles I adore books of all kinds and was fortunate enough to come across a real treasure in Oxfam earlier this week. It's called "The Pleasures of Gardening" by an enormously talented lady called Angela Stanford - and my copy is signed by her too!! Sadly, after checking on Amazon and the publisher's website it would seem that the book is out of print, and I haven't been able to find anything out about Angela, but I would urge you to look for this book - it's wonderful. I love the way she combines beautiful detailed watercolours with flawless calligraphy and still manages to impart some useful facts. The pictures below (and the one at the top of this post) come from the summer section ...

Not that I've been in the garden very much this month. June was glorious, but July has been every bit as bad as the last two years and I don't think we've been promised much improvement in August. The fig tree at the top of the garden loves all this warm damp weather though and is busy creating its own rain forest, together with the hydrangeas which are romping away and the rambling rose which has rambled over everything creating a sort of jungle effect. I really must do some pruning - last night Ben woke me up 3 times convinced there were tigers at the top of the garden - and who knows, he could well have been right!!

A bit of a puzzle....

I've been adding to my (very small) collection of vintage toys lately and was lucky enough to come across these beautiful wooden jigsaws. I'm sure I used to have the rather sophisticated cat when I was a young child, though mine wasn't in nearly such good condition by the time I grew out of it .... I think I might have chewed one of the cat's paws. Anyway, this one is almost as new, and a bargain at 99p!! She looks so beautifully '50's retro ... I wonder if I could incorporate her into a fabric item ... must puzzle over (groan!) how this could be done.
And this one's just crying out for special treatment. It's the most beautiful wooden map of Devon, far too nice too keep shut away in its box. We live right at the bottom of the map, near Start Bay where the yacht is sailing into Dartmouth. I'm not sure why there's a maypole on Cornwall but love Sir Frances Drake up in the top right hand corner. Did you know that Devon is the only county in England to have two coastlines? I didn't until I moved here. But it's true.

Enough pondering and puzzling for now ... I'm off to take Ben on his second walk of the day now it's cooler. He and Amy went swimming in the ley at Beesands this afternoon, but he could do with a bit more exercise and there are sure to be plenty of nice smells and friends to play with up in the woods at this time of the evening. It's tough being a young newf!!