If you go down to the woods today .....

... you might have seen two large black bear-like dogs enjoying the fresh air and warm sunshine. We headed off to our woods, just 5 minutes walk from home.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining when we reached the gate

Which way shall we go today?

Amy chooses the path ... but is quickly left behind.

Wait for me!!

The orchid glade

I think they're Lesser Spotted - the common sort - but very lovely anyway.

Come on girls! (Ben is such a poser)

Look - what's that? Is it a wolf?

Last one home's a sissy!!

A lovely, gentle afternoon's walk in the shady woods - perfect for Amy, though I think Ben will need another outing this evening!

Bluebells and the beach!!

Amy has been put on stronger medication and as a consequence is feeling much more like her old self again. Her operation wound has now fully healed and so we decided to go to the beach. It was just like old times .... the excitement barely contained... the anxious lookings out of the car windows ..... the exuberance when the road to Mill Bay was recognised ... and then .. the rolling on the sand in sheer joy at being alive and on the BEACH!!!

Then of course there had to be swimming .....

But soon the old lady was tired .... she can only manage about 20 minutes or so now ... so she was told to wait in the car, parked in some lovely cool shade, while Ben and I went off to look at the bluebells. After all, she couldn't manage this walk last year, so I know it's impossible for her now.
She watched us go ...

You can't tell how steep the path is here - but it is VERY steep indeed.

It's worth it when you reach the top .... the bluebells were lovely ... but we were only just in time I think, another week and they'll be over.

But so, so beautiful .. these are the true English bluebells, much more delicate than the cultivated Spanish bluebells, and a much deeper, richer blue.. carpets stretching away up the hill ...

And the view back along the beach where we walked with Amy earlier.....

A truly glorious afternoon. And so nice to be out with Amy again. The vet is very pleased with her, he's talking about the possibility of her being with us for the summer ... that would be wonderful ... keep your fingers crossed for her.

History on a shelf ...

So glad the forecast storm missed us here in Devon, but so sorry about the devastation caused in France .. and the Chilean earthquake too - the news is all bad at present it seems. It's at times like this that I retreat indoors to snuggle down safely within my own home. Last night, just before I switched off the bedside lamp my attention was caught by the bright vase of daffodils on the mantlepiece. I then took the time to really look at the items on there and realised that they were part of my history, with so many memories attached to them.....

Here they are from left to right...

Moongazing hare was bought for me by Townie Husband on one of our first trips to Devon. We weren't in the South Hams, but stopped for tea up on Exmoor. I saw this little hare in a gift shop and he went back to buy for me as a surprise present.

Hyacinth embroidery was created by me in February as I loved the bulb I had planted in a teacup so much.

Crown floral china is my most recent purchase. We went to Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon. While husband was watching the rugby I took the opportunity to wander around the town and popped into the little antiques market. I was very taken with the antique hyacinth glasses, but my bulbs are all over now ... and then I spotted this piece of china. Amazingly it is not damaged at all. I think it probably dates back to the 1930s - the green pot seems the right colour for that era. I think the colours are wonderful and it looks great on the mantlepiece. Note to self - must remember to dust it well!

Jar of sea glass or mermaids' tears as these pieces are sometimes called. These memories are too many to count, all mixed up together - our local beaches - hot and crowded in summer, bleak and beautiful in winter, tides in and out, dogs running - Susie, Ben and Amy - Rosie and her boyfriend, paddling in wellies, in bare feet .... too many to count and all stored away in one jar of glass.

Moonphase pewter clock was a treat to myself when I first came here. I spotted it in a little shop in Kingsbridge and one day ..... well, it's important to know whether the tides are spring or neap!!

Dartmouth pottery jug - from Dartmouth of course!! There is so much Dartmouth pottery here, and I love these seagull pieces. In the jug are some early daffodils from Greenjane. She is a local grower who supplies many of our restaurants with beautiful fresh vegetables, flowers and eggs throughout the year. She now supplies our Lunch Club and the cabbages are so fresh they squeak when you cut them!!

Silver plated shell - brought back from a holiday in Cephalonia. That was the year I got prickly heat and all my exposed extremities were covered in itchy red bumps. Not a good look! But the shell is lovely.

Birthday boat! Made by a local potter (who has since retired) for my husband's 50th birthday. He was in denial which is why the boat reads "49+"!

History on a shelf. And Amy is better again! So life is good here in Coombe Leigh.

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.

Where does the time go?

Where does the time go? I can't believe that nearly a month has passed since Ben and I took the tidal road to Mill Bay. Such busyness betweenwhiles! A couple of weeks ago townie husband and I decided to use our National Trust tickets for possibly the last time this season.

We had some shopping to do in Torquay so called at Coleton Fishacre on the way home. This is one of my favourite properties - it was built in the 1920s when Sir Rupert d'Oyly Carte noticed the beautiful valley whilst sailing between Brixham and Dartmouth. He bought the land and had the house built ... how the other half lived !!!

After parking we strolled down the drive towards the house. I decided not to go inside on this visit as we only had an hour to spare and took a walk around the beautiful gardens which tumble down towards the coastline. This was taken looking down from the rill garden towards the sea.

Beautiful colour from some late summer stragglers.

The trees were beginning to turn and the colours against the deep blue of the sea were wonderful.

This seal is sunning himself - love the little ramp for the pondlife!

The next day was Monday, so back to work - part-time in Kingsbridge for a local charity. After parking the car I discovered I still had my camera in my bag so took these shots of my walk along the harbour to Quay House where I work ..

Looking towards Kingsbridge.

And back the other way. A truly glorious autumn morning.

And working part-time leaves me plenty of time for DevonBears .. busy making lots of stock for the Candlelit Dartmouth weekend in December. Hope to be very busy and sell lots of goodies - fingers crossed - and then the newfies can have new collars, a new stuffie for Ben for Christmas and seasonal delights for husband and daughter too! (That's a lot of cushions to sew and sell!)

Applique cushions.

And a well-organised cupboard - that's the other thing I've been up to - having a good sort and tidy - supervised by the two newfies - and Ben in particular who has been delighted by some of the bits and pieces I've discovered. But that's for another post (maybe!)