A short visit

Just spent the last six days in Devon along with our younger son Josh.  Josh's last visit to The Granary was in April 2014 when he helped us move in and do some initial tidying of the garden/parking area at the rear of the cottage.
Last time he stayed he had to use the sofabed in the lounge and the sun through the skylight woke him at around 4:30, this time he was happy to sleep on till much later in the spare bedroom!
We were also 'dog-sitting' our daughter's dog, Dot for the week.  It was complicated trying to meet the needs of our 15 year old dog who can just about walk 200 yards along with those of a lively young dog needing at least two long walks a day!

Dot enjoying a rest after a walk along coast path 

Hil and Josh enjoying a coffee at the Pier House,Westward Ho!

Dot had a great time on various beach and woodland walks although we did start to worry when she disappeared for 5-10 minutes chasing a large number of pheasants at Brownsham.  Luckily she came back exhausted and we were careful to keep her on the lead if we thought there were pheasants around.

We also ventured into Melbury Woods, not far from Parkham.  These are Forestry Commission woods with paths through extremely dense conifer plantations, with very little light getting through, making it quite scary and uninviting.

We generally have good journeys to and from Devon because we tend to travel at quieter times of the week.  Returning on Sunday morning was fine but we did seem to have picked the day when caravan owners move their caravans back home from the South West -  it was like a migration of motor homes and caravans all the way up the M5!

Not so Glorious Devon!

Just returned to the Midlands after spending the last 2 weeks in Parkham where we experienced a variety of weather from very heavy rain (luckily overnight) to sunny spells, drizzle and cloud.
It has been a poor August for holidaymakers compared with the sunny weather we had earlier in the year.

One of our first trips was a drive out to visit the bonfire at Torrington before it was set alight on the Saturday of Bank Holiday weekend -  over recent months we have enjoyed seeing Trumpton develop and it seems a shame for it to go up in smoke.  However, hopefully a large sum was raised for charity by the Torrington Cavaliers.

Although the weather was mixed we stayed dry on all our walks and managed our '10,000 paces' almost every day.  Walking around the village during the last week in August a number of strange characters started to appear, scarecrows for the competition being held as part of the Village Fete on Bank Holiday Monday, our favourite was the wolf peering out of the pub at the three little pigs!

There was a baking and garden produce competition and Hil decided that the temptation to compete could not be resisted with a potential of 30p for winning a category (offset by the 10p entrance fee).  Her apricot cake looked good although our son said that the apricots around the edge could be mistaken for slices of boiled potato!  Perhaps that is why it was unplaced!

There was however almost a Bake Off disaster on the morning of the fete.  First batch of scones looked too big, second batch too uneven and the third even more uneven!  With seconds to the deadline Hil delivered the first batch to the Village Hall and was surprised and delighted to find in the afternoon that she had won second prize -  20p!

We have really enjoyed spending all but a week of August in the village spending time with the many friends we have made over the past 18 months.