Design

It felt like summer again today. Perfect weather for taking my class down to search for mini beasts . It was the usual selection, ants, worms, slugs, snails, flies, bees and ....... chickiepigs (the Devon name for wood lice). After a hot lunchtime I set up an afternoon of art activities and I sat with a group of children creating beautiful pen drawings based on the illustrations in The Hidden House by Martin Wadell , of swirling lines embellished with leaves, flowers and mini beasts . We hadn't brought our mini beasts back into the classroom but I had strewn a selection of leaves, flowers and blossom across the tables to provide inspiration. This was a very successful activity with some children becoming totally engrossed in adding lots of detail. (I had fun too drawing my own picture.) After school we were tantalised by the smell of a barbecue drifting across from the junior school who were having a fund raising event. I was too busy to go over as I am trying to get things r...

It's been such a good evening. First I came home from work to find this beautiful Mothers' Day card which had arrived in the post from Vytas . Then although it was wild and windy the morning rain had cleared and I was able to go for a bracing walk up the hill. It felt so good to be able to stand in this field enjoying the view and the roaring wind. Reluctantly I returned back down the hill and there was still enough light for me to spend an hour cutting back about half of the remaining leylandii . Finally Peter came home with the news that he had been able to book the August week that I had been hoping for. I've already been on line and booked a week's holiday for us on Lundy though I won't feel secure until I've spoken to the booking office on the telephone and the holiday is all paid up. A whole week, what bliss.

Some more pictures from my archives, today from our previous day visit to Lundy in 2006. Most of the buildings on the island are built from the local granite which gives the architecture a squared off Italiante feel. Some of the barns have been converted to a shop selling souvenirs and food for those staying on the island. There is a scheme where you can volunteer to work on the island in return for accommodation in caravans. You still have to provide your own food so the Landmark Trust are getting a good deal as you have to work for 5 days out of 7. This can be outdoor work but could also be cleaning the rental properties or working in the kitchen of the Marisco . Here's the welcoming door of the Marisco with Linas (in his long-haired days) striding towards me. The Marisco is open all day and has the facilities of a pub , minus electronic music etc, and a place to sit, read, play games or just socialise. Only one drawback - no soft seating at all, I'll bring my own cu...

It's been a day of some sun mixed with very heavy showers. During one of the sunny spells I had a good go at the hanging baskets, all the recent heavy rain had prevented me from daily dead heading of the surfinias and the flowers had also had a good battering as well. When I finished my hands were sticky so I turned the tap on to wash my hands. I looked down to see something fluttering in the plug hole. My first thought was that it was a leaf that had dropped from my arm, then it was ' Euch ' as I thought a small brown frog was in the sink. Only then did I realise that it was a tiny bat which had somehow fallen into the sink and down the plug hole. I carefully scooped it onto a tea towel and took it outside to see what the situation was. At this point I was pretty sure that it was dead, I mean it doesn't look good does it? The sun went in at this point and it started to get cold again so I put the bat in a container in the spare room. After an hour there were some si...

The final day of our stay came around all too quickly. The sun had hidden itself behind grey clouds and it looked as though rain would be coming our way. We had to have our bags ready for pick up by 9.30 (it was nice not having to carry them to and from the boat) and we needed to be out of Stoneycroft by 10.00. We made sure everything was tidy before setting off for our final day's walks. Peter and I walked out to the west coast and then south towards the castle. We came across a small pond/reservoir which had been created when granite was quarried for the buildings. Rain is the only source of fresh water on Lundy and although we had no restrictions on personal use you are asked not to do any laundry. I would think that the immaculate bedding, towels etc are sent to the mainland to a laundry service. Once we had walked back up to the tavern I left Peter happily ensconced there while I set off to explore the east coast for the first time. Initially I was thinking that it wasn...

Once I had caught my breath after climbing back up to the path I continued northwards my plan being to find a way back up to the top of the cliffs and return to the Tavern across the top of the island. I was not expecting to find myself on what is probably the most beautiful part of the island. The wide and level track made walking very easy and I was able to enjoy the views across to the mainland even though the air was a little hazy. As I rounded a corner I came across the first of several quarries cut into the hillside. They were so spectacular that all I could do was stand and say 'Wow'. The vegetation in the quarries had a woodland feel with foxgloves and small trees and the whole scale of the rocks was overwhelming. This quarry in particular was very poignant as on the central fallen slab is a bronze plaque and a wreath of poppies commemorating the son of the last owner of Lundy who was killed in WWI. (Just visible if you enlarge the picture by clicking on it.) A wide...

Just had to include this fantastic skyscape taken on that day's walk. The steps back up from the seals were a little dilapidated. And once past the lighthouse there were a few more steps to climb. I had decided that for my knee it was a case of do or die as I wasn't going to miss out on any of the scenery if I could help it. Luckily my knee didn't seem to get any worse and all the climbing and walking helped counteract the nice meals I was eating. The northern end of the island resembles a moonscape with the delicate vegetation only just clinging to the underlying rock suffering from both visitors and the harsh weather conditions. At every turn there was another inlet, this is the west coast which being subjected to the full force of the Atlantic winds only supports low growing vegetation ie grass neatly grazed by the sheep, rabbits and goats. The surface of this granite outcrop was covered with furry looking grey lichen. After a full day's walking we enjoyed...

The Battery, with its pair of canon, (from yesterday's post). And to start Day 3- we couldn't have asked for more glorious weather, full sun with a cooling breeze, sunscreen essential. Romas and Vicky headed off early for another long hike while Peter and I set off a little later with our picnic. We set off up the central track which runs the entire length of the island. At one time there were 400 acres of wheat being grown on the island but now only a few fields of hay are grown as winter feed for the sheep and ponies. The plateau is typical moorland but as you travel north the soil thins to about an inch deep above the underlying granite and more of the rocks poke through. It does not take much visitor pressure for first the vegetation to be worn down, then it dies, the soil blows/washes away and the bare rock is left. You would think that granite is a very strong rock but on Lundy it very quickly breaks down to a gravel with pieces the size of a pea. Just right for pain...