Design

This morning was one of those days where the sun was shining up in the hills and the valleys were shrouded in mist. Everything to the south was hidden from view. Zoom into this picture and you will see several of those enormous wind turbines marching across the sky line. It hasn't been a bad day in school today even though I was on my own with the class for most of the day and my voice is still pretty croaky. I always feel so much more cheerful when the sun is shining. This evening when I got home I took a few photos and was sitting outside enjoying the evening sun. Peter arrived home and I walked down to the house to see 2 dogs, Fred the Dalmatian and the hound puppy, running out of our kitchen door. Bad dogs! Luckily no damage was done except to the cats' nerves but I'll have to start closing the bottom half of the front or kitchen door to keep out intruders. During the summer our front door is normally wide open day long.

Another day of sun and showers. Peter went out early to row with the gig club while I got on with my school planning. When he returned we headed out between the showers for a walk at Mortehoe . We set off down the Kinevar coombe and were rewarded with carpets of flowers everywhere we went. Mainly bluebells mixed with white Ransoms (wild garlic) and stitchwort . We walked down to Bennet's Mouth. Somebody had made a camp there with a couple of tents, campfire and a sensible arrangement of branches with cooking utensils hanging from them. You are not supposed to camp on National Trust land but they weren't doing any harm. Down on the beach there were cushions of pink sea thrift growing everywhere. Not so many people around today as the holidays are over and the weather was a bit unpredictable. We got caught in one shower but it didn't last long. Back home I finally got through the slab of clay that was lying under the soil in the veg plot. It was satisfying to rake that...

It's the end of what has been a wonderful holiday. Beautiful weather for 2 weeks has meant that I could spend most of my time outside, pottering around in the garden, reading and going for walks, perfect! It has been very quiet without any of our usual visitors but on the other hand I haven't had to rush to get all the rooms ready and organise lots of cooking. Lots of things have been done in the garden and although the vegetable patch is still a work in progress the front yard has had a good tidy with the stones cleaned and hanging baskets organised. If the weather stays fine a little work each evening should keep the garden in good condition. It has been a very relaxed time and I'm finding it hard to think about getting back into the swing of work. We explored a new route for our walk today, going down into the coombe and then swinging inland and walking back across the countryside to Lee. (Blogger has gone slow so I can't post more pictures today.) Looking down at ...

Happy Easter. Today we celebrate new beginnings and new life for all. I recommend the 2- part series, The Life of Jesus, available on BBC iplayer . Filmed entirely on location it is a documentary which combines the views of biblical scholars and biblical archaeologists with dramatised scenes and bible readings. It was very interesting, while giving faith views it did not attempt to make judgements and I particularily liked the way the Scriptures were put in the context of how they would have appeared to 1st centuary readers. Today the warm dry weather continued so of course we had to go out for a walk. This nearly didn't happen because when we got to Morthoe the car park and the overflow car parks were totally full up. On the off chance we drove up the road that leads to Bull Point because there is space for a few cars just before the end of the road and the parking restrictions do not start until 14 th May. Luckily we found a space so we didn't even have to pay today. ...

According to the weather man the highest ever recorded April temperature in the UK was 29.5C. Well this was the temperature here at midday! The day started warm, at 9.30 it was 14C in the sitting room and 25C in the garden. My morning was spent washing things, I put washing in the machine, hand washed a feather duvet, scrubbed yet more stones and washed down a chest of drawers before giving it 3 coats of white paint. I got on with so many things because the weather man also mentioned the possibility of RAIN tomorrow. I was also determined not to miss out on a long walk so by 3.00 I jumped in the car and headed off to Morthoe . This time I went the long way towards Bull Point and then dropped down this steep path into the coombe that runs to Bennet's Mouth. It was like entering an enchanted wood. It was deliciously warm, butterflies all over the place and everywhere flowers shining like little jewels in the lush green of the grass. The deep purple of the violets and the vibrant ...

Another beautiful day today. This morning it was 24C (76F) as I basked in the unexpected heat and attempted to scrub stones with a rapidly thinning wire brush. If only we had days like this in the summer! and it was still a balmy 14C this evening when I ended my day with a little more gardening. During the afternoon I met up with a friend at Mortehoe and we had an enjoyable walk and natter around the Point with the usual stop for coffee and some chocolate chunk cake that I had baked in the morning. No seals or adders today but we did stop and watch a small brown bird with a mechanical sounding song singing amazingly loudly from a nearby bush. Looking at my blurry photos I have been able to identify it as a Grasshopper Warbler, one of our summer visitors. Turning out of our drive this afternoon I was surprised to be able to see this wind turbine. This morning the local news was full of the new wind turbine farm which is being built in North Devon. There used to be a single turbine ...

The glorious weather continues and as I sat in the garden enjoying an al fresco breakfast I had not one jot of envy for those 'on holiday' in some exotic location. The sun was shining and the only sounds were those of bird song with the occasional undertone of buzzing bees. Not until my neighbour came down the hill with Jack on one of the ponies was there any human sound to break the symphony of natural sounds. So once more we set off to Morte Point for a walk. The good weather and the start of the school holidays meant that there were an awful lot of people and their dogs out too but we do have to share our beautiful countryside with those not fortunate enough to live in such lovely surroundings and only able to visit as holiday makers. Walking back up this stretch we saw one family looking at something in the grass and being ever nosey we wandered over to see what had caught their attention. It was a small (8") adder, our only poisonous snake, sunning itself on the ...

This morning it was an organised rush to get the kids in early, registered, toileted and ready to walk to the local secondary school, just across the road, for a performance by the performance poet - Justin Coe . He was very good and the children enjoyed the whole event. There were almost a few tears at the Tale of Jaws the Tragic Koi Carp sung to the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon and plenty of laughs at the references to bums and pants. Back at school we had a final run through of our dances for tomorrow's dance festival. The weather was amazingly mild, as good as any (British) summer's day and the children were all out playing without jumpers. It was too nice to stay at work so I left school fairly early and got home in time for another walk up the road. It is good to stretch my legs after a day in school and let my mind wander in the relative peace of the countryside. All around new leaves are appearing and even a few early flowers. Once I got to the road I turned the ot...

Not so sunny today and very frosty first thing but despite only having a few hours' sleep I've had a good day at school. I was my usual grumbly self to start with (a bad habit of mine) as it looked like I had lost my hall time due to a visiting writer but luckily by the time I dragged my class outside to practice their dances without any music the hall was suddenly free and we were able to have a long practice which certainly helped towards next Wednesday's performance. Last thing in the afternoon it was the first of 3 tennis sessions and the lad teaching turned out to be a boy who went to the local village school with my boys. Once again it was light enough when I got home for my brisk walk up the hill to be extended to Bowden Corner before I turned for home. It's no great distance, 1 1/2 miles in total but it blows the cobwebs away and hopefully the hill is making me fitter. When we are out walking on the cliffs, one of the things I enjoy (as well as the beautiful...

It was hard to look at the sun shining off the sea today and imagine the destructive power that has caused so much devastation on the other side of the world. Every day we hear of disasters and the suffering of people due to the vagaries of nature. It is hard to comprehend the extent of what has happened in Japan or what may still be happening. I can only thank God that my family lives in a place where our worries are about finding a job or our miserable weather. The weather here has been warming up though the snow has been falling heavily up in Scotland. With the sun out once more it was time to put our boots on and head out for the cliffs. At the car park when I came back to the car after buying a parking ticket (free car parking is a thing of the past here), Peter was still in the car accompanied by a small black cat! We quickly realised that it was neither tiny Elwen or that heffalump Patch but the question was - could it possibly be one of the stable's cats which had jump...

Hooray, now I can upload photos again so here are a few from Saturday. Most of the pretty cottages in the village are holiday homes / rental properties. One of the sets of 'never ending stairs' that are built into the steep hillside. Going down the coombe towards the sea. Gorse flowers glowing in the sun. Rockhan Beach can only be reached by a steep wooden staircase built against the side of the cliff. A different view of Morte Point which is such a beautiful spot for walking.