A visit to Bath

Last week Townie Husband said, "I know, let's meet in Bath next weekend." I said, "What a great idea!" So we did. I love Bath, its wonderful honey-coloured architecture, quirky streets and welcoming pubs - the shops are great too of course, and I can get a retail fix not possible down here in deepest Devon.

On Friday I took the dogs to their favourite kennels - on our arrival they were practically begging the owner, a lovely lady called Gillian, to let them inside - then suddenly they were gone - not even a nonchalant wave of the tail as they disappeared - simply gone! So I turned the car around and headed back to a strangely empty home. And next morning caught the train to Bath.

I'm not used to visiting Bath in the summer months - husband of course is a keen supporter of their Rugby team which means our expeditions are generally confined to the season and the town is full of genial supporters quaffing large quantities of ale in a cheerful fashion. On this visit the rugby supporters had been replaced by chattering hoards of foreign students - all perfectly well-behaved, but somewhat overwhelming in their numbers. The gardens looked wonderful ...

and there was a pleasure boat moored alongside the weir. I hadn't realised that the weir was only built in 1972 until I read the sign on the balustrades - somehow it seems as though it must have been there as long as Pultney Bridge - all credit to the designers and engineers - so often architecture from that period is so out of sympathy with its surroundings.

Summer means flowers, and the florists on the Pultney Bridge had a colourful display ...

The hanging baskets outside this chemist's shop were beautiful - check out the fantastic lion and unicorn crest over the door


Here's a closeup ...

And the display of bath bombs in the window at Lush was as colourful as any flower arrangement. I had to make a selection of my favourites to bring home - we don't have Lush in Kingsbridge(!) and although it's possible to order online, it's great to go in for a dose of olefactory wonderfulness!

Then some rest and refreshment was required. The Salamander has always been a favourite and was much less crowded on this visit!

OK, we did spend a while in the pub - but why did I start seeing strange giant hares and a Minotaur? An art installation as it turned out, and from reading both the official and unofficial signs one which has invoked very mixed feelings - I do think that describing it as created from old coat hangers and looking like a shop fitting is a bit cruel, although I'm not sure whether I like them or not. They're only temporary anyway and were certainly creating a lot of interest.

In the end I didn't spend very much - Cath Kidston had a sale and I purchased some lovely fabric remnants which are sure to appear in some of my designs - I loved the racing car fabric which I used in my Vroom Vroom Quilt and was delighted to find it in the sale.

Then home .. and off to collect the Newfies tomorrow - if they want to come home!

Amy, Queen of the Fete

Saturday was our Parish Fete day. We were lucky - the sun shone and the skies were blue, loads of people came and the money rolled in! Amy attended as a competition once more ... this year she was "Guess my Birthday". Here she is proudly sitting next to her prize, a cushion featuring the signs of the Zodiac (made by me!). What you can't see in this photo is her harness,

And it hasn't come out very well in this photo ... it actually gives details of the competition and asks, "Am I a Furgo? Or maybe a Pawsces? I might even be a Hairies! Scpawpio? Or not?" I can hear the collective groan!! Anyway, she did really well, raising nearly £25 which is a lot of 25 pences.

Similar to Amy's prize and available for sale on DevonBear Designs.

And of course Amy always enjoys the opportunity to meet her young fans!

The fete was held in the grounds of Stokenham House which has wonderful views down towards the sweep of Start Bay. The lawns were soon dotted with people simply sitting, enjoying their icecreams and the wonderful gardens.

The icecream stall did a roaring trade

So did the raffleWhilst there was face painting, Splat the Rat, a coconut shy and other events in the field. People came from far and wide to enjoy themselves, and it was a hot, happy and totally exhausting afternoon. There was jazz in the Church House Inn, the pub next to the church on the village green and the merry making went on well into the evening. Then we went home, to be met by an irate Ben who demanded to know where Amy had been and why he hadn't gone too!

Maybe next year Ben!

Two swallows

Two beautiful young swallows have made a nest in the eaves of our log store. It is a very beautiful nest, placed out of reach on the oak cross beam, sheltered beneath the slates and safe from predators. They crafted it very carefully from beak-fulls of mud and are clearly very proud of it. I haven't peeped inside as this is the first year we've had swallows come to live with us and I don't want to frighten them away. They are very protective of their nest though, and the male in particular has a very annoying habit of "buzzing" me as I go to and from the garden. Sometimes he swoops so low that I can actually feel the downdraft from his wings. I wish there was some way I could make them understand that I'm no danger to their young. They also visit me from time to time, sweeping in through the open back door where Ben and Amy like to snooze in the breeze, and pirouetting up through the house, emerging through one of the bedroom windows which are permanently open at this time of year.

Swallows are so much part of summer in this part of Devon - they seem to be everywhere, swooping low over the roads to take insects, then circling high into the sky in an amazing demonstration of aerobatic skill. A large colony spend the summer months in the tumbledown barns over the road, and the air is full of their shrill cries. It's always sad when they start to gather on the telephone wires at the beginning of autumn, but that's a long way off yet.

But in case I forget to post it when September arrives - I hope you enjoy this poem now!

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!!

Keeping Busy

I had a great time at Exeter Craft Festival - sold out of loads of stuff and all my little knitted animals have found new homes, not a single one came back with me. I'm so glad I took their photos before they left. I've started on a new family already as I'm hoping to attend the Craft Show at our own village hall in Stokenham. (that's Hester, the new baby elephant at the top of this post.

Of course the village hall is home to lots of other activities including our very own Lunch Club. Last week Elona took baby Sasha in for the first time and we had our photos taken. We're hoping they'll appear in the local newspaper, this must be the first time ever that a pensioners' lunch club has had a baby! (Yes, there are more club members - the seated people - but the photographer couldn't stay until they all arrived).

I've been busy in the garden too - and indulged in a spot of bartering with a lovely lady called Sarah who has her own website, Heading Home. She wanted my paper bunting, and I fell in love with her cabbage patch rabbit. So the deal was done and he now lives in one of my old wooden fruit boxes where I plant courgettes, tomatoes, beans - and the tiny plants are aubergines which everyone tells me I won't be able to grow outside. I'm persevering though - the crates are sheltered in the woodstore which faces due south. The only danger comes from Ben's happily wagging tail when he dashes past on his way out for a walk.

And did you know that in Devon an old superstition stated that if a young woman plucked a rose at midnight on Midsummer Eve and wrapped it in paper it would remain fresh until Christmas Day. If she then wore it on her dress it would be snatched away by the young man who was destined to become her husband. Now I'm not looking for a new husband (one is definitely enough!) so I brought these roses inside to admire instead.

Finally, Amy has become unbearable. Last year she was a competition at the village fete - "Guess the Weight of the Dog." This year she is returning by popular demand - yes, she was such a success and so popular that they want her back again! She is absolutely full of herself, and this time the competition is to be "Guess Amy's Birthday."

Here she is in her special outfit from last year - I expect she'll want a new one this time round - still it will keep me even busier - there's never time to be bored down here in Devon!!

The last family photoshoot

Can't you just imagine the bustlings and rustling, whispering and squeaking as the little family assemble for the last time before some of them at least find new homes at the Exeter Craft Festival over the weekend.

Fingers crossed for fine weather and lots of eager customers!

This time Amy came too....

We're so lucky to live in the most beautiful countryside, with so many lovely walks to choose from. I'd been feeling a bit guilty about leaving Amy behind last week when Ben and I went to the bluebell woods above Mill Bay, so decided to take her on a more gentle walk closer to home. This is normally an ordinary, everyday walk talking in the woods behind the village, but now the buttercups are in bloom and instead of sheets of blue we walked through sheets of gold. Well, Ben and I walked and Amy ....

... sort of bumbled along for a bit (wandered lonely as a cloud among a field of golden .. BUTTERCUPS?!) ...

then was clearly overcome by the beauty of the flowers!

We couldn't go through the stile and across the fields as Amy's round body doesn't fit through the gap left for dogs. Ben with his slinky and lithe young frame can wriggle through but Amy ... well .. no!

So we cut across the fields above the new houses. The young cattle came out to look

That's Stokenham in the distance, where Elona lives. But Amy can't walk so far so we didn't go visiting today. Instead we turned back towards the buttercup field

Where Ben as always had the last word!