Tuesday 27 September 2011

Beer, Devon

We arrive in the town of Beer to see numerous Seagulls sitting on the sun warmed roofs of cars





A few shots of the town as we make our way down to the beach


A gully runs the length of the main street ferrying water down from the hills to the sea
 










The peaceful cove with fishermen aplenty 



fishermen's sheds with many people lunching in the pub garden to the left 


Looking left along the cliffs


 and up to the cliff top walks


with such large shingle, mats are put down to walk on






 the cliff top path from down below


erosion of these ancient cliffs with many rock falls


We eventually leave Beer and make our way a little along the coast to Seaton


in time to see this old tram leave the station



and on our way back stop at this tearoom in Mumsbury
not sure what Alan is up to!

These photos were taken in June but today on Tuesday the 27th September we are beginning an Indian Summer with temperatures in the 80's and set to last in to next week
A High Pressure from Greece is pushing back the Atlantic lows
So much appreciated after a cool and wet summer, the wettest for 15 years.
Of course my shorts and beach gear etc have all been put to bed for the winter. Might just have to get them out again.



Wednesday 21 September 2011

A Little Update

Putting the burglary and car theft saga behind us
We now have a replacement car and I would like to thank all those who have prayed and stood with us during this stressful time
dealing with the insurance company.
The outcome is that our local For*d dealer found us a car that is identical to our stolen one but with a few extras. Ours had 12,000 miles on the clock when stolen and the new one has 6,900. It also has larger alloy wheels (better road holding), privacy back windows, blue-tooth and voice recognition radio and is one month newer.
The dealer dropped the price considerably and the insurance company in the end settled on £100 less than we had to pay for the car. Prayers answered.

I also finished my spring cleaning this week that I started in January! That's as long as one does not include the kitchen cupboards! I am missing Vera, a German au-pair who was attending our house church while she was here last year. She came in and cleaned all my kitchen cupboards.

Life has been particularly busy recently with so many different events and continues to be so. I look at the thousands of photos on my computer that I have taken this summer and hope I will get to them all eventually.

It really is Autumn, the second series of Downton Abbey began on TV last Sunday. What a treat.



People often tell me that I am 'green fingered'
No such thing in my opinion
It's a matter of trial and error and hard work


The crab apples are plentiful this year as is all 'tree fruit' due to a warm spring and wet summer
I have been wishing that I had not given away all my jam and jelly making equipment. I used to make a delicious jelly with these




Still bringing roses indoors


An airship flying over the house
They are used for sightseeing trips over London
Remember seeing these in the sky during world war II.

In my next post we will go to Beer on the south Devon coast



Tuesday 20 September 2011

Minehead, Somerset

Have often wondered about this seaside town so as it was just 4 miles away from Dunster castle and village we decided to end our day here. It is certainly not what I expected but interesting all the same. I invite you to walk with me.


We have already walked from the centre of town with it's amusements and shops and are now making our way along the front to the other side of the headland you see here. The hills of Wales can just be seen on the other side of the Bristol Channel


It gets prettier as we near the headland with it's houses scattered around the hill


We pass some interesting houses facing the sea



And here we pass a monument depicting the West Country Coastal path


We reach the harbour



and look back to see how far we have come
we began our walk on the far side of the bay where the pointed white building is in he distance
This is after walking all day around the Dunster castle gardens and village. I have to say I am beginning to feel leg weary





Had to come to the far end of the headland though just to see what is here



Gosh it is a long way back


We stop for tea and cakes




and what do we find when we begin walking again


We flag the train down and what a delight to just sit knowing that this train will take us back to our car on the far end of the promenade. A few more minutes drinking tea and we would have missed it.

Saturday 17 September 2011

Dunster Village, Exmoor, Somerset

Dunster is a breathtaking medieval village crammed with history, beauty and atmosphere on the edge of Exmoor national park.
Cecil F. Alexander wrote the hymn "All things bright and beautiful" here in 1848.


You will be seeing some random photos taken as we walked around the village and up and down the main street.

As you can see the pavements here still have the original cobble stones.

















We choose The Castle Hotel for lunch and these photos bring back memories of Alan tucking into a fine lunch while the best I could manage with my recent dental surgery was sausage and mash.



 Cute tea rooms opposite the hotel


See the castle (last post) behind the trees


The Conygar Tower behind the trees at the opposite end of the village







Lots of shops and exclusive galleries selling gifts and toys, hand-made confectionery, clothing, designer jewellery, antiques, second hand and new books and local arts and crafts.


The old Yarn Market
Once the trading centre of the village and surrounded by houses that were once occupied by affluent merchants 







Hope you enjoyed your visit and the next post will show our last visit of the day before making our way back to our cottage
Definitely one of those walking days