Segway Day

Segway Day

It was my birthday in October and my family had organised me a late birthday present. Today we went to Haldon Forest near Exeter and rode on Segway's. It was great fun!!!! There were eleven of us all age ranges, this was an event we could all do.

Initially, we all lined up to be fitted with helmets, high vis jackets and our segway. We waited in line, in anticipation. The instructions, were clear and very informative but we were all very nervous. Its surprising how fast the segways travel! Once off on the ride, all nerves vanished and we became quite competitive, as we do! Sister's v Sisters, cousins v cousins and in laws v in laws. We all picked up speed and took corners with confidence, rode the bumps and fought off the cold chill in the air. It was exhilarating and so much fun the hour and a half sped by.

After a chilly ride we finished off with well deserved  hot chocolates and birthday cake, which was actually for my son's girlfriend as its her birthday next week.


A great family day out xxxx

Busy Year

Sorry I have not been here for some time. Its been a very busy year, I can't believe it's almost November already.

I will be back in a few days to provide an account of my busy summer xx

My mate Billy

I have a very time consuming new friend, Billy. Billy needs constant nurturing, feeding, stirring and checking on. You might ask what is this friend? Its a sourdough starter! I have been learning to make bread since Christmas, with some brilliant successes and some dramatic failures!

Sourdough has been my most recent interest, it is what I would call a 'slow' bread making affair. You need to grow the culture first, this takes about 7 days of feeding and checking. It bubbles up out of control at times, once it broke out of the sealed kilner jar it lives in!

I have heard many people say they find the process complicated, I must say once the culture is grown I find the bread making easier than making bread with yeast and I love its taste.

Today I decided to try adding some spelt flour to the white flour and put it in a tin, rather than let it go freestyle. I must say it produced a stunning little loaf.

I also made some chelsea buns,( using yeast) my husband says they are far better than what you buy in the shops.

Billy the Sourdough Starter

Bubbling nicely!

The finished articles

Kilve Beach

Today we went for a walk at Kilve Beach. Kilve Beach is in West Somerset, on the Bristol channel. The beach is famous for its fossils. The rock formation is made up from shale and sandstone,its amazing. Layers of history laid out in front of your eyes. The rocks date back over 200 million years. Its incredible when standing on the beach looking at the rocks and if you're lucky enough see a fossil, to think you may be looking at something that is over 200 million years old!

Today, we saw three fossils

The layers of rock, smoothed and eroded by the constant battering of the sea.

May bank holiday beside the seaside

Finally I have a week off work and we are off to the caravan.

We have kept a caravan in North Devon for many years now, couldn't afford a second home so this was the next best thing. I absolutely love it. Its our bolt hole, its relaxing providing much needed time away from the daily norm.

When here we love to explore the surrounding beaches and countryside. We walk for miles taking in the stunning views, stopping off  at different coffee shops and restaurants to sample their delights

We are very lucky that our caravan overlooks one of the most stunning  beaches in North Devon, Putsborough sands.

Some days we don't go anywhere, we just take in the view!

What's happened to Spring?

Spring is so late to arrive this year, I have a question. How does nature catch up?

My garden is about 6 weeks behind, it should be a mass of spring colour by now but there is hardly a bud open. The weeping cherry has very tightly wrapped buds just waiting for the sun to shine before they burst out in their glorious pink. My Tulips,  planted in the Autumn are only just opening, such a shame as I was expecting a beautiful display.

I need to understand what happens now if we suddenly have a heatwave, going straight into Summer, missing out spring. How does nature cope with this, doing all of the spring activity required before it would normally hit summer?????

Out on my walks with Molly, I have noticed how bare the tree's are, no green leaves!  Birds should be nesting in the trees, hiding their young in the foliage. Where are they building their nests this year?

One delightful view I have seen in the last few weeks was these spectacular rainbows.

Perhaps this is the colour I crave instead of the flowers

Still Cold!

Has everyone had enough of the cold now? I have. I am itching to get out into the garden to plant for the summer. Last year my veg plot was a complete disaster. I am really hoping this year will be better. I love being able to pop up the garden to pick fresh veg and have it on your plate within minutes. Even my poor Rhubarb has died over the winter..water logged then frozen to death! I thought Rhubarb was pretty indestructable, how wrong was I.

Over the Easter weekend my husband and I went to our caravan for the first time this year. Unwrapped it from its winter storage. The weather was cold but we were proper toasty in the van. We keep our van at Putsborough in North Devon, spectacular views over the beach as we look out the window day or night.

Whilst in Devon we did plenty of walking which Molly was delighted about. On the Sunday we went to Heddon Hill, not walked up here before. The views were stunning, a lovely walk albeit a bit chilly!  Following the walk we were starving, Hunter's inn was full to the brim so we headed back towards Blackmore Gate and popped into Woody Bay's railway station. We have passed this little station many times, but never stopped. It was really sweet. The restored steam engine travels to Killerton a 25 minute ride, we didn't go as it was packed out with Easter visitors all wrapped up in scarves and wooly hats. We stepped back in time, entering the tea rooms. A quaint little tea room, with a real coal fire, lots of memorabilia about the railways, pretty china tea cups and plates. We had the tastiest sandwiches ever and lots of piping hot sweet tea, bliss!
I would thoroughly recommend you try this little place.

 

View from Heddon Hill

Molly having a good dig on the beach

What did you do over Easter?