Local, Not So Local…

I had spoken to Paul the owner of the farm and he recommended going to Wistlandpound Reservoir as the walk is quite flat and good for disabled users.  It is only about 25 minutes drive away so pretty local.  So, imagine our surprise in taking over an hour and a half to find it.  This part of the world is not so well signposted, and very few roads have names, which makes it really hard to find a place.  My TomTom could not find it, not even in the points of interest.  We ended up in Barnstaple which was handy as I needed eye drops as my hay fever has reached fever pitch and even though I am taking double the dose of antihistamines it does not seem to rid me of the symptoms, so I needed eye drops too.  After my quick visit to Tesco pharmacy in this rather massive superstore, we left under the navigation of M who had found the place on Google Maps and was now my TomTom but in human form.  We got there relieved that we could finally get out of the car and enjoy the place.  Needless to say, the dogs were made up to get out of the car too and explore this new place.

As you can see from the header image, it is quite a lovely place to walk around, and the sun was out giving its all to us.  We met many other dog walkers and were surrounded by quite literally thousands of blue damselflies which were lovely to look at.

This is what they looked like, although this is not my photograph, but that of David Kitching, taken from the British Dragonfly Society website.

After our jaunt, we came back to the cottage and pottered about as the dogs were totally exhausted by the heat on top of the exciting walk they had.  I got the lounger out of the shed and lay there for a bit reading, then fell asleep in the midafternoon sun, and as you would expect, got burned quite a bit.  Thankfully I have been a little sun-kissed these last few weeks and I expect it to have calmed down quite considerably tomorrow.

Later this evening we went for another walk with the dogs down a rather rocky lane that part way down has a mound of horse manure that would rival any medium-sized hill, in other words, it was massive.  Not a highlight of the walk but all the same an amusing sight.

This evening we have both kicked back and relaxed on our own couches with a dog each keeping us company and read with Classic FM on in the background.

All in all, I think it was another successful day of relaxation.

Devon, Our Latest Vacation…

Titanic Intro…

…It’s been 35 years… Since I was last in Devon.

Well, our vacation came round faster than I imagined, and here we are on day two.  Yesterday, we arrived at about 4:30pm after being on the road for eight and a half hours (288 miles).  It was not all driving as we stopped many times for the dogs to have a stretch and something to eat or drink, and of course for pee breaks.  M and I also need a few stretches, especially after being in a few traffic jams.  One, which was thankfully going the other way on the M5 was 15 miles long, so I was glad ours was not that bad.

The cottage is beautiful and very in keeping with our taste.  Sleeps four, private gardens, off road parking, games room in the barn next door and lots to see, especially the livestock, so far horses, ponies, chickens, sheep and goats, oh and the owner’s dogs and little boy. Our dogs are loving the place and having a great time too.  One of the great things is that as it a farm quite literally in the middle of nowhere there is no light pollution, so at night you can look up and see the sky is full of stars that we normally cannot see. Yesterday when we arrived we met the owners and were shown around and taken through all the facilities that are available we discovered their welcome pack of scones complete with jam and the best of all Devon Clotted Cream, oh, they also left some chews for the dogs too as their welcome.

Today we decided to visit Ilfracombe, for a wander about and an ice cream, the off to a lovely pub called The Beggars Roost Inn for lunch.  M had chicken tikka sticks and I had long tail scampy with chips pea and mint puree salad and a pint of bitter shandy.  It hit the spot dead on, and I have to say, was delicious.  We then went for a drive around, then to South Molton for some groceries, then back to the cottage which is another 20-minute drive.  The cottage is in Exmore National Park and the hamlet only has 7 properties, and the need of a four-wheel-drive car is essential as it is up and down dale.

I loot a few photos whilst in Ilfracombe, one of which was of Verity, which is a Damien Hirst sculpture, standing 66.4 feet and is quite a vision, not too sure if I would say it is something I liked though.  Not the best photo I will be honest, but I never brought my Nikon, just my iPhone, so pleases forgive me.

Ready for a sleep now as I have just eaten a rather large scone and enough clotted cream to slam shut my arteries and cause a heart attack.

More to come later as the Wifi is a bit crap and as such it is like being on dial-up.

UK Holiday…

I have been looking at booking a holiday cottage for M and me to go on, taking the dogs of course with us.  However, I am just not sure where to go!

So far I have been looking at Devon, Cornwall and the Cotswold.  I have been to Devon and Cornwall many times when I was a kid on family holidays, and I used to love going on the Lynton and Lynmouth Funicular Railway, and the long walk up and down the cliffs.  M has never been to that part of the UK, so I thought it may be nice for him to experience it.

Part of me thinks we should go to the Highlands of Scotland or the Brecons in South Wales as they are places I have not been to.  I have been all over North Wales, but never the South, and I have only ever been skiing in Scotland, so being up a mountain in winter with the sole purpose of skiing I never got to see any other part of the country.  Devon and Cornwall call to me as it will be a lot warmer, but then again with the British weather, one can never tell what it will be like.

I was also considering going back to Rome at the end of September, beginning of October as we both love the place, and would move there in a heartbeat if we had the chance.  But with any foreign break, we would have to leave the dogs in the kennels which is about £160 for the week, which is money that we could save by staying in the UK and taking the girls with us, and it saves them being stressed too, so a bit of a win-win if we stay here.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated…

Itchy feet, the world is calling…

Flying over the Alps heading to Rome & Vatican City

I have itchy feet. I feel the need to travel again.  I think it is the summer that is starting to get me in the mood, not that it takes much.  I was in Rome in November, then in Amsterdam in February, and am going to be in Ireland in September.  So between my last holiday and my next, I feel I need to go away again.  It’s not going to happen, I know that, so maybe get a weekend away if I can, but restlessness is really taking hold.

I booked this evening my trip to Ireland, and first booked flights, car hire etc., then after reading all the BS with the car hire and having to pay an extra £60 for insurance to cover the excess.  After reading the very small print, the hire company would take a deposit from my card of £1,000.00, and would not pay it back for some time till they were happy that the car was in perfect condition.  This did make we wonder why I paid for excess insurance in the first place, so, I read their terms and any part of the £1,000 to £3,000 excess that the hire company took they would pay back to me within 28 days. The chance of me being charged would be near zero, but I did not like the idea of this chance of being taken for a ride and losing money by something going wrong, or a small print that excludes something. You know that little voice in the back of your head that starts talking to you, telling you that this sounds wrong. I tried to ignore it, and it persisted and went on and on, eventually, the alarm bells rang in my head.

With this, I hit the cancellation buttons on the flights, car hire, and insurance.  Needless to say, I lost money, only £40, which I can live with, and booked the ferry.  It is a bloody long journey of 8 hours sailing time, but in the end, it worked out close to £150 cheaper, taking into account airport parking £60, flights £110, baggage £25, seat costs £8, car hire £160, excess insurance £60.  I get to use my own car, which is a big-ass SUV.  If I wanted to hire the same car as mine for the week I was there it would cost me in the region of £600, so that was never going to happen.

I only have to wait 95 days now (and counting).  I will miss my dogs like mad, but the kennels we use are great, the people are lovely, and my girls seem to enjoy being there, almost like home from home.

I will have to start looking at a weekend or two away, for now, although we do have house guests in August, so that shortens the time frame, but I am sure I will manage something.