lunch – Mr Knitter

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.

M and I went for lunch on Thursday with two of my cousins, and all our dogs. We have a pub that is totally dog-friendly, even to the point of bringing a bowl of water for them to the table. I had scampi, M lasagne, and the girls had nachos and chicken and bacon salad. I was driving so had zero alcohol beer which was delicious and seemed no different than normal beer in taste.

Our topics of conversation ran the gamut from them being related to John Lennon (I much prefer Yoko Ono), my Nan’s crochet and embroidery, more of that in a later post, and my asshole father, again, more of that in a later post.

My dogs were very excited needless to say, but in the end, I had to put them back in the car (sunroof open and all windows cracked open too) so they could calm down. Harper was overexcited, but she tends to be like that when she comes into some of the shops too, yes, we live in quite a dog-friendly place. Where I grew up all the pubs were dog-friendly, but being int he middle of a farming community it was expected, sometimes people had their horses with them. I digress. Rosie the other dog was very well behaved, apart from having a growling moment at my dogs for no reason. The had all been on walks together with no problem and happy to play together.

It was nice to catch up with them again, and more so that M got to meet them. He has met one other cousin of mine, but as that side of the family is estranged most of my dad’s side are still standoffish, that is down to him, again, more of that in a later post.

One of my cousins has been undergoing breast cancer treatment, and now finished, she attends the hospital for follow-ups and treatment of side effects, pains in extremities etc., so it was a little surprising to get home and in my email box was one from LoveKnitting.com about knitting for Breast Cancer Haven. 100% of the sale of the patterns got to the charity, so I decided I would make two hats, one for my cousin and the other I would donate to Breast Cancer Haven for another patient going through treatment. I decided to go for the Plum Tart Hat by Rosee Woodland. I messaged my cousin asking what her favourite colour is and that all would be explained in time, she said mostly reds and a little lilac. I have bought two shades of Willow and Lark Ramble yarn which is 100% merino wool, which I love to work with. I have ordered two shades of red, one called Ox Blood and the other Cranberry. When I have finished them I will give her the choice and the other I will donate. I picked this hat out of all the patterns because it had more of a cable design to it, and I thought it quite stunning. When I have the yarn I will take a pic of it to show you all, and of course, when I have finished each of the hats, do a show and tell too. Oh, and if you were wondering, my cousin loves hats and wears all kinds, this being due to losing her hair.