Autumn Tints

It was our wedding anniversary on Friday, so we had a day off from normal activities to celebrate it. We decided we were due for a trip up to Dartmoor, so we did the walk up to Avon dam for the first time. Although much of the route is on tarmac, it is very pleasant and there are lots of picnic opportunities along the way (must remember that, next time). The Rowan trees were really laden with berries (sign of a hard winter ahead?) and the colour of them against the bright blue sky was fantastic. A light lunch at Turtley Cornmill on the way back rounded off a very nice little trip.

Summer at last!

September has been a fantastic month down in Devon and quite a lot has been happening. Pauline and Jerry visited us early in the month and did the "grand tour" of the estate. We are hoping they will be near neighbours in the not-too-distant future. On 11th, we went to the River Cottage autumn fair. It was a really warm day and, altogether, a very pleasant day out. We had a chat with Pam (the jam lady), had a generally good mootch around and Diane got a book signed by Hugh. The following week CJ and Richard were here attending the "Sorley Sailing School". We went out on several days sailing both Puffin and Tiny Dancer and had a good time. For their payment, they did some hard physical labour back on the ranch. There were even a few blisters to show for it (although their hands are pretty soft)!

This week, I have actually been doing some woodwork (on the long-awaited built-in wardrobe). I also managed to get in a half-days fishing just before the end of the trout season. I went up to the R. Teign at Fingle Bridge with Paul Kenyon. There were plenty of decent fish around but I only managed to frighten them and to catch a few tiddlers.

The Curious Incident of Shiny Norman and the Dog in the Night

This week, Diane, Digger and I had our long-awaited trip in a VW camper van called Shiny Norman. The weather was absolutely awful but we had quite an adventure exploring the Cornwall coast near Fowey. You probably have not thought too deeply about the sleeping arrangements in a "five berth" VW camper. Let me explain - there is one double bed that is made up by filling in all the gaps around the seats in the back of the van (this leaves about 2 sq ft of floor space visible), two hammock-style berths in the roof that are not usable by any normal human being and one child sized berth across the top of the cab. So, where was the Doodle going to sleep? Well, on the first night we managed to grab him and throw him up onto the child bunk (he hates being picked up at the best of times). He kept peering down with a "why am I here ?" look on his face but it was clear that there was no way we were going to con him into going up there ever again. So, the next night, after a long walk, Mr. D was so tired that we managed to build the double bed over him while he snoozed on the floor. This worked fairly well until about 4am when we got up for a pee. First, there was the bang, bang, bang of a waggy tail on the floor of the van and then a black nose appeared from under the bed, closely followed by the rest of the beast. We couldn't get him back under the bed so there was nothing for it but for him to spend the rest of the night on it! I think this reminded him of his puppy-hood - pushing and kicking his way throught the night with his siblings! I must admit that having your genitals nuzzled by a dog through a sleeping bag is not an altogether unpleasant experience, but it does not exactly lend itself to a good night's sleep.

The following night, when we started putting the double bed together, Digger didn't even bother to pretend he was going to sleep on the floor - he was straight up onto the bed at the earliest opportunity, where he stayed all night. Next time, we will have a plan (or a bigger van)!