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Inspiration. And Cake.
We’ve had a rare day out. Docton Mill Gardens on the Hartland peninsula. Nestling in the bottom of a woodland valley, albeit closer to the coast, I hoped it might have a similar microclimate to...
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Murder and Moor
Yesterday we went to Greenway, the late murder mystery writer Agatha Christie’s summer residence on the south coast of Devon, now cared for by the National Trust. It’s not a place you can just drop...
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Beside The Sea
Looking at the colour of that sea, you could be forgiven for thinking that we spent our 30th wedding anniversary in the Caribbean. But no, we were still in the UK: St Ives, Cornwall. The second...
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I love these guys..
Alpacas at the North Devon Show Yesterday we had an early start. Very early. Mike wanted to be there first thing. I was shaken awake with threats of duvet being ripped away. Again. And despite my...
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Back To The Sea
Hartland Abbey, Devon One of the delights of living in Devon is the comparatively short distance to the coast. Both sides of the county are accessible enough but we tend towards the North and West....
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Baggy Point
I woke yesterday morning in need of a blast of fresh air. We headed back out to North Devon, specifically a section of the coast path around Baggy Point. . I’ve mentioned it before, I know, but why...
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Overbeck’s, Salcombe
It’s that time of year again. At the end of the month The National Trust shuts up shop for winter. The properties are ‘put to bed’ until March. And yet again the summer has slipped by and we’ve not...
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Gardeners’ Question Time. Live.
We were late. And I’d particularly wanted to get a Good Seat. . The journey got off to a bad start when we met a large lorry on a narrow country lane. There was a wider bit of road behind him,...
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It’ll Be Dark Soon..
Borthwick. The most haunted castle in Scotland? I’d made a point of arriving before nightfall. It was a good move. This time, no ‘bats’ escorted my progress up the drive. No Tudor clad figure...
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The Season Of Mists and… Torrential Rain
Antony Whilst the cow, or whatever, was churning up our lawn we were near Torpoint, in Cornwall. I’d been determined to fit in one more National Trust visit before the portcullis came down for the...
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Winter Blues.. Pink, Yellow and White
Cotehele, Cornwall This is the sort of place that, once you’ve discovered it, you want to keep going back to time and time again. And in December there’s a special reason to go. The absolutely...
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Dartmoor Rambling
Kestor, Dartmoor National Park Blue sky! A rare enough sight in recent days. Even better that it should coincide with a much anticipated day out to meet Em from Dartmoor Ramblings. I have been...
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What Do You Mean, You’ve Missed The Boat?
Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, France Whilst chatting to Em up on Dartmoor last week, I was reminded of a story I thought you might enjoy. . I hate water, possibly to phobic proportions. It took many...
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On The First Day Of Spring
Helleborus x hybridus The first day of meteorological Spring turned out to be lovely. The weather may have gone downhill since, but on 1st March the sun shone and it was almost warm. Far too nice...
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Where Moor Meets The Sea
Porlock Weir For a number of reasons things have been getting on top of us at chez rusty duck. So, earlier on this week, we abandoned all else and headed off to the Coast. The weather forecast was...
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Fluff and Feathers
Nesting Swan at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust I’ve been wanting to return to Slimbridge for ages, so on the one decent weather day this week we decided just to go for it. Late Spring is...
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Clovelly, North Devon
Could this be the only inhabited village in England where you have to pay to get in? It’s worth it. Clovelly used to be a fishing village and in 1901 had a population of 621. It is a cluster of...
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A Light Bulb Moment
This is the view of the beech border at the bottom of the lawn. Not taken today, obviously. It’s currently a very high, dense green wall and really quite oppressive. But without the leaves on the...
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Trebah Garden, Cornwall
Trebah sub-tropical garden nestles within a valley leading down to the picturesque Helford River, nr Falmouth, Cornwall. The view down the valley from the house Trebah was first laid out as...
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Coleton Fishacre
Coleton Fishacre The weather has been glorious the last few days. How could we let this last fling of summer pass us by without another trip to the coast? An extract from the National Trust...
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