Autumn is creeping in ....

 

Hallo again lovely peeps.  Here we are on the 1st day of October.  My goodness me, another year is hurtling past. 

We are now approaching the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.  I have always loved that expression, and living here in my little corner of heavenly Devon, I actually see it happening, with the blackberries all around and the mists rising over the fields.  

I have a fondness for Oscar Wilde quotes, and I think this one is so lovely.  It describes the change of Seasons so well ....

Life sometimes can appear to be very complicated and often we tend to overthink things.  Perhaps we should try to concentrate on the simple things.   Not always easy I know, but we do need to try to block out our worries sometimes and think about what really matters in our lives. Life really is too short to sweat the small stuff. 

Hold your family close and make time for them ❤️

Take time to live well

Eat ice cream

Pod some peas

Skim a few stones

Go barefoot

Read all afternoon

Tell a story

Find meaning in small things 

Watch clouds

Smell the sea

Be quiet

Feel the wind

Open all the windows

Count your blessings 

Bake bread

Climb a hill

Send postcards

Turn off your phone

Snuggle in

Have an adventure

Drink wine

Ride a bike (unfortunately I am unable to do this.. I have no sense of balance whatsoever!).

Hang twinkly lights

Enjoy being alone

Like sunshine and showers

Make time for the simple things and appreciate the beauty of your surroundings when you’re out on a walk

Decorating for Autumn is very popular over here now. I know how my American friends used to decorate their homes and gardens when I was staying with them.. it certainly helps to brighten up the darker evenings.  My mantelpiece looks very cosy in the evening when I turn on the twinkling lights. 

Talking about gardeners, here are a couple of photos of my Autumn garden. The leaves make a carpet of gold ....

I cannot really end this Post without mentioning the passing of our dear Queen.  Although she was 96, it was still very sudden at the end, and the whole Country was shocked. But what a wonderful send off we gave her. It was a fitting thank you from the Country for her 70 years of devoted service. 

This next photo was taken only a couple of months ago, to celebrate Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee. We shall miss that lovely smile. She really was a constant in all our lives. 

Well, I’ll leave you again for now, and this is what I wish for you all as we enter the new Season (I’m talking here about Autumn, but I’m aware that many of my readers will be appreciating the onset of Spring and the promise of longer days to come!).  Oh!  Remember, it is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice ❤️

Proud to be a Devon Maid!

My hometown City of Plymouth is known as Britain's Ocean City. It is a vibrant waterfront city which is surrounded by water, and with the hills of Dartmoor close by.  I love living in heavenly Devon, and I'm proud to be a Devon Maid 🙂

 

The magnificent Plymouth Sound with the art-deco lido, where I learnt to swim, over 65 years ago. Seems like only yesterday 😂😂.

Today I thought I would take you on a tour of the historic Barbican, with its cobbled streets and Elizabethan buildings. To me, it has always seemed remarkable that these buildings are still standing after the continuous bombing, known as the Plymouth  Blitz, during the Second World War. The city suffered  a series of bombing raids, which flattened many parts of my home city. My parents were involved in one of those  raids. In March 1941, my dad was returning home on a short Leave from the Army.  As darkness fell, he turned the corner of the street where they lived, and the house was gone, reduced to a pile of rubble, and my poor mum was buried underneath. Neighbours were scrabbling at the bricks with their hands,  desperately trying to get to her. Fortunately, she survived,  but her back was badly damaged and she suffered for the rest of her life with severe back problems.  After the Blitz, very little of Plymouth remained, and the whole City had to be rebuilt. During the 59 bombing attacks, 1,172 civilians were killed and 4,448 were injured. King George the sixth is pictured  here visiting the devastated City. 

 

Image courtesy of Daily Mail archives. 

But now it's time to continue with the tour. I hope you will enjoy these photos, which were taken on a glorious Summer's day last year. You can just double click on any of the photos if you want to make them larger. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quality of the following  photo isn't particularly good (I took it from Plymouth Hoe looking out to the Sound) but I thought the old with the new was pretty cool 😊.

 

I do feel very blessed living in this little corner of heavenly Devon!  On that note, I'll love you and leave you until the next time. 

Come For A Walk With Me ....

Time for another Blog Post, and it occurred to me that many of you might not know where I come from here in ye Merry olde England.  Actually, the name of my Blog is a bit of a give away - yes, I live in the South Hams, which is the most beautiful part of heavenly Devon (although others might tell you otherwise!).  Anyway, I’ll let the views speak for themselves. All of the images today were taken by me whilst out and about on my coastal walks.

The beautiful County of Devon is right down in the South West of the Country.  Next to Devon, you have Cornwall, which I’m sure many of you will have heard of, from various novels and TV dramas -  Doc Martin and Poldark, to name just two!  After leaving Cornwall, you just drop into the ocean! That’s one of the things I love about living here, the ocean is always around us.  

This next photo is one of my favourites and reminds me of why I love this area so much.  You can be walking along a narrow path, and then, there it is, the blue sea right in front of you.  Heaven!

These next four photos were taken at Hope Cove.  Walking from Thurlestone to Hope Cove is one of my very favourite coastal walks.

The photo above with the path leading to the sea, always reminds me of the poem by John Masefield, called Sea Fever .... “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by..... I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide,  is a wild call and a clear call, that may not be denied......”

We are surrounded by the sea, and I love nothing better than setting out on a coastal walk.  I used to walk for miles, but I have a problem with my legs at the moment, which has curtailed me somewhat over the past twelve months, but I do try to walk as often as I can.  I actually live right at the foot of Dartmoor, one of our National Parks, but, to be honest, it has to be beaches and the sea for me every time.  Devon is known for its hills and some of those hills  lead right down to the sea, and the lanes leading to the sea are narrow, with very high hedges, so that you can’t always see vehicles coming in the opposite direction!

This next beach has to be one of my very favourites....Bigbury on Sea.  Would you believe that I’ve been going there for over 73 years, as my mum and dad took me there from the time I was six months old, so it’s almost in my DNA.

This next photo was taken at Salcombe.  I really am so lucky to live in this wonderful spot, that I call heavenly Devon, as all these places are only 20 minutes from where I live. 

On a lovely Summer day, it’s one of the best places in the world.  Oh, okay, perhaps I AM slightly biased.  I was playing with a new Camera App with this last photo.  I have very fond memories of visiting Salcombe with a friend, a few years ago now.  It was a boiling hot day....too hot to do much serious walking, so we sat under the sun umbrella on the terrace of a lovely Hotel, which had gorgeous views all along the estuary, with brightly coloured boats bobbing up and down.  We started off with morning coffee and warm, buttered croissants, which drifted into lunch, accompanied by the obligatory glass of Rosè, and, believe it or not, we were still sat there at 4pm, so decided to have a Devon Cream Tea, complete with lashings of Devonshire Clotted Cream!

Well, I hope you’ve  enjoyed the little tour, and I’m sure I’ll be back again soon.  Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my Blog.  I really do appreciate it.

Come For A Walk With Me....

If you are a new Follower, it occurred to me that you don’t really know where I live, although for readers in the UK, the name of my Blog might be a bit of a giveaway!

Yes, I live in the area of South Hams, in the beautiful County of Devon, right down in the South West of the Country.  Next to Devon, you have Cornwall, which I’m sure many of you will have heard of, from various novels and TV dramas -  Doc Martin and Poldark, to name just two!  After leaving Cornwall, you just drop into the ocean! That’s one of the things I love about living here, the ocean is always around us.  

The first four photos were taken at Hope Cove.  Walking from Thurlestone to Hope Cove is one of my very favourite coastal walks.

The photo above with the path leading to the sea, always reminds me of the poem by John Masefield, called Sea Fever .... “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by..... I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide,  is a wild call and a clear call, that may not be denied......”

We are surrounded by the sea, and I love nothing better than setting out on a coastal walk.  All the photos today were taken by me whilst I was out walking.  I also live at the foot of Dartmoor, one of our National Parks, but, to be honest, it has to be beaches and the sea for me every time.  Unfortunately, I am not  able to walk the 8 - 10 miles that I used to, but I still manage to do pretty well, in view of my advanced age!  Believe me, walking in Devon is no easy feat, as it is well known for its hills, so it really is all uphill and down dale.  The hills lead right down to the sea, and the lanes leading to the sea are narrow, with very high hedges, so that you can’t always see vehicles coming in the opposite direction!

This next beach has to be one of my very favourites....Bigbury on Sea.  Would you believe that I’ve been going there for over 73 years, as my mum and dad took me there from the time I was six months old, so it’s almost in my DNA.

This next photo was taken at Salcombe.  I really am so lucky to live in this wonderful spot, that I call heavenly Devon, as all these places are only 20 minutes from where I live. 

On a lovely Summer day, it’s one of the best places in the world.  Oh, okay, perhaps I AM slightly biased.  I was playing with a new Camera App with this last photo.  I have very fond memories of visiting Salcombe with a friend, a few years ago now.  It was a boiling hot day....too hot to do much serious walking, so we sat under the sun umbrella on the terrace of a lovely Hotel, which had gorgeous views all along the estuary, with brightly coloured boats bobbing up and down.  We started off with morning coffee and warm, buttered croissants, which drifted into lunch, accompanied by the obligatory glass of Rosè, and, believe it or not, we were still sat there at 4pm, so decided to have a Devon Cream Tea, complete with lashings of Devonshire Clotted Cream!

Well, I hope you’ve  enjoyed the little tour, and I’m sure I’ll be back again soon.  Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my Blog.  I really do appreciate it.

First Day of Spring

Hallo one and all, on this, the first day of Spring,  I always love saying that.... the first day of Spring!  It always fills me with hope, and, like the rest of you just getting through Winter, I'm sure you're thankful for the longer days ahead. 

On my personal Facebook page, along with my Instagram page, I am having a break from social media for the period of Lent, but I felt I had to celebrate the onset of Spring here on my Blog!

Am I missing checking Facebook and Instagram each day. Well, I suppose I am, as there is quite a little Community out there, and the majority of people are very supportive and encouraging. 

However, part of me thinks, are people REALLY interested in what I've been up to or, in the case of Instagram, when I've been out for a delicious meal, and sharing a picture to prove it?!  We live in strange times these days, when everything, it seems, has to be 'out there'.  

 But then, the same could be said of me writing this Blog - are people REALLY interested in whatever I may have to say?  Anyway, as you can see from these photos, the weather here in heavenly Devon has decided to be kind to us on this first day of Spring, albeit in between the showers, but I'll take that.

It's so lovely having daffodils fresh from the garden. They really do bring a splash of sunshine into the home. 

The other big news of the week, of course, is the spread of the Corona Virus, which is quite worrying. My eldest granddaughter, who is studying for her Masters at Madrid University, has already had a trip to Shanghai cancelled, and my eleven year old grandson is due to travel to Normandy in France, with the College, leaving this Friday. I think it will be a case of 'watch this space' on that one. 

Well, I hope you're all keeping well in your little corner of the world. Take care, and I'm sure I will be popping in again fairly soon.