Happily married Stavris had a birthday at our house last weekend after THE wedding of the year. Lovely to see you all again.
You can tell from the photo that Morwenna still thinks all birthdays are a lot of fun, even if they’re not hers. Watch out for the cake Alex!
I forgot to say that Christa has done her normal magic and helped us remember when Lilly was born.
Lilly Anna Bowling has come into our lives 15th July at 12.50AM (just in case any of you need to check her birthday in about 1 years time!) Weighing in at a respectable 7 pounds 11 ounces, she’s a beautiful little thing and our kids loved going over to say hello a few weeks ago.
It also gave us a chance for our bunch to be spoiled by the grandparents. Mission very probable. A little time on the beach chasing blennies for old times sake and a few beers with Mike for the same completed the weekend. I’m sure it will be repeated. Welcome to the clan, Lilly. You’ll find out we are a funny old bunch, but we’re OK when you get to know us.
Saturday took is to see some friends from College days. First up, Roz, who lives near Blandford. Her beautiful house backs onto the river, so the kids were keen to get out with her little boat for an adventure. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited too…
After a pleasant afternoon on the river, we headed down to Tuckton where Rik and Michelle live (along with homeless jobless friends). Although it was a little blowy still, the fish jumped on the hooks and the beers went down well. Some one got a little green round the gills, but I wont mention any names… Lovely to see you all. We will be posting Morwenna down to you Michelle. Seems she was rather smitten. Hope we can make it down again soon.
Lulworth cove, durdle door, Poole harbour. All iconic locations on the Dorset coast that we had the pleasure of today. I will have to add some photos of our rambles on the river Stour yesterday. Christa got us a free weekend in a great caravan, so we had a good starting point. More to come soon.
For those of you who don’t know, coasteering is a hybrid of sea level traversing, cliff jumping and coastal exploration. Add a 4-6 foot swell and it all gets a little interesting. I joined a session going out from one of the local adventure centres that I used to work with in Pembrokeshire and had a great time.
Skomer is a delight whatever time of year that you go across, but its particularly interesting at this time of year. Many of the Orcas (puffins, guillimots and razorbills) are nesting and whilst on land and in the air look rather cumbersome. However, if you have the chance to see them in crystal clear water, you can see how their little stubby wings provide them with excellent sub-aquatic skills.
The yearling seals are still loitering around the caves and islands too, ready for the imminent pupping season, when Skomors beaches will become covered with females, pups and bull seals vying for dominance
for the mating season which happens straight afterwards. Jon and I paddled across Jack Sound in fairly lumpy conditions to go round the island and came across more seals than I remember from previous trips. It will be interesting to see what happens to the recorded numbers of pups this year.
Big thanks out to all who put up with me for the weekend; Toby and Brita for their hospitality, Tom and Lara for the brilliant seaweed jelly, Jon for the tunes and Angharad for the rum and for stealing her husband on Sunday.
Christa has been busy making willow hurdles this weekend, ready for taking them to Morwenna’s school. The kids are always keen to get involved. Morwenna is getting good at whittling and Bryn just want to climb into everything.
For my part, we have been rebuilding two retaining walls, which has allowed us to make some more use of the garden. Once these were done another raised bed, a greenhouse and a chicken run were next on the list.
The chooks are settling in well and should be coming to lay in the next month. They scrabble round the veg patch, but as yet they are still going for the grubs and not the vegetables. I’m sure that wont last.
The greenhouse is already helping us grow things we otherwise wouldn’t have any chance with; cucumbers, melons, peppers, chilli’s and aubergines are all on the go. Its all a little bit hit and miss for these new crops, so I’m not expecting much. Will keep you all informed.
Well, we have finally taken the plunge and got some chickens. To be specific, we have 3 porcelain bantam (of the D’uccle variety I think). As you can see they are still only 8 weeks old. It will take them another 8 weeks or so before they start to lay, but it will take them that long to get used to the kids and their gentle ministrations!
Will and Amy came round and together we went up to the heart of Exmoor, where Wills parents have a smallholding.
Nik and Jenny were very patient with the kids and having showed us around their fantastic spread then promptly scrambled twenty eggs for lunch. Thanks so much for your help. No doubt we will be in contact again very soon for more advice and probably a couple of your Rhode Island Reds!
We then brought the little darlings home in a box and finished off the chicken run. Thanks again to Will and Amy for getting stuck in.
All that remained to complete the weekend was a walk around a Castle Neroche up on the Blackdown Hills. I was up there about 2 weeks before and noticed that the Bluebells were still out.
May is a normal time for Bluebell woods to be in full show, but its been such an unusual Spring this year that most woods have already finished their bloom.
Getting to love Somerset. What a fantastic place!
Lovely time was had by all last week in Altafulla with Dom, Heather and Annabel. Great weather and lots of time spent on the beach. Im sure I will continue to blog about the history of the area, but this is just a quick chance to put up some photos.
Beach was clean and had enough surf for the kids to contend with. Bryn learned pretty quickly that you underestimate the Med at your peril. The words confident and non-swimmers never go well in the same sentence…
The old town is beautiful and we spent many hours just exploring and we will no doubt be back for more as long as you will all have us. The kids obviously enjoyed the whole process, so I hope you don’t mind if sometime in July we post them over in a big box marked ‘warning-may contain nuts.’ Will post over all the piccies soon. Thanks for having us guys.
A little bit of paint and a whole lot of attention to detail. Christa reproduced the apple tree in our garden in Morwenna’s new room. We repainted the rest of the room overnight whilst the kids were asleep. You can see what she thought in the next photo.
Well, I've been running and crawling half marathons for ten years now and I'm not getting any better at them. You reap what you sow as far as training is concerned, so no surprises as to how this one went. I beat 600 people, which sounds great until you realise I was beaten by 700 others. Oh well, there’s always next year…
Well done to to Sam Wallis, who pulled a 1.38 out of the bag today. You were born to run, so keep it up Sam.
It was lovely to see my little brood at the finish line, where Morwenna presented me with my cup for 1st prize. She was a little miffed at the fact I made her wait so long before she could give me my prize though, and wondered why I didn't win. Is she too young to tell her life is full of little disappointments?
Its been over 10 years since I last went climbing. But, like I have always maintain, its like falling off a bike: once you’ve done it, you never forget how (much it hurts).
I got the all clear from Christa, who kept the kids happily entertained at the swimming pool, then a birthday party. Baggy point, down at Croyde was beautiful but only just above freezing when we turned up. By the time we had the abseil done and got out of the wind, it was a balmy 6 degrees. Or maybe barmy is closer to the point.
Anyway, All went well. Even got to lead a V.S. Had a little mental wobble for a moment about familiy and responsibilities, but worrying doesn't make finding the protection any easier. Thanks to Will & Amy for a fantastic and well needed day out. Good to meet up with the Dorchester and Portland crew. Lets all do it again soon.
It came down fairly well on the Somerset Levels this Christmas. Just after I took this photo (but before cycling to work) two tractors with snow ploughs went down South Road abreast. Oncoming traffic beware. It was –15 celsius on boxing day. Cant say that happens very often!
A lovely Christmas was spent with a houseful of family and friends. I will put some pictures up at a later stage when there is some time. More snow expected tomorrow, but I don’t think its likely to stick
The kids always seem to enjoy the beach time when we're down in Cornwall. We made it to the Minack theatre for a puppet show this time as well, which is where the girls can be seen parading in front of the crowds.
