Dartmoor....

When we watched the weather forecast yesterday morning and saw that showers were forecast...AGAIN!....it meant that the beach was out of the question, so we decided on a visit to Dartmoor.

We were hoping for a little sunshine so that we could all play out on the moors, run around a little, sit outside little coffee shops (we had the dogs with us), and maybe a little paddle in a few streams. The weather had other ideas though, but we made the most of it playing; "Who can count the most ponies", roaming free on the moors.

We also managed a few stops along the way to take in the beautiful scenery and local landmarks such as Two Bridges.......

and.............

Badgers Holt........

We walked along the meandering streams and babbling brooks.


We even stopped off at the Battery Hen Welfare Trust, Mabel had great fun staring this chicken out!!........................The chicken won!!! She took to it so much it almost came home with us!

I'm starting to feel like I work for the South Hams Tourist Board but really you must stop off when you get the chance if you're in the area anytime, it really is spectacular and soooooooooo pretty.

I'm now counting down the days until we leave, not in the; "I can't wait to get home" way but the; "I never want to leave" way. Yes, there have been some difficult and lonely days when I've been here on my own with the girls during the summer, but they have been few and far between. Most days have been fantastic. I LOVE living here.....are you hearing me Mr Shrimp......I DON'T WANT US TO GO HOME...............OK, OK we have to I know and I also know that we're really lucky to have this little cottage here to enjoy all year round but that doesn't stop me not wanting to leave!!!

A Summer's evening in Salcombe....

What I love about living here is that at 6pm in the evening we can suddenly make the desision to go 'crabbing' in Salcombe and be there, sitting on the quayside within 15 minutes.

As a 3 & 4 year old, it must be so exciting to sit on the water's edge dangling your feet over the side eagerly waiting for the crab to attach itself to your bait..then the anticipation as you slowly raise the line out of the water to see just how big the crab is and more importantly, is it bigger than the one your sister has just caught?!!

Salcombe comes to life in the evening. For those of you that know the area well you will completely understand what I mean...views such as this...


Watching everyone come ashore having whittled away the hours tottling around the estuary, ready for an evening meal or a mooch around some of the shops that remain open a little later than the rest.

After a while we gave up on the crabbing and decided to settle on an ice cream for our walk back to the car.

Maybe we should of hopped on board the Rickshaw then Mr Shrimp and I wouldn't have had to listen to the little shrimps moaning that they had 'bendy' legs and couldn't possibly walk a metre more!!

Don't know why you're smiling big shrimp...your special crabbing t-shirt didn't help you catch many did it??!!!!!!!!!!

Hope these fellow crabbers had a little more luck than we did............. Not to worry, I'm sure we'll be going again!!!! Give it an hour and I'm sure another request will be made!!

Totnes....

OH YES........................... An adult in the house and my lovely husband at that.....I was beginning to think I was stuck in the land of children's television. All small people talk and no intellectual conversation to be had for weeks on end. I've suddenly turned into an old person, talking to any adult that would pass the time of day with me, I'm sure I'm now known as that lady that talks to anyone and everyone. Don't get me wrong, I love my little girls but there's only so much I can take of colouring, painting, dressing-up, Cbeebies, singing, catching butterflies etc etc....

After a weekend of visitors we decided to take ourselves off to one of my favourite towns; Totnes.....want to come along?..........

This is my favourite little shop; Gazebo..Doesn't it look intriuging?? Want to take a peek inside ladies?

Doesn't it look glorious?

Look at these dressers full of beautiful china......

Bag anyone? Which of these lovely new Cath Kidston bags would you choose? Me, I have my eye on the new green Polka Dot one!

Polka Dots and Greengate.............Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh...........How I resisted!

A rainbow of 'Rice' products...another favourite of mine.

More Cath Kidston to tempt me................

A little further along the lane is this marvellous shop, but boy was it full to bursting! I couldn't get any internal shots as all you'd see were people so I settled on a peep through the window.... The lady that runs this shop has started a blog, go have a look...


Across the road is this marvellous shop full of furniture and decorations made out of driftwood, it gave me lots of ideas.....

What a great idea to re-vamp an old set of drawers with a coastal feel.....


This shop was closed so I had to make do with a little snoop through the window, it was full of all things vintage.

Onto Dartington Trading Centre, somewhere we frequent a lot . A cluster of lots of individual units set in pretty buildings such as this

You would happily whittle away a few hours mooching around here believe me...I often leave my husband and the girls in one of the cafes whilst I scoot around child free with my purse burning a hole in my pocket!!

On my way back to the car park I walways pop into this little gardening shop...look how lovely it is inside......

Hope you enjoyed your 'virtual' visit to Totnes, please go if you get the chance, it's a wonderful little town which I'm sure you'd enjoy.

What's making me happy today....

Wearing my favourite necklace.....

The t-shirt that big shrimp made out of scrap materials at Arts & Crafts this morning. She's so proud of it!!!!

Didn't she choose some lovely materials?

Oh and last but not least, the fact that it's only 48 hours until Mr Shrimp joins us in Devon for a weeks holiday......yaay..........Adult company at last!!!!

Copy Cat!

Why is it that when you're 3 years old you just HAVE to copy big sister?

I took the shrimps into Salcombe this morning for a 'mooch', well to negotiate crowds would be a much better description..........goodness, the world and his wife (oh and Geri Halliwell, who was on the same beach as us a few Saturdays ago), have descended on the tiny town over the last few days...... I only managed a few hours but it was lovely to sit on a bench and watch the boats sail by as we devoured a scrummy Salcombe Dairy Ice Cream.

The shrimps decided that no longer was the boring bottle green net that mummy had purchased good enough or 'Charlie & Lola' enough for catching butterflies, so two brand spanking new pink nets were purchased and rushed home for little shrimp to get in on the act.. Such a copy cat!

This afternoon we popped out for a girlie treat to a pretty little local cafe. I love cafes like this, pretty courtyards full of interesting ways to display plants..........

Simple but beautiful table decorations............

Artwork displayed for all to admire..............

And milkshakes to enjoy..............

Moustache?!...............What Moustache?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you've enjoyed your day...whatever it may have entailed.

A summers afternoon.............

A lovely summers afternoon in Devon.......

What fun big shrimp had catching butterflies in the garden......

A quick examination of the contents of her net and they were released into the bright blue sky to continue on their journey....

Wembury.......

If you're ever in South Devon you MUST take a little detour to Wembury on the outskirts of the South Hams towards Plymouth.


It's a beautiful little cove owned by the National Trust with a pretty little church and cafe.

We were so proud of this little lady who mastered the art of body boarding at the grand age of 4. Mr Shrimp never thought that he'd be teaching his daughter to body board before riding a bike with no stabilizers!!!