The wheels on the bus............

A few weeks ago during our weekend spent at the cottage, we decided to re-wind time a little and participate in the Kingsbridge Vintage Bus Day.

It was fabulous to hop on board these beautiful old buses dating back to the early 30's and motor around the picturesque coastal villages making up the South Hams. An added bonus was that the whole event was totally free and no pre-booking was required.

2009 marks the centenary of the Great Western Railway's first bus service in the area which first ran on the 1st July 1909 between Kingsbridge and Salcombe. The network grew across the South Hams reaching many small communities along narrow Devon lanes. We all thoroughly enjoyed visualising what it would have been like all those years ago with the buses being the only method of transport to access such remote villages.

There were many open mouths and looks of admiration as we tootled along the lanes in these fine buses! There were also a few close shaves when meeting other buses along the way bringing the traffic to a total stand still whilst some expert reversing skills were put into practise.

We loved motoring along the coast in our old bus looking out to sea....although these old buses without ventilation made for a rather warm journey...look at big shrimp's Rosy cheeks here!!

We stopped off along the way to pick up passengers and for short breaks, which gave us time to have a good look at the bus we were travelling on....

You can just imagine turning back time to 1934 when this bus was built as it arrived at the bus stop to take you on your way...........

These buses were beautiful, I loved all the curves...not like the angular things we have today...these truly were a work of art............

We had some great memories of the day and big shrimp took some pictures of her day to take to 'Show and Tell' the following week!

Before the crowds decend.......

For me, I love nothing more early on a Sunday morning than walking the dogs with my family at our local beach at Thurlestone. This Sunday was no exception and I think it was the prettiest I'd seen Thurleston look for a while. The water was calm, the sun was shining; all this at the end of September!!!

Now that big shrimp is a fully fledged school girl (and yes, I'm still finding it hard to come to terms with), our weekends are even more important. With the pressures of everyday life and a down turn in the economy, it's so easy for the family unit to start to break down a little, with more parents having no choice but to work longer hours in an attempt to pay the bills and we are no exception. Weekends for us before we bought our little cottage often consisted of me 'escaping' for a few hours for a bit of 'me' time usually mooching away in Bath, having spent every waking hour (usually starting around the 5am hour) with the little shrimps. I just needed to see other adults!!! oh and of course the SHOPS!!!We'd then juggle the jobs and the childcare for the remainder of the weekend.

Before I had children of my own, I was delusional in thinking that I'd still be able to get all the cleaning/gardening/shopping done with them around....I laugh at that now, how on earth did I think I'd do that with two very demanding children in tow?! The reality was that shopping would have to be done either at the weekend or at 8pm in the evening, housework at the weekends and gardening...well, whenever I had a spare minute in the evening or at the weekend. The level of tiredness that having two tiny people brought and the fact that for nearly two years between the two of them Mr Shrimp and I only got a maximum of 5 hours a sleep a night, just added to that feeling that the years were passing by in a bit of a blurr. Whoever thinks that when you have children, life is all about watching daytime TV is way off the mark, this has been the hardest (but most rewarding) job I have ever done.

Now that five years later I am coming out other side, with big shrimp at school full time and little shrimp at Pre-school several days a week, I now have the luxury of TIME...Time to do the chores whilst they are away from me and time to do the cleaning and shopping during the hours they're at school, which all these years later, means we have our weekends back....and boy do we appreciate them and make the most of every single second.

Being able to re-group as a family every weekend, somewhere away from our usual home (where as you know, there is always something to do) has been a godsend, a luxury that I am more than aware we are very lucky to have. Board games on a Friday evening (yes we now have a TV there but that doesn't mean it has to go on), have become a tradition, a new favourite being Domino's which is great for big shrimp's introduction into the world of Maths (not a favourite subject of mine).

Most of all we love our walks along the beaches, the dogs are also more than happy with their new life running along the beaches with the girls, dipping their little paws in the ocean before realising they're much to 'precious' to consider getting their coats wet!!!

Big shrimp loves to practice her school words in the sand with her special pen (a stick)! then watch the waves wash them away. What a lovely way to learn to write...writing in the sand with the sound of waves all around her; sure beats a pen and paper accompanied by the sound of Cbeebies in the background! Little shrimp just loves walking along in everyone elses' footprints....

Only a child could venture into the sea at 8am before it has been warmed by the sun! I can see the attraction though, look how clear the water is...

Of course mummy is expected to be on hand immediately with a complete change of clothes x 2, towels and hot chocolate to warm them as soon as a wave catches them unawares and soaks them from the top of their heads to the tips of their toes! How can I stop this though?...sisters....best of friends...sharing these wonderful experiences together.

So for now we will continue to walk along the beach every Sunday, enjoying the sunshine for as long as it lasts, replacing it with bracing walks through the winter months dressed in scarves, hats and wellingtons...........oh lord, I've just remembered how my daughters have the inability to comprehend that if they stand in the sea in their wellington boots that there is a strong possibility that the waves will lap over the top...leaving mummy to deal with wet boots, socks and VERY cold red swollen toes.......Oh the joys of motherhood!!................I wouldn't change it for the world!

Sailing to Salcombe....

Nothing beats a sunny Saturday's sailing to Salcombe...

Salcombe is a lovely little town and there is nothing better that arriving in this busy little town by water instead of by car. Don't get me wrong, I love the little walk from the car park, past the boat sheds and little shops, but arriving by water is wonderful, especially on such a gorgeous sunny day, in mid September.

I love sailing past everyone, out 'playing' on the water.....

....and admiring such wonderful yachts like this. The shrimps nicknamed this particular yacht; 'The Killer Whale'. I can certainly see why. Isn't it beautiful? It reminds me of a wonderful period of my life spent at the Hong Kong Yacht club out on the Gold Coast aboard a 100 ft yacht. On Sunday mornings we would get a whole group of friends together and sail from the Gold Coast to Repulse Bay.....happy days! Believe me if ever you feel the desire to live in Hong Kong as I did in my young, free and single days, the Yacht Club is the place to be....sunshine, beautiful boats but most of all SPACE and the feeling that you can actually breathe; something I struggled with on Hong Kong Island amongst the skyscrapers, noise and fumes!

Look at this Lifeboat from the 1950's, I wonder how many lives it has saved over the years? The stories it could tell.....

I've always loved boats and being near the water I guess that comes of being a Pisces! Hopefully over the next few years we'll get a boat of our own and be able to do this every weekend. The shrimps will learn to sail at Salcombe on a Saturday morning when they are a little older and hopefully we have many happy days ahead of us spend poottling about on the Estuary.....

Sailing in towards the town you are greeted by this ....

Oh my, behind these buildings, I can spend many an hour mooching in Joules, Crew Clothing, Fat Face, White Stuff, Musto, Henry Lloyd, Jack Wills, Sea Salt to name but a few, and all on one tiny road, Fore Street....also all the lovely unique gift shops tempting me to open my purse and BUY!!!

We settled for a Salcombe Ice Cream, oh..now they're good! and then relaxed here at The Ferry Inn watching everyone sail backwards and forwards to the beach across the Estuary at East Portlemouth on the little ferry.

Big Shrimp enjoyed herself no end watching everyone passing us by as we enjoyed coffee and juice..

...but couldn't wait to get back for a little face painting at the quay.............

Now I just want to do it all over again this Saturday!

Hello Cupcake - Part 2......

As promised here's another peek into the fab Cupcake book that I was given recently....

Use white and yellow mini marshmallows to create buttered popcorn clusters.....

I'm not sure that my daughters would find this particular cupcake that appetising!!

Or these for that matter...clever though, isn't it?

This is a novel idea, White chocolate as Parmesan cheese and hazelnut chocolates as the meatballs, all topped off with strawberry sauce............

Look at the detail in this Bagel cupcake............

And these cats are happy dining on white chocolate fishbones.....

For the pony mad little girl..........

Or dog lover...

Walkies?.....................

A scene straight out of Jaws; The Cupcake Returns......

What a great birthday cake 'Old Swampy' would make.........

What would you like to be when you grow up?

A slumber party essential to ease the party into dreamland.....

Mama owl and her baby hooters......

Cupcake pumpkin patch and creepie crawlies........what a great idea for Halloween.............

Edible ornaments.............

I don't think I'll be able to resist having a go at these wonderful Nutcrackers........

Frosting the Snowman....

I hope you've enjoyed the pictures, If you're as keen on making cupcakes as I am, then this lovely book is an absolute must.

Hello Cupcake...........

When I started this blog I promised myself that it would be a weblog of our family times together, for us to record our time together in our new home in Devon and to look back on every now and again and say; "Gosh look how lovely the weather was then"..."Look how young they looked"........."Oh, wasn't that the best ever day"............................................

As I explained at the end of my old blog, for those of you that knew it, this blog I'm sure, could appear quite self indulgent with picture after picture of my family, but that is what it is for, so I apologise if my posts are sometimes a little repetitive.

I never intended for this blog to really be read by others, but it's lovely to see that some of you have chosen to follow my life, it somehow makes the hours and hours spent uploading photos worth it. If it gives anyone ideas for day trips, holidays etc, etc, then that's all good, and if you live outside the UK as I know a couple of you do then it shows you just how beautiful this country can be and prove it's not all grey and rainy days!!!

Sometimes though as a blogger you see something, buy something or are given a lovely gift and you just know that fellow bloggers would love it to don't you? You just want to share. So as well as my family journal every now and again I like to throw a new purchase (or two) in to show you, after all I am a semi-professional shopper!!

A few weeks back, my kind mother presented me with this wonderful book and I just HAD to share it with you, but as time is short today and these pictures are taking an age to upload I shall show you a few today and a few tomorrow. I'm sure you'll love it as much as I do!! I LOVE making cupcakes, I love eating cupcakes but I certainly don't love the inches they have added to my waistline, so I shall take my time working through the book or I may be the size of a house by Christmas!!!!!!!!!

For anyone that knows (or is) a keen gardener this would be worth a go....It would also be great for a Garden Party.

A close encounter of the cupcake kind!!

The Big Top.....................Looks easy, maybe I'll make two!!!

Turn all those funny family quirks into quirky family cupcakes..................

The perfect bring-along for a baby shower or for a new mother.................

Score a strike when you serve these at a bowling party.........

For the more traditional amongst you.....

A different idea for an Easter cake......The Easter Bunny jumping down a rabbit hole.

Something for a teenage party perhaps???

My favourite....Sunflowers with Oreo centres...Mmmm.

And how cute are these fellows?...........

Almost as cute as these..........

I hope some of these have given you a few ideas, I just had to share! More to follow tomorrow.

Have a lovely day.