Mystery of the appearing purple ball!

Sometimes one just cannot explain things; stalked by a purple fluffy ball, who would have thought it! And what to do?

.. Gotcha

Home Grown

Now the light and bright season is drawing to an end, I thought I would take the chance to share a little of what my hubby and I dug, raked, planted, grew, nurtured, cooked, ate and generally shared... 'Growing our own' has been a wonderful experience this year, and I think we did quite well.

I forfeited my nails, even with gloves sometimes worn, the earth gets inside and under!

Not only vegetables and fruit but a gorgeous flower display to attract the bees and anything else we hope might eat the greenfly...

The best crop of strawberries ever, oh, and we did wash them after the boys had finished investigating.

Some very hot chillies grown in the conservatory... get the glass of water ready.

How is that for a pepper?!

The first year free of blight - grown in the conservatory, our tomatos thrived and we had over 60 from each of our three plants.

Not a single lettuce bought all Summer ....

The star of our show - peaches, the small tree grown from a stone... produces wonderful fruit - 6 beauties, sliced with clotted cream.

Hubby calls the allotment the 'Green Gym' - all round fitness guaranteed - not bad for £6.00 membership a year!

Some of the harvest ......

First year growing celery - its twice as high now....

Parsnips coming on for winter picking, and hopefully for Christmas!

Anyone for squash soup? I have a superb receipe with coconut milk.

Hundreds of runner beans, we were giving them away in bundles!

Things I love about the seaside

The smell of the salty sea in a thriving little Devon village called Beer (a bit of secret until now), with the livelihood of fishing still very much at its heart.

Wooded, cliff top walks across to the wide bay of Seaton and coffee at 'Chimes' on the end of the quay.

Long stretches of beach invite long walks over the pebbles and picnics.. or even chips and mushy peas..

Deckchairs... in lines... even when it rains an umbrella will suffice to enable the tradition of sitting in a deckchair for a cream tea to take place...

A sheltered, curved bay that always seems to get the sunshine and where a flurry of little boats set regular sail...

Seaweed and beach huts!

Amazingly quaint boats, with this name my favourite!

Only the freshest of catches available...

.. from the Fishermen who set out before the sun is up...

A pebbly beach with so much to see and to watch that dozing over a book isn't a possibility...

Mum and Dad capturing a pleasure from childhood....

Always plenty to laugh about.. and usually each other...

My favourite four people on Branscombe beach, warm pebbles below bottoms, coffee and a chocolate tiffin on the front and then doorstop sandwiches at the Bakery in the village, with a visit to the Forge

A fabulous walk over the cliff tops to reach Branscombe, stunning views and a beating heart...

Cornish tale

Three glorious weeks spent on holiday in Cornwall... filled with day trips to coasts, walks, gardening, plenty of sleep (rare), shopping, especially charity shops where Hubby and I bought super things.. shoes, shirts and books. We loved Kingsand, even on a blustery damp day with the air pungent with the scent of seaweed and salty seas.

Happy visits from dear, fun loving friends...(Mr and Mrs Bun http://abuncandance.blogspot.com/) here treading the superb water feature at the National Trust poperty, Antony House, on a surprisingly sunny day!

Oh, but what a recommendation from Mrs Bun - Constantine Bay... just look at that sea! The sand full of flat curved slate and the wind WILD! Coffee at the Treglos Hotel http://www.tregloshotel.com/ set us up for the walk across the beach, breathless from the whip of the air.

Long walk from Cawsand to Edgecombe Park.. in parts something of a scramble up sodden slopes covered in leaves, but all in all a wonderfully exhilarating walk.

And now to the boys.. they travelled the four hours in the car to Cornwall with barely a peep. They adore Penvillies House, my Aunt's house where we are staying, especially loved galloping, rolling and tumbling back and forth the long stretch of hallway at 5.00am! Above is Bingley who jumped into a full bath and did not learn the lesson (he just loves water)!

And here is Darcy. A vocal little lad with mischief at his heart!

Holidays are clearly for relaxing.... and sleeping, wherever there is a comfy spot, a table cloth perhaps?

... wide armchairs prove good vantage points, but still it can all be a bit tiring at times... yawn!

Darcy, enjoying the garden cushions in the porch... too wet to sit outside.

But life is not all about rest, gotta play too. "Now WHAT is in that shoe? I definitely saw something .. let me get it!"

" And when is dinner? I'll just camp down here and watch for it...."

" I love hugging these sandles, sometimes I just dose off in them!"

A favourite toy (currently, until we destroy it)... £2 from Lidl.. it makes a rattling sound and the tails are a great favourite for biting.