With bird feeders in the trees, we get a lot of birds visiting us – one of our favorites is a pair of woodpeckers who nest in the woods by the river and can often be heard making a racket knocking on the trees!

With dippers in the Teign Valley, king fishers, woodpeckers, lots of blue tits and nuthatchs, this is a lovely place to sit and admire these colourful active birds. You’d never believe that you are only 7 miles from Exeter….

Who's making all that noise!!

Anyone for hot tar?

On Nov 5th we all went to watch the incredible sight of boys and girls as young as 7 running through the streets with flaming barrels of tar on their backs!! Using gloves, they run in teams sharing the barrel until it falls apart…

It takes real guts to do this when the heat from the barrels was apparent to the crowd!!

The tar barrels attract big crowds – it starts at 4pm and goes on until midnight!! A fun fair, huge bonfire complete with Guy Fawkes and lots of good value food on offer including a new fishmonger selling dressed crab in little pots – not all burgers, then!!

View towards Dartmoor from our garden

It’s not much like Tobago but it’s still really beautiful! After a fabulous 2 week holiday loafing in the sunshine (our only responsibility being the supplies of gin, limes and tonic….)  we have returned to find Autumn has arrived!! Devon is cloaked in gold, red and yellow…. simply beautiful.

The famous stepping stones over the River Teign!

If you’re brave, it’s a hop and a skip into National Trust woodlands and up onto Dartmoor for a bracing walk onto Heltor Tor with amazing views across Dartmoor and towards the coast.

It's Renee in the Teign Valley

Watch out, bootnecks dressed as Renee in the Devon countryside – it’s extraordinary what you can find in Devon!!

Last Weekend the Bridford Inn in the Teign Valley hosted another excellent Vintage Tractor Rally combining the attraction with a Beer Festival – it’s a winning twinning in my view.

Anyway, I took ‘Before’ and ‘After’ my two old trusted and rusted T20′s out for a spin down to the event and they both enjoyed the Weekend gossiping with other old wrecks on the park!!

‘Before’ and ‘After’

Dressing, Right Dress!!

What a lot of fun we had……….busy w/e so didn’t manage to scupper as many ales as we would have wished…………but there’s always next years show to look forward to. On On

Max Richards in the doorway of his magnificent barn adjoining his house at Mill Barn and overlooking the Famous Dunsford Stepping Stones awash with winter flood waters

My neighbours Max and Jacqui Richards and their 2 adorable children hosted a fine Christmas drinks party just before the cold weather and about 30 of us enjoyed a good seasonal ‘gossip’ standing in their barn christened as a party venue for the first time around their decorated tree, roaring chimenea throwing off loads of smoke and moral boosting heat occasionally, mince pies galore and more importantly terrific mulled wine and the best mulled cider I’d ever had, whilst children various ran about in the safe confines of their lovely garden.

It was a delightful way to spend 2 hours on a winters afternoon………thank you both.