Outing to Babbacombe

Yesterday our sister in law came and we had fish and chips in the garden, and then went to Babbacombe to go along the sea front. It was a perfect spring day with warm sun and a perfectly blue sky which reflected an equally perfectly blue sea.

Here are the pictures I took.

In the first one you can see where the cliff collapsed the winter before last, during those terrible storms we had. A house fell down the cliff.

The sea front path.

The top of the cliff railway.

Going down the cliff railway. You can see the other car coming up.

At the bottom of the cliff.

The little seaside shop. I love these shops by the seaside, full of flip flops and postcards and beach balls and silly ephemeral stuff – all rather tawdry and cheap, but redolent of hot summer days on the beach, and happy lighthearted holidays, and the sound of children’s laughter as they splash about in the sea, and salt and sand and seagulls.

The yacht club. People coming out of their winter hibernation to start doing what they enjoy best – simply “messing about in boats.”

The collapsed cliff. That end of the beach is closed because it is no longer safe.

Paddling in the sea. They should have knotted handkerchiefs on their heads!

The bottom end of the cliff railway. The ramp on the left is for pedestrians to enter the station building – it looks a bit as if the train is going up hill! You can see the track for the train behind the ramp.

Going up the cliff railway.

It always amazes me that plants can grow so profusely out of a completely dry wall.

My hubby being theatrical outside the little theatre!

Gardens by the theatre. There are flowers growing all along the sea front.

We are so privileged to live within striking distance of the sea, and such beautiful views.

Village Fete

I haven't posted for a few days because I've been really busy, and in between, really tired! We had our annual village fete on Saturday, and after a terrible start to the day, the whole thing was a resounding success. My hubby got a phone call at 8.30 a.m. to say that someone had set fire to the marquee, which ended up being totally destroyed, along with all the tables and chairs in it, which had been set up ready. A young man on a motorbike was seen heading away at great speed. Nobody knows who it was yet.

It was a scorching day, but fortunately there was a slight breeze. We had all the usual traditional English fete things like hoopla, coconut shy, dog show... There were also lots of stalls - bric-a-brac (I always find bargains there lol!), book stall, cake stall etc. and the tea was served in the open air since the marquee was gone.

The entertainments this year included the usual children's fancy dress competition, and we had a Scottish pipe band which was great! We also had Elphick the juggler, who we've had several times before. He was trained as an industrial chemist, but now he does juggling full time! He said to me "There's nothing I'd rather be doing." That's so nice to hear, in an age where so many people are unhappy in their jobs.

Some friends from the Brainfog M.E. forum were down in Devon for the weekend, so they joined us for the afternoon - it was such fun spending the time together!

Here are some photos of the day.

This one is of the children enjoying Elphick:

Here are my friends from Brainfog:

and finally, one of the four of us together:

As you can see, we all had a lovely day!

Flowers in our Garden

Here are some photos I took today of a rose and a clematis growing at the front of our house.

This rose has a very delicate scent, and I love the colour variations. So far this is the only flower on it, but hopefully it will produce some more!

Here is the dark purple clematis growing near it:

Hope you like them!