Across the Bay

Sadly, three friends lost their fathers within the past week and although my own dad passed away in 1976, it started me thinking about him and how much I always enjoy visiting his hometown when I'm on a trip home. After 'crossing the pond' and getting settled in my hometown, Torquay, a trip across Tor Bay to the busy fishing port of Brixham where my dad grew up is always on the agenda.

This map below shows Tor Bay on the south coast of the county of Devon - the open water beyond is the English Channel looking directly toward France. When you look out from the shore you'll think you're on the Mediterranean. Sparkling blue waters warmed by the Gulf Stream, palm trees and a mild climate year round, grace a magnificent coastline.

Best way on a sunny day is to take the ferry across the bay. This is a 30 minute windy ride with scenic views of seaside communities, coves and beaches, with farmland rolling down to the red sandstone cliff edges. Below is Torquay harbour looking back toward the town's seven hills populated mostly by hotels.

Once out on the open water you will see people enjoying the Bay in yachts - sailing conditions are ideal for much of the year and many international and championship races are held here. These pictures were all taken in October of last year - a brisk wind and choppy sea, quite exhilarating.

Arriving in Brixham Harbour, small hotels, B & B's, and the homes of local fishermen climb up the hillsides.


In their prime, Brixham's fleet of fishing trawlers were admired throughout Europe. The skills of trawling were perfected at Brixham. Today some of the original impressive heritage sailing vessels have been restored and can be seen out on the Bay or moored alongside in the harbour. During WWII many trawlers were requisitioned for the evacuation of the British Forces from France, and in 1944 the harbour was used by the US Army for embarking prior to the invasion of Normandy.

Nobody visits Brixham without trying the local seafood offerings. Right on the harbour are a number of stalls selling fresh seafood such as whelks, mussels, cockles, prawns and crabs. We asked our ferry captain where we could get the best fresh crab sandwich and he steered us to 'Jenny's'......................it was certainly a great choice. Sitting at outside tables on the harbour edge, the friendly Jenny herself was feeding us in no time, serving her mouthwatering fare on pretty blue patterned china, no Styrofoam plates here - a woman after my own heart!

The whole grain bread held the freshest, sweetest crab ever, and the garnish of cucumber and fresh steamed prawns made for waterside dining at its best.

Crab pots and the bow of an old fishing boat.

Hope you enjoyed joining me on this Devonshire trip. Next post, before leaving this quaint town, I'll treat you to a few more historic facts and views around Brixham.

A Great Sentimental Idea

Theresa at Take A Sentimental Journey is busy planning a lovely Mommie Tribute to be held on her blog May 6. This is a great idea.........you can post a special treasured picture and story about your mother, grandmother, guardian etc. I have already sent off a picture of a younger, slimmer, different hair color me, along with my late dear mum, taken when she came across the pond on one of her eagerly anticipated visits to the USA some 20 years ago!

So hurry over to meet Theresa if you haven't done so yet. She has listed the details of the tribute. Her blog is quite new, she is delightful, and waiting to make new friends to share the ups and downs of life........and it seems most are ups, yippee.........via her blog.

A tribute close to Mother's Day will be really nice - hopefully many of you will participate and make Theresa's efforts worthwhile. I'll be looking for you!!

The Price of Pollen

"Rose" by Anahata Joy Katkin

Today my throat feels like this, full of bits and pieces, iron shavings, burning embers........and I definitely don't love who I am! I had no voice this morning but as it's gradually croaked back to almost normal this evening I think it was the pollen, not a cold or bug. Living in the South, the visual loveliness of Spring blossoms makes one pay the price, and the beauty is not skin deep, it creeps down your throat, up your nose and plays with your head.

The good news is that Google and Picasa have decided to allow me to continue to upload images to my blog............today my paid for in March storage appeared in my account at long last! I guess they did read my e-mails full of whines and whinges. Perhaps my words "elderly lady, non techie" etc. struck a chord within one of those smart young technical guys or gals - thanks so much!

Joys of Gardening - Tech. Problem

Rain, rain, beautiful rain...................at long last we've been getting quite a lot around here, heavy soakings of a couple of inches the past couple of days. This now means mow, rake, trim, plant, all those garden chores that just required water from the heavens in order to grow something..................and then it grows some more!

This bed with periwinkle and ivy is my first battleground as my birdbath is about to be hidden, those two vines definitely grow several inches a day! The guy at the garden center warned me many years ago, he used that dreaded word 'invasive', but of course I was stubborn and said I'd keep them in check - famous last words.

(Click on pic below to see the male Towhee visiting the angel).

Below are the implements of torture for an aging gardener such as me - rakes! Last week I injured my right shoulder rotator cuff overdoing it with these, ouch!

So, instead of working in the garden daily as is necessary this time of year, I enjoyed the last of the azalea blooms and bluebells.......................

...............and loved gazing at these new Iris I planted which, for some reason, were also loved by the squirrels who have bitten off several buds.....................pesky devils!

Stay limber all you gardeners - remember to warm up your muscles prior to digging and raking. Wouldn't you know it, adding insult to injury, here in the Southeast the dreaded mosquitoes are appearing already and at the weekend I got my first bites of the season. I'll be stocking up on cans of OFF and Benadryl sprays any day now.....................and I'll be heading for my screened gazebo every chance I get.

Hope you had a great weekend - many thanks for all the generous comments left this past week, they mean a lot to me.

A note about the technical problem I'm experiencing with Blogger - I'd really appreciate any help you might be able to give me if you have had this same problem. I cannot load anymore photos to my blog even though I purchased 10GB of extra storage ($20) in March when told I was running low - although I found this hard to believe as one is supposed to be able to upload about 4,000 images free! You may know that your images are stored by PICASA for use on your GOOGLE Blogger account. Apparently my purchased storage has never been recognized at PICASA and now they refuse to allow anymore pics on my blog - how frustrating is this!!!!!!!

I'm trying to work this out with GOOGLE but haven't been able to get far yet - will let you know the outcome - meanwhile I may not be able to post pics. Has anyone out there had this problem - please let me know, thanks so much.

Liberty For All

Took a road trip through North Carolina's countryside last Friday - talked dh into going to Liberty with me where the twice yearly Antiques Festival is held on rolling farmland just outside the quaint little town. Luckily the weather was fabulous - periods of blazing sun and then clouds which helped keep the temps. around 80. We wore hats but still ended up quite sunburned.

There were supposedly over 300 dealers from 25 states but I was not overly thrilled with the merchandise Genuine antiques and collectibles, no crafts - but mostly Americana, very few European items. I guess I had set my hopes too high and now know that the kind of things I really want to find are going to be in France at the brocantes..........................I just have to get over there with a big empty suitcase, SOON!!!

Above - some old heavy iron street signs from England.

Same dealer had a nice selection of English mixing bowls (but I already have two) and loads of wicker encased Demijohn wine bottles.

Cricket balls - nice old dish of some mystery metal.

The dealer here had some good linens and old leather beauty cases.
The table cloths were very nice and prices reasonable.

I purchased just two linen pieces - the small pillow case with nice hand cut work $8.50, and the really gorgeous hand embroidered/cut work small tray cloth from Madeira, only $5.00!

The heavy tarnished silver plated tray with nice handles and small feet, was marked $10.00, I got it for $8.00. I will use this on the front porch with white teacups and old pale green damask serviettes............don't forget, afternoon tea at 4 o'clock, I'll be looking for you.

So, other than some sheet music, this was the extent of my treasure hunting and buying at the Liberty Festival.

Below is the one that got away - lovely candelabra loaded with heavy crystals, probably from the thirties - priced at $250.00, offered at $198.00 - a pained expression crossed dh's sunburned cheeks. Thanks but no thanks, too pricey and don't have anywhere to put it anyway!

Nice little trip - pretty countryside - light traffic - day's supply of natural vitamin D.

Coming Home to Roost

I just had to share this with you................. think you'll agree it was quite astonishing.

A week after the four baby wrens toddled off into the far reaches of the garden, they came back to spend a night on the front porch where they started out!

Thursday evening, we spent a few hours at a local Irish pub with a friend - the guys downed Guinness while I stuck with a nice red wine - we devoured authentic 'fish 'n chips' - and the really nice Irish owner sent us Grand Marniers to finish off the fun night. On arriving home, we entered the house somewhat noisily, slamming car doors, storm door, porch lights blazing - all the things we didn't do while the wrens were still in the nest by the front door. I immediately went to the dining room window to close the blinds and almost fell over when I saw this sight up in the corner of the porch ceiling...............................the four baby wrens snuggled up together, obviously sleeping very soundly. This is the same corner the mother wren slept in from last September until she built the nest in March - she was there almost every night. I'm surmising that she brought the babies here on Thursday for some reason, somehow getting them all to fly up there and hunker down for the night in her familiar corner.

This amazing sight required resetting the alarm clock for 6:00 AM in hopes I could see what happened at daybreak. So with my coffee and camera I sat by the window waiting. At 6:20 AM I heard a parent calling, the little birds started stirring and stretching. By then I was waking dh and we stood there watching as number 1, 2 and 3, gingerly doddered along the ledge, then flew out towards where mom was calling. Number 4 was less brave, it wasn't sure where or how to leave. It hopped and slipped along the ledge to the far end, returned to the corner, then flew off in the opposite direction..................we were hoping it would find its family in time for breakfast.

(The photos are a little blurry as they were taken through the window before the sun was up).

I must add that I was thrilled 'my babies' made a return visit and, once again, marvelled at the wonders of Nature.

Today I saw the entire family together in the back garden and it was obvious that flying lessons were the order of the day. The parents would fly a short distance to a shrub, a metal obelisk or the back fence, the four (yes still all four thank goodness) babies would follow all chirping noisily. Below is either mom or dad giving orders.

If you look closely you can see one baby on the lower bar of the obelisk.

A closer look below and another baby is perched on the wooden trellis below the moon.

Later in the afternoon they were closer to the house on my back deck - didn't have time to grab the camera though. It's just so wonderful knowing they are staying in our garden and are doing so well.

Yesterday...........

It was a perfect afternoon and, on arriving home from a dental appointment................
.............I grabbed a pair of old shorts and a ball cap (faded hair color days are here!). I sat on my front steps, stretched out my pale legs and thought I should start using some lotion like this as I no longer sunbathe! Breathing in fresh green air, admiring the clematis blooms, and listening to the music of the water dancing in the fountain, with the sun warm and kind on the perfect Spring day.

Nothing brings more joy than being surrounded by Nature's beauty.

Edited: I have some surprising/amazing news about the baby wrens - will post on this later!!