No Place Like Home.....but where is it?

Departing London's Heathrow Airport ~ goodbye my lovely homeland.

Between leaving England Sunday morning and arriving in the USA Sunday afternoon...............
...........there were two blissful weeks among acres of green and gold............

...........a huge ocean and hidden bays of blue water.

There were stunning countryscapes dressed for Spring, decorated by a million newborn babes.

I've captured England's "green and pleasant land" especially for you................one thousand six hundred images!! Be patient, I'm jet lagged.

The East Coast came into view ~ I am home again.

Meadfoot Morning

Another early morning walk along the beach below the

house where I'm staying.

Amazing flowers, some I've never seen before, especially that very tall one!



Still there, my favorite bench to view the bay.

Our schedule here has been extremely hectic, but in a good way. We've been to so many wonderful places and I will definitely have a lot of photos to share with you when I return.

Dartmoor Life

Just too much to be seeing and enjoying at one time! Riding across Devon in a mini-bus with ten others on daily expeditions, is raucous, hilarious, and often downright crazy. We all get along great though and are seeing the Westcountry in her bright green Spring glory.

Must have aaahhed over thousands of newborn lambs............the rolling hills are covered with them........................

................a stop at a miniature horse farm included a falconry display with this wise owl also.

The rooster, as usual, strutted his stuff and his beautiful colors.

In the 'nursery' several day old foals snuggled close to their mothers.

We are so busy but I'll try to post again soon. Off shortly on another day trip - luckily the weather is glorious.

Early Morning Glories

My first early morning hike had me creeping from the sleeping house, along a winding garden path up into the surrounding wooded hillside. The bay was a silver shimmer in the watery light of dawn. Yesterday the group staying at The Dell grew to eight ~ tonight we will be eleven. The quintessential British house party comprising of Brits, Americans and a Canadian. A lovely group who are 'mucking in' to make each day fun altho' full of kitchen messes, inabilities to figure out the idiosyncrasies of English washers and dryers, and blowing a fuse causing the chandeliers to die................requiring a visit from a guy with a ladder and a Cockney accent.

As I climbed upward through swathes of bluebells, wild onion with their white blooms, pink campions, and banks of trailing ivy, rabbits ran ahead and huge black crows cawed in the tall trees.

There were several old benches along the trail, not particularly comfortable for resting on, but the mossy seats and iron frames made great pics!

Arriving a little breathless at the top of the cliff, I looked back and could see the water far below glinting through huge chestnut trees. This sign caught my eye........yes, it definitely was very private, and very beautiful!

The road along the top had some amazing properties including a huge home built as a replica of a castle. Crenelated turrets, a huge portcullis entry gate topped with a Tudor rose, and iron railings decorated with fleurs de lys ~ perhaps the combined home of Brits and French!!!

In England, flowers pop up everywhere, even peeking through gaps in walls.

This walk was exhilarating ~ today I was to lead some of the group on this magical trek however heavy rain this morning had us hanging out in the conservatory.

Safe Harbour

Arrived safely and am settled in the lovely house above the bay named The Dell. It has secret gardens, flowering shrubs I've never seen before, and perhaps a ghost!This is the view from our bedroom window. This morning, our first, we awoke to rain. The sea was gray but the shrimp boats were already casting nets by 8 AM. Later the sun broke through and the day was cool and fair. The Dell is lovely. A listed Regency house full of antique furniture, chandeliers, embroidered tapestries, bronze statuary, Aubusson rugs...........also modern marble tiled showers with plentiful hot water and a Jacuzzi tub. The Victorian conservatory, dripping with pink and orange bougainvillea, is decorated with an amazing group of ancient birdcages. Slate terraces with urns beckon and entice you to little hidden pathways leading down to the beach and up to the coastal walk.

I'll post again soon.......................about thatched cottages, primroses and Devonshire cream teas!

Cheerio.............

Almost time to go. The trip across the pond tomorrow night will take me to the green, green grass of home once again. Thank you so much for all your recent good wishes for my trip, you were all so kind to take time to comment so generously. I've been fighting Spring allergies big time this week, feeling lousy, croaky voice from such a sore throat, painful to swallow, lethargic, had to limit computer time as I've really been dragging.............and there's still much to do before I fly away!

I hope to keep in touch while away so check in during the next two weeks ~ hopefully I'll manage a post or two and show you what's happening in Devon, England's beautiful Southwest county on the English Channel.

Time at Home

The last week to ready ourselves for the trip is here. We sat out on the porch in the hot sunshine this weekend, braving the heavy pollen falling silently like yellow dust. Looking skyward, the big jets flew through the Carolina blue above, heading to unknown destinations.
Going home...............I love those words. I've crossed the pond so many times I've lost count. Sometimes the trip was for sad reasons. Illness and death of loved ones, hard at any time or distance, becomes a dark journey when the night is black and endless. Fortunately most trips are happy. The anticipation of the pleasant days ahead fills your heart as you set your watch to a new time. Dawn brings views of the ocean still churning far below. The sky at that height presents an awesome sunrise, colors are intense for a short time and one feels the promise of a wonderful day. On descent, the watery light of morning rips through the soggy gray, and far below, the coastline appears, the patchwork fields unfolding on the edges of the cliffs, the familiar English hedgerows, the pale glow of street lights come up to meet you.
You are home.

The Pull of the Sea

Having surfaced from what feels like three weeks of total immersion in Daphne du Maurier's haunting story of REBECCA ~ the book, the original Hitchcock movie and the BBC mini-series ~ I almost feel the call of Manderley, that very special house in the novel.

I will soon be on my way home to southwest England. You may already know that I hail from Devon, the county next to Cornwall where many of du Maurier's books, including Rebecca, were set, and where she lived for much of her life.

Thoughts of being home by the sea where I grew up bring much joy. There are also tinges of sadness as I no longer have my parents and sibling there, but do have cousins and many great friends. My home town has changed a lot from when I was a child. British seaside resorts have struggled to survive since travel to the Continent became easy and cheap.......and the European beaches often enjoy a warmer Summer climate with guaranteed sunshine!

This house is not Manderley in Rebecca's story, it is however an old, beautiful, large house overlooking the bay..................and it's where DH and I will be staying with some wonderful friends.

Just a short walk from the house brings one to this small park with a view of Thatcher Rock , Tor Bay, and the English Channel beyond.

Below the house, looking over the cliff, one has the feeling of the strength of the sea as the water crashes around the rocks...........similar to the Cornish coast viewed beyond the windows of Manderley.

One of my favorite places to sit and enjoy just the feeling of 'being home'. This bench has been here so many years.....................and had better still be there when I take my first morning walk on April 27th!!! Hopefully I'll have new photos to show ~ these I took during my stay in 2007.

April Promises Fulfilled

The European Snowball - viburnam opulus - also called the Guelder Rose, has come into its own this Spring. Planted two years ago as a tiny shrub, it's now eight feet tall, loaded with 'snowballs' just turning from pale green to creamy white. Two lower branches rooted themselves into the ground - these I dug up and replanted in other areas of the garden.

A mid-morning walk through the garden brings new surprises around each bend - blooms are putting on quite a show. All these images were caught in the garden during the past few days.

Azaleas are almost at peak.

Drifts of bright white Sweet Alyssum light up the dark corners like late snow.

Solomon's Seal...........white bells dangling.....

...................Spanish and English Bluebells jingling.

'Lovey dovey' doves kissing, oblivious to Hostas pushing upward through the warming ground around them.

I have a few Iris plants and one is showing an early bud.

Hope you enjoyed this walk in the garden.

"Soon o'er their heads blithe April airs shall sing;
A thousand wildflowers round them shall unfold;
The green buds glisten in the dews of Spring,
And all be vernal rapture as of old." J. Keble

Wisteria Wizardry

Six years ago a dear friend died and I inherited a little green plastic pot of wisteria, tossed aside in her back garden. Struggling in its scramble up a bamboo stake, the wiry stems with a few yellowed leaves didn't look too promising. I brought it home and it sat in that pot for a year. I then decided to plant it in the ground and tied its tender stems in to a metal obelisk. It was happy there and started to thrive. Three years ago we constructed a cedar arbor next to the plant. As it grew I tied the now quite sturdy stems to the wood. Last Summer it crawled across the top winding its stems around as if holding on for dear life. Leaves were pretty, green and healthy, but that's all, no flowers.

Recently, while chatting with a lady gardener I was introduced to, I mentioned how I'd given up expecting flowers on my wisteria. She told me it would take seven years for the plant to bloom!

First ever blooms ~ April 11, 2009

Looking out through the greening trees and blossoming azaleas a couple of days ago, I noticed the leaves of the wisteria opening on the arbor, and there on one end, dangled two violet-purple flower racemes..........and in just six short years!!! Patience is often a requirement when gardening ~ miracles sometimes take a long time. Memories of special friendships last forever in extraordinary ways.

If you want to know some interesting facts about wisteria, including the location and amazing size of the world's largest wisteria vine, go here.

Shopping with Sisters

Such a fun time...................shopping on a Saturday with lovely sisters. Not my sisters, unfortunately I was not blessed with any, but my wonderful friend Vanessa at Vanilla Lavender and her beautiful sister Telma who is visiting from their home in Brazil. Little Luna, Vanessa's sweet daughter came along too and, after coffee and chocolate biscuits (Luna ate most, ha! ha!) at my house, we all headed over to SuzAnna's for some serious treasure hunting.

We also met up with Deborah of Pictures, Pots & Pens - she was ready for a break after a week of taking care of her adorable grandsons!

Hard to believe lovely Telma had just arrived in the USA - her first visit - at 11 PM the previous night and the sisters had been up chatting until 2 AM!

As always, lots of fabulous stuff at this wonderful shop. Owners Susie and Jenny, along with their helpers Linda and Gail, have been busy redecorating, color co-ordinating, organizing, you name it.....................everything looked ready to be snapped up and taken to someone's home.

Isn't it great to have warmer weather to go antiquing?

Do you venture out early on the weekends to hit your neighborhood yard/garage sales?

Do you ever take off on an antiquing road trip with your girl (or boy) friends?

I think during this shift in the economy, buying second hand makes so much sense.
Happy hunting.