A day out to Sticklepath, Okehampton and Meldon Resevoir.

This week on our day out  we first went to Sticklpath. Joan and I  had both been there before - but many years ago. 
I wanted to see the Finch Foundry, which was the last working water - powered forge in England.
It is now owned by the National Trust, and is very well kept and well presented to visitors. It was a pleasant stop - and Charlie loved the walk by the nearbye river.

 

The Finch Foundry at Sticklepath.

 

An inside view of the working area. I don't think it's up to todays health and safety standards!

 

A walk by the river. Charlie loved it!

 

Our next stop was Okehampton. We parked by Waitrose, which is next to the Lidl store. Very busy everywhere! We had a look around the shops, and our next stop was to be the Castle - but we couldn't find it! I expected it to be at the top of the hill (where Castles are usually) but we have since learned that it is on the left just as you are leaving Okehampton going towards Meldon. I think we will find it now on our next visit!

 

Walkway with shops on the way to main road. Very clean and welcoming!

 

The White Hart in Okehampton.   A very well known landmark. Is Wetherspoons going to buy it? 

 

 

Next stop Meldon Reservoir. A large car park, with toilet facilities, Plenty of picnic areas, and a very pleasant place for walks.

 

This moorland pony looks well! 

 

A  view of Meldon Resevoir. A very pleasant location, and a recommended place to go for a walk and relax.

 

 

A view down the Meldon valley taken from the dam. You can have a nice walk along the river here.

 

Have a nice day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos of some Birds taken from our kitchen window.

A dull morning. We have had some rain, and the light is poor - but never the less, there has been several birds feeding from the bird table this morning and I can't resist getting the camera ready for some action shots!. All the photos were taken through glass, and I do think this detracts the quality of the resultant photos.

 
The Greater Spotted Woodpecker has become a more frequent visitor in our gardens recently. The male has the red patch on the back of it's head, and also red under it's tail.




 
Not a good shot of a Collared Dove - but I like to see this bird.  It is easily identified by its thin black half-collar.

                             
                                       A better Photo!

 
This cock pheasant often balances on an apple, but still continues eating.

A female Chaffinch. They are less colourful than the male species.

A pair of Greenfinches. Again, the female bird is less colourful than the male.

A glossy feathered Blackbird. The male bird is easily recognised by its all black body, and a yellow beak and eye ring. The males
sing superbly, especially from high perches in the mornings and at dusk.

Is this a juvenile Robin or a Dunnock. I have asked for advice. Does any one know!

A regular visitor now.  This Nuthatch especially likes sunflower seeds.

Our day out to Teignmouth, Torquay and Cockermouth.

The weather was kinder to us this week. Joan, Charlie and I had to go to Teignmouth first to pay for our Coach trip to the Isle of Man in May. When that little job was completed, at the Majestic Tour office, we walked through the Town towards the sea. It was quite busy, indicating that  the holiday season has started!

             Nice to see people sat outside the cafes.

A pleasant seating area at Teignmouth

Teignmouth sea front received a lot of damage from the rough sea storms that we have had recently. Most of the capping to the brick raised flower beds were being replaced, and nearly all of the flowering plants had been destroyed. However it hasn't stopped the visitors coming to the resort.

                 On going work to the sea front raised flower beds.

                          The sea gulls are almost tame!

                                 Teignmouth Pier and beach.

A nice view across the Teign Estuary to Shaldon.

We drove on to Torquay. Plenty of parking spaces now on the main road. But - £1.50 an hour. We  stopped near the Theatre, and  booked seats for a show coming in May  -  Dreamboats and Petticoats. I will look forward to that!  Torquay was also busy with plenty of  people enjoying the pleasant weather. What a difference the weather makes to our lives!

 

 

 The flower beds are a credit to Torquay. Really lovely! We stopped for a coffee at the café by the Wheel. Very nice, and Charlie was able to sit outside with us as well! The wheel is kept in good condition. Pristine paint work, and well presented all round.  I intend to go on it on my next visit.  £4.00 for pensioners.

                                   Torquay Harbour.

The parking hour was up - so the next planned stop was to be Cockermouth. Well - we drove slowly along the one way only road. I was expecting to arrive at a square or an area with some character, and showing something of interest, but next thing we were on the main road back to Torquay! There must be something to see in Cockermouth, but we unfortunately missed it! We will try again one day.

Another nice day out. Lovely weather, and already looking forward to next weeks trip!

Have a nice day.

 

A stroll around my Neighbours pleasant natural, wooded garden.

My Neighbour very kindly gave me permission to walk around his wooded garden and take some photographs. It was a nice day. A blue sky, and no breeze which enabled good reflections on the water. I was hoping to have photographed some different birds, than the ones I get at home.  However - I had  no luck there, but I did get some nice landscapes shots.

                                                   How nice to have your own lake!

                      A little stream running through the garden which made quite a nice photo.

                                        The garden has over 30 varieties of Camellias.

 

                   I wish I had prepared the camera for this shot! A little blurred, but I like it!

                                                Very peaceful!   Lovely reflections.

A poem called 'The Train of Life'

The Train of Life.


Some folks ride the train of life, 
Looking out the rear,
Watching miles of life roll by,
And marking every year.

They sit in sad remembrance,
Of wasted days gone by,
And curse their life for what it was,
And hang their head and cry.

But I don't concern myself with that,
I took a different vent,
I look forward to what life holds,
And not what has been spent.

So strap me to the engine,
As securely as I can be,
I want to be out on the front,
To see what I can see.

 I want to feel the winds of change,
Blowing in my face,
I want to see what life unfolds,
As I move from place to place.

I want to see what's coming up,
Not looking at the past,
Life's too short for yesterdays,
It moves along too fast.

So, if the ride gets bumpy,
While you are looking back,
Go up front, and you may find,
Your life has jumped the track.

It's alright to remember,
That's part of history,
But it's up front where it's happening,
There's so much mystery.

The enjoyment of living,
Is not where we have been,
It's looking ever forward,
To another year and ten!

It's searching all the byways,
Never should you refrain,
For if you want to live your life,
You gotta Drive the train!

Author Unknown

I like this poem! 

Read it again, it has a lot of meaning.

Our Thursday day out - to Otterton Mill, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth and Beer.

What an unfortunate day to choose for our day out!  It rained all day, and the visibility for sight seeing and for taking photographs was very poor. Never the less, we still had an enjoyable day.

Our first stop was Otterton Mill. When we first arrived, even though it was raining, we took Charlie for his walk, along the river Otter towards Budleigh Salterton. On a nice sunny day I can imagine this would be a lovely walk. On Thursday however , the only sign of wildlife that we saw was one cock pheasant.  After walking for about half a mile, we returned to the Mill for a cup of coffee.
The café was packed - mostly with ramblers I think!

 Otterton Mill  -  Not an attractive building from the road -  but inside it offers a nice cup of coffee, and some lovely carrot cake!

                                        The back of Otterton Mill where plants are for sale.

Our next intended stop was to be Sidmouth, but we turned left by mistake when leaving the Mill, and hence our next brief stop was at Budleigh Salterton!  Retracing our route, we returned to Otterton, and carried on to Sidmouth via Penn Hill.
The views towards Sidmouth must be quite spectacular on a clear bright day. Although it was still raining, I did stop the car, and took our first viewing.

                                            Sidmouth on a misty day.

                                                          A deserted Simouth Beach

Plenty of shops to look at in Sidmouth.  I think that every other shop was a Charity shop. There certainly is a lot of them!
We took the main road out of Sidmouth, then turned right to Branscombe and Beer. The weather was still not good enough to encourage us to take a walk around Beer, but it did appear to be a very nice, clean place - and we definitely intend to return on a nice day!

                 Looking down at Beer beach on a dull day!   No swimmers or sunbathers today!

    The Anchor Inn, and a tidy row of houses overlooking the sea.   A very nice place to live!

  This little stream of water runs all the way down the main street into Beer. I wonder if it caused any  flooding recently!

The mileage for our trip from Exeter was just over 60 miles. We wish that the weather had been kinder to us - but never the less - it was another nice trip around the Devon sea and countryside.

We are fools whether we dance or not - so we might as well dance!

One of  the greatest lessons in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes!

A farmers daily responsibility for his calves.

I was interested to watch our neighbouring farmer feed his young herd of calves early in the morning.
I climbed over the gate into their field at 8.15am. Immediately I was surrounded by 87 young, mostly Frisian calves. They were waiting for their milk and calve nuts to arrive. I must have just given them false hope that it had come early!

                                                     Hungry calves - up close!

After waiting on a pile of logs, out the way of the calves for a few minutes, the Land rover and Farmer arrived with the milk and nuts.

 Some of the calves had wandered away from the feeding area on to some  good early grass in the joining field. They had to be called, and soon all arrived for breakfast!

I enjoyed being amongst the calves, and watching today's farming methods at close quarters, so to speak.  Again I make the comment  'how times have changed'   When I was farming with my Father, we were very proud to be milking about 20 cows.  Now a days the herd is more likely to be 200 or 300 cows!

Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.

I keep this quote in mind, as I am tending to forget things.

My memories not what it was. I keep forgetting things.  It's like as though I've got Eisenhower's.

Have a nice day!