Home Sweet Home

How many times have I taken you home with me since I started blogging?  No matter, it seems you enjoy our trips, so here we go again!
I love taking you along via my photos and stories.........sharing the lovely part of England I call home, way down south in the county of Devon. Mid-May brought sunshine and clouds, thankfully no rain, and of course my favorite temperatures in the 60's - home sweet home.

The inner harbor - Torquay

My town, Torquay, known as The Queen of the English Riviera, was once the premier seaside resort in the UK.  Sadly, like most places where government has spent money unwisely, and those who govern are not always honest and forward thinking, the glow of prosperity has faded somewhat.  However, there is no place like home - we all agree with that no matter where it may be - so here in these next few posts I'll share the lovely bits!

Looking across the bay where the farmland rolls down to the sea.

I love this about Devon - fields gently curve toward the cliff tops, below the sea sparkles clean and bright.  Yes, more sheep, Devon being a rural county has plenty too - they're not all up north in the Lake District!

At Torquay harbor, crab pots await the fishermen. To the left of the white pole, in the distance, is the building where I worked at my very first job, so long ago!

Each morning I watched from the window as this fisherman raised his crab pots........

..........then chugged away to harbor where he would sell his catch to local restaurants.  Yum, a fresh Tor Bay crab sandwich is hard to beat.

The beautiful Regency era crescent where we rent this flat when in town. (Photo taken from the ferry as we crossed the bay late afternoon). It sits above Meadfoot Beach looking directly across the bay to the English Channel and France.

It's definitely a little home away from home - comfy, clean, and beautifully decorated......with that amazing view from four huge windows.

The view toward Thatcher Rock when I stepped out on the small balcony.

Beach huts at Meadfoot Beach........

.......the beach at low tide - a little cafe stands next to the beach huts.  This beach has not changed since my childhood days, thank goodness.  Just a simple beach, a little off the beaten tourist track, only a minute from the flat.  Swimming, snorkeling, when the water warms up around July, and sea bird watching - no huge crowds, no penny arcades, no tacky gift shops such as at some local beaches.

Another view from the balcony - a tanker awaiting sailing orders in the English Channel.  The center section of the crescent is a very nice hotel - this is their pool area viewed from our windows.

Devon countryside in Spring - the ocean in the distance, aaah, perfect!

Upcoming post - I'll share the story of bringing French delicacies to Devon..........and the chance of a visit to Normandy in the future!

Cleaning house..........

All this week I was supposed to be Spring cleaning - I have to hurry because the season is coming to an end very soon!  I was alone this week as DH flew off to Los Angeles for work which meant I had plenty of time to get down and dirty dusty. 

For some reason I was side-tracked several times.  Because it cooled off a bit, 85 instead of 95 degrees, I felt compelled to do garden chores each morning, trimming shrubs, watering, and painting outdoor furniture.  Also met dear friend Vanessa for some Crate & Barrel and Urban Outfitters shopping. This was followed by lunch, and a country drive to a dairy farm's ice cream shop. There, we rocked on the front porch overlooking bright green corn fields while enjoying a scoop.  I also spent some time at SuzAnna's antiques playing shop in my booth.  All this side-tracking was delightful by the way!

But I did do quite a lot of heavy cleaning - washing windows in and out, hauling my sofa slip cover to the laundry to use the large commercial machines, washing floors, doors, dusting blinds, polishing wood trim, scouring shower tile................

.......and moving things around of course!

Moving things in the house means taking photos...........so here are the pretty bits I captured today after all the hard work.  

Moved my very heavy iron urn to the coffee table, loaded it with nice woven Summer feeling sea grass balls.

This old table is new, to me.  It spoke to me at SuzAnna's yesterday so I brought it home.  Everyone knows these little Italian tables, usually shiny gold leaf and quite elegant.  This one is more my style, bashed about a bit, sanded and scraped, now matte not gleaming and gilded.

The sunflowers are back in the garden - springing up from the seeds dropped from the bird feeder again. Seeing them in bloom makes me realize that Summer is almost here, even though Spring has felt like Summer for several weeks.  Tomorrow more cleaning on the agenda - hard work but the results are so satisfying

Lake District words and signs.........

Before saying goodbye to the Lake District and Cumbria, I'm sharing some words and signs I thought were interesting and different.  Most are self-explanatory........some were charming........others cried out for more time to explore, such as this winding track, how I wish I'd walked this one to find the cottage and perhaps a castle.

Below the National Trust's polite notice regarding visiting dogs - the left hand sign, click to enlarge - was so nice to read.

How perfect, a cinema complete with a French film and a vegetarian restaurant - my kind of evening out.

The Lakeland Inn's great British red lion sign silhouetted by the cloudy sky.

One of the many Peter Rabbit and friends signs - never too many because he really is so adorable!

My guess is if you've lived here for a while you automatically will - bend or bump.

A great country pub with the best Ploughman's lunch........

........words unnecessary........

...........and that was the tastiest freshly baked roll ever!

Another pub where the beer was definitely local and the guys thought it excellent.  

Lovely hand-painted sign...............and yes, eating in pubs is always the way to go, great food, fines ales and wines, and less expensive than restaurants.

I would have loved to raise the door knocker to meet 'little Granny' in her tidy town house........and a lane named THE SEAMS caught my eye.

Much of the acreage comprising the Lake District, including the 40,000 acres given to The National Trust by Beatrix Potter, which she purchased from the sales of her Peter Rabbit story books, has to be some of the most beautiful land anywhere.  If you've never visited I hope you can some day..................and of course if you, have you know only too well what I've tried to show you in my photos from Cumbria.

  

This was a truly wonderful visit to the north of England..........

...........with the sweetest of memories.

I'll be continuing my trip with photos from my home in Devon, way down south.