Ashburton.. and ...any good at map reading?

Ashburton was our stop for a spot of lunch , on Friday.
Ashburton is almost a 'mini Totnes' with some lovely little shops, with fripperies which delight.
It also has a bookshop which sells second hand books..a few floors of them as well!

http://www.thepedlarspack.co.uk/

I managed to find one Angela Brazil book, hardback with dustjacket for £2!! I grabbed it as it was in superb condition too.

Having never studied geography and always being one to turn a map, so that the road I am on is facing the direction in which I am travelling (if you get my gist!) but I need to bring out my map reading skills (so sadly lacking), Ashburton always confuses me.
There's an East Street, a North Street, a West Street.... but there's no South Street as that is called something else..how daft is that?!! ;-)
And I never know which street I am in, much to dear DH's amusement.

I believe this to be North Street:

This, apparently, is West Street:

Which means that this is... East Street:

Anyway, North Street, I love you!

It was in one of the antique shops in North Street, I unearthed this little 'gem', for my garden!!A child's garden seat!

Which is no longer a child's garden seat !!

By the way..Ashburton is an old 'Stannary' town.

Stannary towns were the locations where refined tin (or white tin) was assessed, coined and sold.

You can read all about Stannary towns here, if you so desire:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stannary_town

Up in the loft - THE WINNER!!

Fab comments and thank you for taking part, everyone!

As my dear DH had time on his hands, I let him peruse all of the comments and he has chosen:

jellybelly*jellybrain

as the winner ;-)

Well done Emma! ;-)

Paradise ..or near as dammit!

You can't beat the old fashioned nursery, can you? And if it's in a beautiful setting (which it usually is) then it makes it all the more worth the visit.

Hill House at Landscove, here in South Devon, is one such place!

A 'to die for' , gorgeous piece of heaven on earth.

And that's where we found ourselves today!

I've been here many times and each time is pure joy.

You can wander to your heart's content.

And, naturally, there's a tea room as well ;-)

I was very good and purchased two poppies

The rest of my photos are here:

http://flickr.com/photos/salgull1/

We came back home via Ashburton where I found a 'little gem' for my garden...will show you that tomorrow, along with the poppies ;-)

Exeter tonight.... is safe and well.

Today was one of those days when I was very thankful for the invention of the mobile phone!

My children both live and work in Exeter.

Within minutes of the news of some sort of explosion in the city, they each sent me a message and messaged each other too. I knew that they were fine and safe. I think they were more worried about me! Knowing how much time I spend in the city, that's understandable!!

To evacuate the centre of a city must be one massive task! But it sounds as if this was done superbly well.

At the moment there are too many rumours flying around to even make a comment on the whys and wherefores but let's hope that Exeter gets back to normality tomorrow!

In the meantime, I have appointed the above and below persons to keep watch over the city...until I get there!

The best things in life are free!

How cute is this...

This morning brought a real treat.

We have pheasant chicks in the lane at the end of our driveway.

Here's the proud father...

We think there are about five or six chicks in total... but they all moved into the hedge as we crept nearer.

Walk with us...

Come with us!

Let's take the path which runs alongside our house...

The Wisteria is not all in flower yet, so you can just see our landing window...

We'll go through this gate ...after you!

Through the churchyard...

And around to the front of Teigngrace church...

We'll walk on the road... very briefly...

We'll pass this rather lovely home...look, more tall chimneys and we all know why, don't we?!

Now walk down this lane...

Nice to see such thoughtful people living here, don't you think?...

It's taken two minutes to get here...

The next train to arrive at this platform..umm...probably won't! (Someone needs to tell this lone passenger that it's not main line..and never was!)

'Typical GWR..never on time ..Grrrrrr!' (quote from a complaining student)

We knew that there was a disused railway station in Teigngrace and on Sunday, we found it! There was once a sign saying 'Teigngrace Halt'. Sadly,that's gone now.
This is the branch line which ran from Newton Abbot to Moretonhampstead.This section of line is still used between Newton Abbot and Heathfield. .. mainly for transporting ball clay, we believe.

We hear the train now and again.
The canal is close by... shame it's very run down now. Must have been a wonderful sight when it was a working canal.

It's fascinating what can be found just outside one's garden gate.
Next weekend, we're going to walk across the railway line, over the fields to the River Teign, to see the Sand Martins. After that we'll venture to the tiny hamlet of Preston, where there are some adorable residences! ;-)
Would you like to come with us?
We'll meet on the path which runs alongside our house

Upstairs to bed....and WIN A PATCHWORK PACK!!

Bed in Summer

by Robert Louis Stevenson

In winter I get up at night

And dress by yellow candle-light.

In summer quite the other way,

I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown-up people's feet

Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should like so much to play,

To have to go to bed by day?

I have always loved this poem since the day that our teacher wrote it on the blackboard for us to copy into our handwriting books!

As a young child, I used to have a small bedroom with a triangular window sill, upon which I would sit and watch the goings ons of the street in the evenings.

Robert Louis Stevenson's poem always reminds me of those childhood days when I should've been in bed.

Nowadays, I'm always happy to go upstairs to bed, as just over a year ago we were lucky enough to have a loft conversion. It's definitely one of the best decisions we ever made !

And was well worth all the mess!

We had to knock down a shower room (which was already situated in the hall space) in order to give us the room for the stairs...

At this point, I wanted to run away for a few weeks!)

And it's really not a good time to invite friends for coffee !

But amazingly it soon all comes together...

As did the upstairs..

And now, the Caption Competition:

Here are our fantastic builders on their last day of working here:

So what are they saying, either to each other OR to us?

(Chris is on the left, Shaun on the right)

Just leave your answers on the comments page of this post ;-)

Winner will be chosen on Saturday 24th May and will receive a fab patchwork pack...'Roses' theme!!

Have fun! Sal x