Weekend Pictures

I'm thankful for Dartmoor streams:

Woods:

Stiles:

Bluebells:

Pill Tor:

My boy:

Letterboxing with Nanny Holland:

Sunday afternoon BBQ:

Sunny Workout

I woke up this morning with an urge to tame the jungle that grows around our trampoline.

I probably should have waited for a day that wasn't the hottest of the year, but when I have these notions I just need to do it! After two and a half hours of digging, laying weed control fabric, using spare bricks for edging, spreading bark chip and a whole lot of sweating, I think I succeeded!

It's That Time Again

Dear Jay,

Happy birthday to us! As always, I missed you lots today. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to having a birthday just for one. Today the sun came out and the blue skies went on forever, it was so hot and a wonderful pick-me-up.  I spent the morning helping out at school by walking the year 5 & 6 children to the local pool.  I sat poolside for two hours and it was bliss! Can you spot Rosie at the bottom centre of this photo?

I went to lunch with Lucy and Claire at the House of Marbles and we picked a spot outside by the old furnaces:

After a rather delicious roasted vegetable nicoise salad I had the most glorious orange and elderflower drizzle cake. If I could have posted it to you I would, it was divine.

What's a birthday without flowers?

Rosie insisted James go out and buy me a birthday cake as I always make one for everyone else! Love that girl. Want a slice?

I hope you enjoy your day too!

Lots of love,

Nae x

Weekend Pictures

This Saturday we had a lovely afternoon on Dartmoor with some good friends. I will never get bored of this place:

 

The children found a rather large and hairy caterpillar:

And we met lots of wild ponies:

On Sunday afternoon we got our patriotic pride on and went along the road to Shaldon to watch the Olympic flame go through the village.

I love Shaldon, it is full of tiny winding roads and cottages by the sea:

We all decided that when we are rich we would buy a cottage like this to live in for our summer holidays:

We picked a spot on the bridge overlooking the estuary to wait for the torch to come by:

The children loved seeing the police bikes drive by at the start of the parade:

 The Olympic torch:

We ended the afternoon back on the beach with some friends:

 

I love weekends like this!

I Love Being An Aunt

Jay sent me some photos toady showing my niece Olivia's school journal entry from February. She wrote 'Tomorrow I'm going to pick up my mum's sister from the airport.' I love the drawing:

And here she wrote 'Finally my mum's sister comed to my home.':

I love how she wrote my name. Oh, how I miss those girls, I wish I could visit more often!

Ten Tors

Since September of last year Ben has been training hard with his school for the Ten Tors challenge and recently secured a much sought-after spot on one of six teams from Teign School. The Ten Tors is a two day expedition on Dartmoor for young people run by the British Army. There are four-hundred teams of six who must navigate their way through ten tors within 34 hours, using only their map and compass. There are three different distances to walk according to the age of the team, the Bronze route (suitable for Ben's age) is 35 miles, the Silver route is 45 miles and the Gold route is 55 miles. Apart from the manned checkpoints on each tor for the team to get their timecards stamped, there is no assistance from adults. The team carry tents, sleeping bags, cooking equipment, food, spare clothes, first aid kits, water (which is collected from the moors)...THEY ARE HEAVY!

On Friday Ben left to set up at base camp at Okehampton with his school teams.  They went through scrutineering, checked over their assigned routes, and ate a lot of food! It was an early start on Saturday morning but team Teign Valley Ramblers were ready for action:

The cannons fired at 7:00am and all 2,400 participants started the challenge:

Ben's team on one of the tors on Saturday:

They did such a great job on Saturday, their pace was fast despite the hot weather and they reached their 8th tor by 6:33pm. The team had to camp there as they aren't permitted to go any further than 8 tors in one day when they are on a 35 mile route. This morning the boys set off at 6:00am for their last two tors and we drove out to Okehampton to meet the team as they came in.  Isn't the finish line in a beautiful spot?

Watching all the teams come in was just wonderful, the crowd were clapping and cheering as they walked by. At 11:33am the Teign Valley Ramblers arrived. They completed the challenge in 28 hours and 33 minutes, and I must confess, I had a tear in my eye as they approached.  I'm so proud of them and all the hard work they have put into this event. Ben is in the middle of the photo in a black top:

And the team after receiving their bronze medals:

The boys had a great time and want to stay as a team to complete the 45 mile next year!

Weather Report

It's been raining all week and I've been worried that Ben's Ten Tors Challenge would be miserable this weekend, or worse, cancelled. But look what's happening tomorrow when he leaves for base camp!

My Baby Sister Had A Baby!

Last night another niece came into our family. Amy and Ian are the proud parents of Isobel Sarah, and she looks gorgeous. I'm looking forward to some serious snuggles on Saturday!