Bits And Bobs.

It was another full day at school doing football related activities. My class finished off writing a set of instructions for playing football. I had to admire one lad's brief offering;

1. Warm up.

2. Play the game.

3. See if you win or loose.

But not quite the detailed instructions I'd asked for! The chocolate muffins I made yesterday went down well in the staffroom and the remainder that I left at home have been scoffed too.

Imagine our family 20 years ago. Friday afternoon spent packing the car & caravan with everything needed for a weekend away with 3 small children plus 2 dogs. Peter arrives home from work, jumps in the car and we head off up the motorways. Several hours later we're on small country roads anxiously looking for the small SK signs set up to guide Sealed Knot members to that weekend's campsite.

It wasn't always easy to spot the sign and woe betide if you went too far, lost in a strange country lane! On one memorable occasion we realised we'd overshot our turn off and ended up turning around by first unhitching the caravan, hauling it around by hand and then re-attaching it to the car once that had performed a tricky 9 point turn. It is possible tempers were a little frayed that evening. The caravan was worth the towing hassle as the boys' beds would be made up and once we arrived and found our regiment's spot in the campsite, all we needed to to was put down the legs and we could get the boys into bed. In the early days, from when Vytas was only 3 months old, we slept in a tent - not much fun to put up when you arrive in the dark and wet. We're no longer members of the SK (2 of our boys are carrying on the family tradition) so it was bittersweet to see the markers leading to this weekend's mini muster at Arlington Court only a few miles away. Sadly none of our family or friends are going to be at this muster so we shan't be going to have a look.
Finally, some more pictures from yesterday's walk at Watersmeet.
The stunted and twisted trees that line the slopes of the gorge filtering the sunshine to produce a dappled effect.


Sunlight sparkling on the rushing water. All the bridges are built high up as the flow can increase dramatically in wet weather and large boulders can be carried along by the force of the water. In 1952 34 people lost their lives as a flash flood destroyed houses built along the river's mouth at Lynmouth.

From the bridges we could look down into the clear water and see brown trout. This one was about 18" long.

More snippets heard on the radio.

In the last 5 years the total annual profit for upland farmers has dropped by 40% to just over £10.000! The rich farmers are the ones in the lowlands who are operating massive agri-businesses.

Part of the blame for those horrible squashed together estates of new homes lies with the government as developers only get planning permission if they build to the density of at least 12 houses per acre. No wonder the houses are like shoe boxes with rooms built to minimum allowable sizes. I think it is so that more 'affordable' houses are built but I've just checked local prices and a 3 bedroom estate house in town is around £200,000 while the average pay for those lucky to be in work is £20,000 (local govt figures).