Delightful Times in Devonshire.

Indeed they were. For despite the weather and the shower in our hotel being very tempremental we had a lovely time.

Wednesday was our first full day out, we went to Dawlish Warren. The only consistant thing was the wind blowing, otherwise whilst there we had sun, rain, hail, lightning and even a flake or two of snow!?! Got to love the British weather and the British people who determined to enjoy the Easter holidays no matter what, were out in surprisingly large numbers, and could be seen sitting on the beach under umbrellas, some hardy types were even in swinwear!

After doing the nature reserve, sea front, arcades and shop it finally got just too damn cold so we headed home. Once Nephew Number Two was in bed the adults got out the wine and his Megabricks.......

                                     Yes that really is Mario made from Megabricks.

Thursday is Flea Market day at the Town Hall in Torquay. Where else could you get such a unique and sometimes disturbing experience for the princely sum of 30p? Nowhere is the right answer.
We took Nephew Number Two with us and he turned on his charms to one and all, which meant he got all the bargains there were to be had, though to be fair there weren't that many.
It was the weirdest mixture of 'stuff' I have seen in a long time and nothing really appealed. I came away with a very twee cushion with a picture of a bear for my Mum because I know it will make her laugh as much as it did me, and some vintage buttons.

We very wisely went home via the play park, nothing like falling off a climbing frame to restore the spirit. I hope I never get to old to play on the swings, mind it was nice to find a slightly larger one that I could sit on without getting my arse painfully wedged stuck as I did the last time Nephew Number Two visited. I had visions of being cut free by the firebrigade and featuring very heavily on the local news at one point that visit!

  In the afternoon The Nephew went to get some sense and solace at nursery and we went to THE SHOPS!
Himself came with us, us being his sister and myself, and clearly regretted it once we made it clear it was charity shops and clothes shops all the way. 4 hours of solid shopping later even I was ready to admit defeat so we went home to lots of much restoring wine.

                                                             Hound's Tor

Friday was Dartmoor day. It was sunny when we set out and sunny when we got slightly lost and found a giant red rabbit in the process, as you do....

It was still sunny when were halfway up Haytor where we planned to have a picnic lunch. However by the time we got to the top this started to happen.

It was very atmospheric and made for some great photos but trying to eat your picnic whilst sitting under, and trying to keep up an umbrella may be very British but it's not very sensible. We decided to head back to the car.

My hands felt like ice by the time we got to it so I for one was very glad to finish the picnic there. By this point it was raining pretty hard so we decided to decamp to Trago Mill. We saw some lovely Dartmoor ponies on the way off the moor, who decided to cause a traffic jam horse style,by standing in the middle of the road and refusing to move.
The rain was monsoon like by the time we got to Trago so we were all cold wet and miserable, tell a lie The Nephew was happy because he had cleverly thought to bring wellies to change into and there were many puddles to jump in!

We mooched around the main shop for an hour or so, Himself bought a pair of trainers and I pushed the boat out and bought some ribbon and wunderweb!
 Thankfully the rain had stopped by the time we decided to risk heading outside again, so with some 70's/80's rock anthems on in the car we headed home.
The Nephew showed his great dislike of Cher by putting his fingers in his ears and shaking his head violently until the track got skipped, though he did seem to approve of Harry the monkey singing a word perfect rendition of Bat out of Hell along to Meatloaf. It's amazing what these toy monkies know about music isn't it? *cough*

Saturday was time to go home. The train from Devon was packed and when we changed at Reading the next one was full of lairy Liverpool fans, so without needing to be Miss Marple I gathered some manner of football match had been won.

Now I am sitting here this morning feeling a bit flat, staring at a mountain of laundry, which will then equal another mountain of ironing. My liver isn't speaking to me after a week of wine and fried breakfasts and Himself thinks he is getting a cold......yup the holiday is definitely over. *sigh*