A glimpse of the town...

Here is our lovely home, known by some as the 'Fudge Palace'... Can you see our geraniums?

Notice all the people making a beeline for the fudge shop!? It seems people are mad for it.

I had to buy some for a present the other day-

"What kind of fudge would you like?"

"Just fudge, fudge"

It turns out there are many types of fudge- vanilla, mocha, chocolate, English etc etc...

Here is our home and its immediate surrounds...

It's a vegans paradise, with a fudge shop, butcher, deli, and cafe specialising in Devon cream teas, all next door...

(And don't adjust your TV sets... the fuzz in the image is actually a glare flare... from sunshine!)

Here is the River Dart, just in town...

Weekend recap - August 10

Sunday

The weather forecast said it was to be sunny and 18 today for south-east Devon... no such luck! Driving back in to Totnes at the end of the day however, it was clear it had not rained there at all!

We started our day, by stopping in the moor to collect some more wortleberries, (wild blueberries). We collected a little tub full, and will have them on our oats for breakfast.

The heather was wild and blooming...

We then went to a town called 'South Zeal', to see some of the Dartmoor folk festival. There were morris dancers- apparently this is a traditional style of dance, hundreds of years old. There were the more tame versions from oxfordshire...

And then the manly, man Dartmoor ones...

You can't tell, but they were hitting each others sticks so hard, huge splinters kept flying off! Their sticks were whittled down to almost nothing by the end of it! Also they had all manner of animals tales on their hats "Urr Urr Urr!" -very manly haha

Pretty South Zeal

On we went to another part of the moor. Steve had come to this old disused quarry as a teenager, and was sure we would be able to swim there. Arrr what paradise we discovered- we can't believe this hasn't been featured in any of the wild swimming books!

It was very deep, and very large... so the water was quite cool, but not as cold as the Dart. The colour of the water, and the surrounding trees was really something else. A really magical swimming experience!
It may be hard to see... but my face is just popping up out of the water as I float on my back... I also have a huge grin on my face...

Afterwards, on the banks, back in our warm clothes, we ate a late lunch, and drank hot water from our new thermos...

Here I am terribly excited on discovering the water is the perfect drinking temperature, (a good few hours after we put it in there) This isn't rehearsed, or me being ironically melodramatic... I really am this much of a dork naturally!

We walked out...It was really muddy! Yay for wellies!

And then drove home through the moor. Stopping on our way to see the big reservoir nearby, and the spinsters stones which were erected some 5,000 years ago! They are now in someones paddock, used as shelter and again it seems, a good scratching post.

I suppose 5,000 years is too large an expanse of time for me to really get my head around... so I probably wasn't as awed as was deserving... instead what really thrilled me was the baby sheep and goats in the paddock, which ran over to us... and got so close, we could pet them :)

Weekend recap - August 8 & 9

Friday

Saturday

Steve and I woke up to more rain...

I was excited at the prospect of another froggy swim, so insisted we start our day with a swim in the Dart. It was pretty miserable on the banks of the dart, and as I shivered out of my tracksuit... I wondered what on earth I was doing...

But in I went, and an at first reluctant Steve too! It wasn't as good a frog experience as the other day- the water seemed a lot cooler... but I stayed in for a little while, and both Steve and I felt incredible when we were out...

Our spirits lifted we came home for an impromptu dance party, and an early lunch...

On to a dartmoor village, (where his Dad was born, and grandparents lived), show...

It was bucketing down, yet still, out the villagers came :)

There was a wellie tossing competition...

Agri/cultural competition tent...

With beautiful dahlias

And amazing vegetable people made by kids, (I thought Dad would like these!)

The ticketed highlight of the show was the performing pigs. The weather was so bad one pig refused to take part, (there was rumoured to be a pork roast for dinner that night). However Rupert, was a good sport, and humoured the humans in between vigorously eating grass.

He kicked, (snouted) a soccer ball into a goal, twice! He played a keyboard. He opened a door latch... And he put wooden shapes into their specific holes! arr brilliant!

We bought 4 books for £1, including the fantastic "Husband Don'ts" written in 1913...

And also a terrific 1950's thermos- 20p

On the way home, we passed this, (and something like it, many times)... Oh, dear ol' Dartmoor!

Ukulele Club

I had my first night of Ukulele Club last night.
It's held once a week in a town pub, about 15 minutes drive away.

I was so nervous walking in there, uke under my arm...
I have never done anything like this before... let alone in a new town... let alone by myself...

There was about nine of us in total, with some having been playing uke for a few years, while others since the start of the year- and one woman, just one month...
We mostly played songs from the clubs own song book... with most people singing along, (although they all insist they can't sing!).
At times it was reminiscent of playing recorder in primary school... when I would lose my place playing, as I was too busy smiling and listening to how incredible it all sounded!

I am excited to make it a regular thing, and see what happens...
Already I have begun, (I certainly won't say mastered!), singing and playing the uke- which I used to struggle with...

Here is a silly video of me practicing one of my songs!

The granny blanket...

Totnes Swim

Last night Steve asked when I was going to try out our local swim spot...

I had been a little hesitant to swim in the Dart in Totnes, as down past the weir, right in town, it looks less than appetizing.

But on the hottest day of the summer, there were hoardes of teenage boys sunning themselves, post swim on the banks up past the weir... and apparently, teenage boys know good swimming spots.

Steve half jokingly said- "Tomorrow morning before work, we can try it out".

He woke me at 7am and said it was time to go, I replied that if I'm getting out of bed, he better be getting in the water!

What a perfect morning it was for the first Totnes swim. The sun was just beginning to warm the grassy riverside, and the water was black and mirror like.

I did one loopy lap by myself, and another with Stevie.

The shot pans to Little Riverside

Arrr a blissful start to the morning!!

Pursuing the wild swim...

Steve and I bought a book yesterday: "Wild Swim"... filled with descriptions, (and directions to), an array of 'wild' swimming spots in the UK...
"Waterlog" has also been lying around our house... The book by wild swimmer enthusiast Roger Deakin, charts his swimming journey across Britain, starting in his own moat.

All this has provided rich fodder for my wildly imaginative, and swimming loving mind, (and spirit). I have told Steve such material is potentially dangerous in my hands, who knows where it will lead me?
Well for a start, to the sprouting of the little seed of an idea, to explore and document the wild swimming possibilities of South East Devon... our first one being today.

Yesterday keen to start exploring these swimming spots, we went to Spitchwick, a spot along the River Dart near Ashburton. It was beautiful, with lots of sun warmed grassy areas by the almost black water. Consequently, there were lots of people there though... so in search of the ultimate wild swimming experience, we went to Newbridge, ( a different spot on the Dart) to try our luck. First we played some frisbee.

At Newbridge, we found a good spot, and I waded up to my knees, but the river was moving so fast, I was a little, (intelligently so) nervous about going in, and decided against it. Opting for a few concessional submersive dunks instead.Today I was so wanting a swim, but with all Dartmoors recent rain, the rivers are swollen and running very fast... so we needed a pond, a lake... a disused quarry!?

Steve had heard about this place, near Haytor... the rock for the old London Bridge was quarried here, but now the hole in the ground, was filled with blooming heather, and... water! We couldn't find anyone who had actually heard of someone swimming there, but it looked promising.

There were loads of ramblers out today, despite the cold wind, and periodic misty rain.
After climbing Haytor, and almost being pushed off by the driving winds, we found some wurtleberries, (wild blueberries). We picked a large handful and ate them as we made our way to the quarry.

The deep walls of the quarry sheltered its insides somewhat, and it was a quiet haven.
We surveyed the area...
*Good entry points, with gently sloping rocks
*Deep areas for uninhibited swimming
*Fish and aquatic vegetation denoting, (hopefully), good water quality

It was so beautiful, swimming nirvana really...
We changed into our swimmers, and the ramblers milled around the edge, watching us in their rain jackets and long pants, waiting, waiting...
We dove in, and arrr what a delight- the warmest water so far!!!!
Much warmer than the sea, and certainly more warm than the rivers.
We explored each little pool, and swam and swam. It was much warmer in than out.
As Deakin puts it:
"Natural water has always held the magical power to cure. Somehow or other, it transmits its own self-regenerating powers to the swimmer. I can dive in with a long face and what feels like a terminal case of depression, and come out a whistling idiot. There is a feeling of absolute freedom and wildness that comes with the sheer liberation of nakedness as well as near weightlessness in natural water, and it leads to a deep bond with the bathing-place."

Arr yes, we weren't whistling, but we were certainly smiling idiots.
Such a strange thing, in this age of swimming pools and keep out signs, it somehow feels illicit,(and largely thus, incredibly enlivening), to just swim in a 'wild' and natural place...