Blogs from Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom, Europe
Misty Moors and Bovid Bloodshed in Rural England
Published: April 2nd 2012Europe » United Kingdom » England » Devon » Exeter
April 2nd 2012
In the quiet rolling hills of Devon lie countless sheep, quaint villages, trimmed shrub-fences, and things that cannot be unseen. While at Athena's house in Plymouth, I tried watching some surgery show on TV with her roommates. It didn't go well. As I was flailing and retching on the couch I suddenly was reminded of my attempts to watch Super Surgery with my sister and father when I was younger. These endeavors usually ended with my crying under a blanket somewhere. So, it was with some trepidation that I left to rural West Devon to volunteer on a farm that was in the middle of lambing. Lambing: (gerund) the action of playing tug of war with the womb of a ewe, ripping afterbirth off of the lamb's face, slapping/swinging/praying to said lamb to make it breathe, ... read more
April 11th 2011
Wednesday 23 March and Thursday 24 March 2011 On Wednesday we drove from Oxford to Exeter via Bath. We didn't have long in Bath, so we tried to cram as much in as we could. First stop was Royal Crescent - a crescent-shaped row of Georgian houses that were built as holiday accommodation for the well-to-do. The Georgians were seriously into symmetry - all the buildings are symmetrical and the rooms even have false doors to balance the real ones! One of the houses has been turned into a museum. Each room is 'equipped' with a volunteer who provides information on that room and can answer questions - it's great. As a consequence, we spent far too much time in the house, chatting to the volunteers! We had been hanging out to have fish 'n chips ... read more
Sea trials and farewell drinks...
Published: July 7th 2010Europe » United Kingdom » England » Devon » Exeter
July 7th 2010
Well, last weekend we took Ozzy 2 on a sea trial round to Exeter. We were warned off due to a forecast of fairly strong winds and rough seas, but chanced it and found the crossing smooth and pretty much flat, taking a mere 3 hours to get from Dartmouth to Topsham. once in Topsham we celebrated the birthdays of Marian and Zoe at the Turf Locks with a delicious BBQ cooked by my own fair hands (you'll be pleased to know that none of it ended up in the water as the huge gas barbie was very securely fastened to the ground!). It was a glorious evening finished off with beautiful sunsets (see the pics) and we got to spend time woith our families and marvel at the developing genius of our little niece Lillie ... read more
January 15th 2010
Hello readers of my blog. Or should I simply just say hello family - I doubt anyone else will be to interested in what I have to say! This is my first post so I hope that I'm doing it right... Today is my last full day to sort my life out at home before I set foot on foreign soil. As you would expect with my generally rather disorganised life, I have a lot left to do. And it's a near certainty that something will be left behind. Let's just hope it's not my passport. First stop: Buenos Aires (BA). I think we've got accommodation booked for at least one night but Adam's been getting really into this 'couch surfer' website where you can stay at other people's houses for free. I just think it's ... read more
January 4th 2010
Well I am into the final countdown! It is all rather exciting, but at the same time very scary. Obviously I am going to miss my family and friends but what is scary is going out into the unknown - starting a new job is always the same, but here I have no idea where I will be going half the time or what I will be doing, and that’s what is scary - not being in control. Looking at it from a different view though - what an adventure it will be, waking up each day not knowing what to expect and just going with the flow. I am almost packed. That is the hardest part. Knowing what to take, and how much. My new boss has said that it is fine for me to ... read more
December 7th 2009
Preparation for South America I'm up and running on Travel blog! On the remote chance that it'll be read by a friend or family member I’m going to attempt to make this an interesting account of my next few months. My first concern with writing a ‘blog’ was that there might not be a spell checker in Bolivia. However thanks to recent gifts from Grandpa Smith (93) I now have a portable hand held spell checking device, an imitation Swiss army knife, a wind up key-ring torch and a bottle-opening pen. Although I am still suspicious of the quality of all these postal freebies I can't deny that if I'm in a survival or spelling situation I might just be saved. With any adventure or expedition I guess you should use your experience and knowledge to ... read more
September 12th 2009
The beginning starts in my small room with the clutter to be packed up. yes the tickets are booked and the guide book is the first book i have read in months. ... read more
BLAST OFF: Devon, England
Published: August 18th 2009Europe » United Kingdom » England » Devon » Exeter
August 10th 2009
Devon, England 8/7 - 8/10 So we arrived in Devon at about 2am on Friday the 7th. Will’s Mum was still waiting up, with a Pizza ready to go into the oven. She is ABSOLUTELY incredibly sweet; turned her dining room into a little room for us with two little blow up mattresses and matching linens. She also had a pile of maps and phrase books set aside for us. I don’t believe we went to sleep until about 5am from talking and catching up! Jenny (Will’s Mum) and he have a super cute flat in a town called Honiton, which used to be famous for its lace. The town is so very quaint! So the next morning we took baths, since there is no shower - which I think is wonderful! Then Will took us ... read more
Exeter - Lands End - Falmouth
Published: July 15th 2009Europe » United Kingdom » England » Devon » Exeter
July 14th 2009
Today's jaunt was relatively short in distance. I we thought that we had seen the worst in roads by driving thru the Highlands..... WRONG!! A little trick to driving in the Devon area... when the center line strip disappears - brake NOW! Roads will immediatley squeeze down to 5 ft wide (seems a lot narrower) and usually it happens at a curve with high hedges. Scenery makes it all worth it. We drove out to the south western tip of the island.Very windy and sporadic rain. After being soaked to the skin we mad it back to the car and went to Falmouth. Dinner at the Captain's Table. Wonderfull scallops. Oh and by the way, we have covered a lot of this island and have yet to see any peanut butter. (I'm just saying - Lori) ... read more
