The Valley of The Rocks .... part 2

All is quiet in the house. Most of the youngsters left yesterday and Linas and Gemma went this afternoon. I carried on in 'housewife' mode and cooked a roast dinner and for once the Rayburn was hot enough to make good roasties. Peter has been suffering today with a very painful elbow again but hopefully the anti-inflammatories will settle it down. My afternoon was spent gardening. I'm a bit disappointed that my cold took up most of the holiday but then I wouldn't like to have gone to work while I was feeling rough. No looking back, I need to look onwards and plan the next stage of the house and garden tidying. I'm in school all day tomorrow to cover for injury, family complications and birthing class.

Now for .... The Valley of The Rocks. ...... part 2

Goats and Rocks.

There are many wild goats in the valley. This has caused some bitter arguments in the neighbouring town of Lynton as they do go in and raid peoples' gardens. There was an outcry last winter when the town council quietly got in a marksman and shot a large proportion of the herd.

Yesterday the goats were enjoying the sunshine and keeping out of the wind near the car park.

Some of them had quite spectacular horns.

They are very used to people and it is easy to photograph them. I think this young goat was just as interested in Gemma, maybe hoping for a treat though you are not supposed to feed them.

Everywhere you look there are magnificent rock formations.

It's a long way down, and I don't like heights!

Seedsaving and garlic varieties

I was already familiar with some of the vendors at the Carolina Farm Stewardship's Sustainable Ag conference, but have had fun discovering new sources, and putting faces to some of the familiar names.

It was fun to meet some of the folks from the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (I've received their catalogs and used some of their seeds for years).

They had a wonderful display of garlic varieties, along with some winter squash. I couldn't help it; I bought more seeds, garlic, and some multiplier potato onions. I want to run home and start planting. (And it's a beautiful day, too, much too nice to spend in the Civic Center...) But....

Another regular display promotes seed exchange between member seed savers. There were lots of jars of different kinds of interesting seeds, with seed envelopes to take small quantities to try in your farm or garden.

The Valley of The Rocks ...part 1.

Yesterday, while the boys were at home eating chocolate and shooting each other , Gemma and I went on a photo shoot to The Valley of The Rocks near Lynton, about 10 miles north of here. It was very windy and quite chilly once out of the sunshine but we got more patches of sunshine as the morning went on. Looking westwards across the local cricket club pitch. The only buildings in the valley are some tea-rooms next to the car park, (and a decent toilet block near the head of the valley).

The landward side of the valley is bounded by an extremely high escarpment which from the road looks almost vertical.

The road winds on around various rocky outcrops to Lee Abbey, a Christian study /retreat/camp/conference centre.

Looking back at the entrance to the valley.

Looking westwards out to the Atlantic. It was very cold out overlooking the sea because it was all in the shade with a strong wind blowing in from the sea.

Looking eastwards up the Bristol Channel. If you follow the coastal footpath Lynton is just around the corner and Lynmouth is at the foot of the cliffs in the next cove. These are the highest cliffs in the British Isles.

Tomorrow ....... Part 2 , Goats and Rocks.

It has been a real pleasure having a houseful of 17-20 year olds, they are typical students, are loud and the kitchen is full of their coats and airgun stuff but they have appreciated my home cooking,( and they eat vast quantities ), are polite to us oldies and wash up when asked. They spent the afternoon down at Crow Point, Braunton Burrows, doing a band photo shoot and messing about with their airguns. Right now they are finishing off another large meal and after clearing up from their 'party' last night most of them will be driving back down to Bude.

Peter spent 3 hours at the North Devon College today for a tutorial on the maths unit of his OU degree. He is feeling more confident now with this maths section than he anticipated. My cold is receding now thank goodness but today has been mostly spent in the kitchen. I don't mind for short bursts but would get very crotchety if I was stuck in the kitchen for any length of time.