Perfect evening

The beautiful weather of the last week has really been a bonus. The colour and mass of flowers are vibrant after the long cold winter, trees are coming into bud and the birds and animals are out in full force. Our B&B guests have spotted flycatchers, swallows and also the local bird population are busy nesting. Derek took a photo of a kingfisher earlier in the week but unfortunately all he managed was the bull rush it was sat on!

On Tuesday I nipped down to Tiverton to meet mum and my sister Julie at Knightshayes (National Trust) for lunch. The house itself is Victorian and not really my cup of tea but the gardens and grounds are beautiful. The walled kitchen garden is how everyone would like their garden to look – immaculate without a weed in sight and full of produce. At the moment in the gardens they have a magnolia walk which is wonderful – fully grown trees laden with huge flowers – the pink and white is stunning against the blue sky.

We have got our friend Ron staying at the moment and last night we went to the Doone Valley near Lynmouth and walked along the Weir Water. It was a beautiful evening and we saw a brood of ducklings at Robbers Bridge, some toad spawn in the shallows of the river and a pair of grey wagtails obviously getting to know each other quite well!

We then went to the Stag Hunters Inn at Brendon for something to eat. This is a lovely old Exmoor inn right beside the river and well worth a visit. We then drove carefully home across the moors due to the number of Exmoor ponies and foals grazing on the verges. The view from above Porlock across Exmoor, the fields and the Bristol Channel to Wales in the evening light never fails to amaze and it was the perfect end to a lovely evening.