We have just returned from a short break in France which coming at the end of the season, was a greatly appreciated. Apart from rest and relaxation, it also gave us a chance to reflect on what a beautiful and special place Exmoor is and how lucky we are to have access to 267 square miles of such wonderful walking. The photos are some Derek has taken recently on the moor.

We have had wonderful news. Tim and Bex’s have announced their engagement with a wedding booked for early September 2012. We couldn’t be more thrilled and are so delighted that Bex’s is going to become our daughter-in-law (makes us sound so old)! It would seem that our first meeting with Bex’s didn’t put her totally off the Brown family.

This was the occasion that after having a nerve wracking drive across London (with me map reading – note to self ‘get a sat nav’), we arrived at the restaurant where I downed 2 glasses of white wine in quick succession (usually 1 makes me feel a little tipsy). I greeted Bex’s somewhat unsteadily and promptly asked her where she saw herself in 5 years time! This was closely followed by Derek slipping off the pavement onto his bottom outside Stringfellows (sober but clearly his eyes were elsewhere)! Jumping up (I use this term loosely) Derek brushed himself off and nonchalantly mentioned that his old SAS always came back into practice when needed. It was a testament to Bex’s sense of humour that she took it all in her stride.

Julie and Helen came down last week for a flying visit and to catch up on all the news. After lunch we went for a walk. I felt sure that it was going to brighten up so we decided on the Nutscale walk which involves negotiating the river at least twice – on reflection this was the wrong choice. Just after we left the truck it started to rain and continued for the 2 hours we were out. I won’t go into details but suffice to say that this has been named the ‘soggy Saga walk’ after Helen’s very near miss in the river and Julie’s boots still being in front of the fire steaming gently. However the dogs enjoyed it and that’s the main thing!