east portlemouth

I had a sleep over at Naomi's house while Adrian was away recently. She said she and the girls sometimes take thier pudding down to this bench (just behind floss in the first pic) overlooking the river - only a few minutes walk from the door. It's a community land trust site that they recently moved to - primarily for people who work in the village. Devon has a big 'second home' problem, with whole villages deserted but for a few weeks in the summer. So they are breathing some life back in - she is an artist and partner a wooden boat builder. (see naomivincent.com).  Thier house is the one floss and janu are running towards in the pic..

empty-ing

we slowly start packing - shelves off the walls, trips to the tip, parcels on doorsteps...Janu remains fairly sanguine throughout, although some stealth give-aways occured.

leaping into ice!

on dartmoor, watching crazy folk leap into ice cold water. 

coverack

we keep going back and back to coverack.. easy to see why (except for the cloud-blanket that inevitably sends me into tirades about british summer!) this weekend the sun actually came out at 3pm on sun, just a few hours before we had to head home (the one pic of us in swimmers!). I discovered too late that were I to wear a wetsuit ALL the time, the weather feels just fine.

bmx

what an exciting life this little fella has! his first try on a bmx track. ( I was pleased there was one or two girls on the track that I could point out to him! )

steam train

 catching an old steam train from ooty down to the plains on the other side of the Nilgiri hills.  Heading for the old colony of Kochi in Kerala.  The rain poured down, the train chugged along and honeymooners snapped 100s of pictures as waterfalls gushed their foam down.

our fellow passengers, rugged up against the 'cold'

baan

Saying goodbye can even be fun! Friends meet up at Baan's house - Adrian has known Kerry, Dave, Baan and assorted kids forever.