Doug & Jodie

Easter fell in late March this year and unfortunately it was a cold, wet, snowy and hail filled one! Nonetheless I was determined to take Doug to Devon and Cornwall – my Dad’s countryside and the most beautiful part of England.
We drove out Saturday morning and headed to our B&B in Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. Our hosts were Glen and Jill owned the sweetest country cottage in the middle of the moor – rugged countryside with nothing but fields to explore. After being fed chocolate cake and tea we needed to stretch our legs after our traffic filled drive from London. We braved the cold and wind to take some photos on the moors and ended up running home through pelting hail!! It whipped our faces so hard it left marks but we laughed all the way home – it just hit us unexpectedly, I remember saying to Doug that the ominous clouds in the distance we too far away!!

The next day we set off after a butter-filled breakfast (as only the Cornish do best) to Lands End – we just had to get that photo taken at the end of England, generations of my family have and we have them all framed at home. After nearly being blown off the end of England we got that shot. Heading back along the west Cornish coast we had a pasty in St. Ives and walked through the cobbled streets and along the harbour, we then explored Tintagel and the area around King Arthurs castle – having a hot chocolate in an old hotel. Even windier than Land’s End. That night on our hosts recommendation we ate at the London Inn in St. Neot. This was the sweetest town and had won the award for ‘town of the year’ so many times they can’t enter this year! We sat by the fire place and drank and ate surrounded by locals who obviously love their town.

On Sunday we headed to Clovelly in Devon – a place dad loved where there is no access to the town by vehicles only donkeys and carts. The steep cobbled streets are so quaint and the harbour offers stunning views of the Devonshire coastline. From here I took Doug to Barnstaple, my Dads home town, we went via the remembrance gardens where Dads memorial is and along past Margaret and Tony’s old house. We met up with Margaret, Tony, Clive, Anne and their kids in a roadside restaurant for lunch… then headed on to their village (Uffculme) for tea before heading back to Cornwall via some of the prettiest villages and winding lanes, Doug took some great photos.

Sunday we said goodbye to our hosts and headed back up through Exmoor National Park to the twin villages that Dad adored – Lynmouth and Lynton and the nearby national park, Watersmeet. Here we had tea and scones on the harbour and took a walk along the stream at Watersmeet. Then we braved the traffic and finally arrived back in London 6 hours later! I know Doug really wanted to experience some of the places that meant so much to me and my Dad – hopefully we can go back when the sun is shining.

In March we attended Dana’s 30th birthday at the Temperance Pub in Putney Bridge.
We had a great night and got to meet lots of Dana’s work colleagues and friends. It was also a good opportunity to catch-up with Alicia, Graham, Tam and Rob (who stayed with us that night).
The champagne was flowing and it was lovely to celebrate with an old friend – a great night.

Welcome to the family… my newst niece ! She was born at 9.15am and weighed in at 3.33kg. (That’s 7.3 pounds in the old book) Katy is back home now, and bub is doing well. We can’t wait to meet her in a few weeks time.

Matt Simpson had a stop over on his way to a Google gathering in Cape Town. We went out to Carluccios for dinner with the gang. Rob Titmarsh also came down from the sticks to visit. The following morning we went to Borough Markets (which is starting to become a trend with all our guests) for a coffee and some cake in our favorite cafe.

Well, it’s been a wihle since I posted anything, so the next few posts are about playing catch up ! On the 26th of January was Australia day. We celebrated the day with Gareth and Kris, over in Fulham. We had a great day of barbies, booze…and pictionary !