Springtime in Photos

“Spring drew on…and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.”

Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë

From indoors, yesterday was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly and I hurried out to work. As I stepped onto the pavement a bracing wind caught my light leather jacket, tugged at my loosely-wrapped scarf and made my feet feel naked in my sockless pumps.

Some snippets of March and April (all photos are captioned if you click on them):

Best gift (Apple peeler, slicer, corer) from my Mama being put to use in our spring healthy eating regime.

Tea in the Georgian Tea Room in Harrods with clients.

A photo from Mama – looks like our little sweet chestnut is loving her new home in sunny South Africa.

The sun is out and British children in our neighbourhood are finding things to do outdoors.

Did I mention that we bought a small piece of South Africa last year? … now day-dreaming about building one day. This is our view.

A free taster beginners bridge class at Andrew Robson. Such fun!

We have had some amazingly warm days and Hubby and I have tried to spend them walking outdoors. Our fist good summer walk was at the National Trust property, Clivedon Park. There is some disagreement between Hubby and I as to the pronunciation of Clivedon (How would you say it?). Clivedon is famously the setting of the 1961 meeting and affair between John Profumo, Secretary of State of War, and Christine Keeler, a 19 year old call girl. The Profumo Affair, as it later became known, blew up when it was also discovered that Ms Keeler was also involved with Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché, thereby creating a possible security risk. Very interesting place.

Clivedon park.

Clivedon.

A visit to Clivedon, a 1960’s scandal and a sunny stroll.

Clivedon.

Daisy chains at Clivedon Park.

Spring blossoms everywhere.

Then just as suddenly the blossoms have fallen.

On the Easter long weekend we indulged our curiosity by visiting Port Isaac, the filming location for the hilarious British TV series, Doc Martin, starring Martin Clunes – one of our faves. It’s a tiny village in Cornwall and we were not the only Doc Martin tourists. Apparently because of Sigourney Weaver’s brief part in the show, it’s made it’s way over the pond so many tourist/fans were Americans. If you’re not a fan of the grumpy Doc, it’s still a gorgeous little fishing village (captions explain all photos).

A walk up onto the cliffs affords a beautiful view of Port Isaac.

A visit to Port Isaac (aka Port Wenn) for the Doc Martin experience. Port Wenn TV signs still up when we arrived.

Bought tickets for the ‘Doc Martin Film Location Tour’ at a shop called ‘May Contain Nuts’.

Doc Martin souvenirs – we didn’t buy any.

Port Isaac at low tide.

Port Isaac fisheries.

View of the bay from the top.

Mrs Tishell’s Chemist. Sorry, the only picture I had, had Hubby in the foreground. In the interests of marital harmony this blog is semi-anonymous so I had to crop him out … well, most of him.

Filming finished before we arrived in Port Isaac. Later that day the props guys dismantled Mrs T’s chemist and reinstated the Cornish fudge shop. We did buy fudge!

I think this confectioner gets lots more business just because of the Doc Martin TV series.

Doc Martin’s surgery. But no Doc inside, peeps. The interior scenes of the surgery are filmed in a studio so when tourists peer through the windows they’ll be disappointed. But I do feel for the holiday makers who rent the cottage and get caught in their undies by prying Doc Martin fans.

Port Wenn school where Louisa teaches.

Bert Large’s restaurant.

From Port Isaac we drove to Instow in North Devon where my father-in-law claims to hail from. We spent a lovely couple of days walking at Hartland Point and Clovelly, and cycling the Tarka Track. Unfortunately the day of cycling was cut short after an hour and a half when Hubby tried to dislodge a piece of bramble from his front wheel spokes with his foot while moving. The result: a full summersault over the handlebars, a bruised knee, a badly scratched elbow and hand, and a bruised ego. The cycle hire company fetched and returned the two of us and bikes (one of each slightly mangled), to Barnstable and we went on to explore the lovely Arlington Court instead.

In North Devon we went cycling on the Tarka Track. Hubby’s bike is called Keith.

The Tarka Track was once the coastal railway which is now a cycle/walking track.

Tide’s out in Devon.

Sights and sounds of North Devon.

After an abrupt end to the cycle, we visited National Trust estate, Arlington House.

Beautiful Victorian gardens at Arlington Court.

Arlington Court Carriage Museum.

Carriage Museum.

Arlington Park.

Inside Arlington Court.

A windy, bracing walk at Hartland Point.

Hartland Point is breathtaking.

A quick ‘stroll’ down to the bottom of Clovelly and back up again … on foot, not by donkey.

Below, some discoveries I’ve made:
1) I can track Hubby when he’s on business trips using the ‘where’s my iPhone’ app.
2) A lot of South Africans love their country and are standing together for change.
3) Gardening continues to be a good way to help someone, to get ‘exercise’, and to sleep well at night.
4) Chocolate eggs look more like dinosaur’s than chicken’s progeny.

My colleague showed me how to track down my Hubby, using the ‘Find my iPhone’ app. There he is on the quayside near the new Queensferry Crossing (new Forth Bridge) in Edinburgh.

Amazing gathering of South Africans praying for their country.

Here’s another crowd pic sent to me by a friend. My heart aches for my beloved South Africa, but oh, how beautiful to see how South Africans stand together. Trusting for prayers to be answered!

Love South Africa.

A Sunday afternoon weeding in the allotment.

Jurassic Park returns????? We are awash with chocolate at home so we’re sharing the ‘love’ in the office. Don’t see why we should get fat and unhealthy just Hubby and me!

“Spring is the time of plans and projects,” writes Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina. I wish my readers happy plans and projects wherever you are in the world.

SMALL PRINT:
P.s. Hubby was ‘trapped’ in the Falklands for a week because of 3 x cancelled/24hour delayed MOD (Ministry of Defence) flights because of the ‘wrong kind of wind’. On the last 24 hour delay they had checked him in and taken his luggage so no pants, no toothbrush, no phone chargers …. the only thing to do was integrate into the penguin colony. He won’t write a guest blog about the Falkland, but with permission, I give you his video below – turn your sound up and watch the naughty ‘guy’ moving around near the back of the penguin colony – his commentary is priceless!