Teds in trees and cows in fields, know your place

I keep telling everyone how green it is in Devon at this time of year.


Probably why Devon has so many cows.
Why are cows so nosy ?



This is the pasture next to the cow field.
I thought it would explain exactly what I mean about everything looking green.


As it's a Bank Holiday we don't tend to head for the beach , we normally stick to the lanes around the village when we go for a walk.



The blue bells in the wood are almost over, but the hedgerow is really coming into life.


Lots of Caterpillary things.


Beetles


My favorite, wild honeysuckle, I'm not so hot about bugs and the caterpillars.



Dartmoor and Haytor in the distance.


Amie would probably have loved the view if she could see that far.





Before any one asks, the orange socks are mine, you can't go walking in the woods and along the lanes and not be dressed to impress. Or maybe we can use them to be seen if we ever get lost up there.

Howling Hound House

We all have strange weeks don't we ?



I'm not sure why some of my weeks seem stranger than others.


But yes, a strange week down here at Soggibottom, the birds have been twittering.
TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING AGAIN.... the dog over the bridge....bless his paws, has a very loud bark very early in the morning for such a small dog... not that I really mind, I can never understand why someone would want their dog to get so agitated if they really cared for them so much... GIVE HIM TO ME !

The sparrow really wants to be fed. He has enough food outside on the bird table to sink a ship.


One of "us", has been counting plums on the tree.... ha ha... never count your chickens... I really wish we had chickens...........
So does the fox that prowls our bridge early in the morning.


We have bears instead.


Could have a horse, except that I would never be up early enough for it... so for all the horse lover's........ I will think of you every morning, just about the time when the dog and the sparrows wake me up.


Garden and potato lovers................. enjoy your weekend... it's going to rain by the way........

Embarrassing cat !

I make all sizes of bears as you can see, this one is sitting on a Gunner leaf that makes her look slightly smaller. This plant has grown so much over the last few glorious days of sunshine.


The whole garden is closely planted with all my favorite cottage plants. The roses aren't out yet but they are in bud. Although I know the plants have loved the sun, the sun shy took cover.


Sitting in the coolest spots.


I thought I would share this year's garden with you. It's "this year's", because it changes from year to year.
It seeds itself apart from the odd thing that I plant/cram in.
Our bad Winter has finished off two 16 year old potted orange tree's that were under cover as they are every Winter. I've left them still in their huge pots, hoping that they might recover. Even with the kiss of life they might struggle.


Taking the photo's this afternoon, Frank was lurking around as usual.
Embarrassing cat.
He's washing his legs....... it could be his legs !

Tea and biscuits in the garden.

We think Summer has finally arrived.


It's been a long time coming to Devon this year.



This is a bear that I have decided to call Biscuit.
I don't often name bears but I really like this guy.
Probably because he is made from the same pattern as the Soggibottom Bear that sits in the cottage window.
Could be cousins!


I did changed the pattern slightly.
This guy has wood wool to fill him out.
He's a heavy fellow so he has nuts and bolts holding him together.
He's off to Ullacombe Farm in a few weeks, just as well really as he seems to like lounging around in our garden.
I quite like him lounging around the place, might have to find a spot for him in the cottage after all.

Designer dog sweaters/jumpers

Now how cute can you get ?
This is Molly.
Do we wish she was here at Soggibottom ? oh yes, little cutie.
Molly is a rescue dog, can you believe that?
Molly your on the wrong blog....................... you need to be on Pupylov with Lisa

Here she is wearing her pink, sweater/jumper, I'm still not sure how I came to knit this, but I do know that I have to knit a red one for Christmas, maybe with some pink in.
Pleased that it fitted. I promise not to tell everyone your waist measurement Molly.


Molly also had a Soggibottom label in her sweater.
Molly knows she only wears designer gear.




Here's a very long standing friend of Amie's. Zak.
Also another rescue dog.
Before you ask, no, Zak isn't the kind of guy who wears poofy sweaters/jumpers. Especially at his age.


He has Flint to keep him warm anyway.


The calf ?
I thought I would give you a tip :-
When cooing over a calf don't get so near that they lick your face.


I really wanted to take her home, the image of a very large cow trying to sit on my lap eating dog cookies stopped me.

Blanket of trees

How can you not love trees ?


Lacey looking ones.


Spooky ones.


A beautiful day means that we normally go for a long walk.


Looking at all the woodland flowers.




Then, after tea we collapse and go to sleep.


Well, some of us do.

Bird with worms

Not the best place to have a nest box in the Soggibottom garden.
We never really expected the box to have any inhabitants as Frank's "best spot" in the garden is just under the nest box.
It looked good at the time.
Until our neighbour cut down the honeysuckle.




When we went to take it down and spruce up the fence paint we were stunned to find eggs inside the nest box.
One nest box hastily replaced.

Not sure what's going to happen when they fly as our new neighbour has three cats on the other side of the fence.
Frank one side and three cats the other.
Any idea's to save the family are welcome.

I'm sure Frank has loads of idea's, but we'll ignore him.

Working Donkey at Dawlish Warren in May

Meet Tim.


Amie and Tim were kissing each other, I didn't quite snap them in time.
What is it with Donkeys and Amie ?
To remind you, Amie is never off of her lead near a Donkey or a Horse.
We know Amie loves everyone, but how would a Donkey or a Horse know that.



The beauty of Dawlish Warren is that it has the best of both worlds.
The beach on one side of the dune.


A wild life sanctuary with it's own lake on the other.


Reed beds and views


Heron, geese, cormorants, swans and ducks.


The small collection of shells below are just a few of the one's collected this morning.



One of us has a magpie instinct for collecting things on the beach.




360 degree view of Dawlish Warren. Click to visit.