How to file your best friends nails sneakily

It's so good to be able to show you a bear again.

The size of a bear in a photograph can be deceiving.

See what I mean. I didn't make this little guy, I won him in a Benson Bears giveaway a few weeks ago.

How I could be so lucky. I gushed when I won him, but just like to gush again and say thank you to Linda from Benson Bears. Linda has more bears you can gush over at Bears in the Bush.  He travelled from Tasmania to Soggibottom  and arrived a few minutes before we took a large step to normality in the cottage from our burst under ground water pipe back in February.

We can't say we are sorry to see the back of grey concrete. Amie wasn't very impressed with it either, but it was a good way to file her claws. About the only positive thing that that a concrete floor has in it's favor.

Even my tardis cupboard under the stairs had to be removed. Everything that could be moved went to higher ground ready for our new floor.

Was it worth waiting for ?
Not sure if we really needed a leaky water pipe to start with or all the hassle that went with it.
Beautiful floor though.

Amie likes it.

We're slowly getting back to normal, things are returning to where they should be.
Isn't that right Mew ?

Tears and Sunday lunch.

Amie isn't really crying over her lunch, she needs her face washed.

Dinner wasn't that bad after all, let's just say she never left much.

Ames didn't have to fill this in today. The national census was a bit of a let down anyway. Didn't have to put how many cats or dogs. They did however want to know about your religion. It amazed me to know that there are so many Jedi , Dali Lama followers and Witches around in our village. Makes me wonder how many Jedi there are in England today.. One person who went past the cottage said they had written  that they were a Wiki Leak follower this morning.  If you want to know the results of today's census you will have to wait a hundred years to get the information.

There are buds bursting out everywhere, these are on our plum tree. In a few weeks I know one of us will be counting how many plums are on the tree and then blaming me when one goes missing.

Soggibottom is going to be missing from the blogging world for a few days. But only for a few. The week has arrived. Nearly six weeks of living without a working kitchen and an upside down cottage, we are getting ready for our new floor on Wednesday. Can you believe the weather forecast, it's going to rain all day...

Our garden could really do with some rain anyway... See you all later in the week. :-)

Let sleeping dogs dream of the beach.

 The best thing to do is to find a cosy spot out of the wind when every one is busy messing around in the garden..... Let sleeping dogs dream.......

of the beach.

Sandy crabs

It wasn't one of the best days to go walking on the beach.
Amie never really missed much...

Only one other person on the beach anyway.

All in all much better to stay at home and watch tomato's grow...

This tomato plant is especially for Caroline and our tomato challenge.

The cottage is still not quite as we know it.
I will have the camera in my hand and rolling when we have a new floor next week.
At least our garden is ready to roll for Spring.
Normal blogging and visiting will be resumed soon... 
Until then Ames really does have the right idea.

Was she dreaming of the beach?
Did she really know we had been on the beach without her ?
We knew and we missed her beside us.
Sometimes it really is best to let a dog sleep off their lunch...

No shoes

Chilling out this week...
Taking shoes off and Mew isn't watching any T.V NEWS.....

80 miles around Dartmoor.

This is where I left  the last post. At Dartmeet with the Medieval Clapper Bridge and the18th Century bridge  that is now used.

It's always good to see the bridge at a different angle..

The River Dart meanders for miles on the moor. 

A bit like us, no matter how many times we go, we always take a different route.

Miles and miles of moorland. Unbelievable to think all the moor land has been man made. At one time trees covered the whole area.

The sheep know their way around, even the best places to keep out of the wind. If you look closely there is a lamb huddled beside mama.

Most people who visit Dartmoor head for Widecombe in the Moor. I'm never sure why, apart from the old song of Uncle Tom Cobley going to Widecombe Fair.

 The hill is a bit steep going down into the village.

We never saw Uncle Tom Cobley, or the grey mare.
The next Widecombe fair is 13th September. It's nearly always muddy, so be warned.
There is always a grey mare with a very good look a like Uncle Tom Cobley.Tea at the Vicarage and lots of stalls.

Have to add that Widecombe looks far too quiet.. It is March, not quite the holiday season.

A few weeks time and cars and coaches hog the roads again.

I don't think all the coaches end up at Dartmoor prison, but there is a large car park at Princetown.

This is Princetown's tourist centre. Not a soul in sight.

Well may be one that we passed on our way across the moor on our way home.
Dartmoor is about 9 miles from Soggibottom Cottage. 
Unbelievable we travelled about 80 miles, wandering around.
Although we did stop for lunch.

Dartmeet, Hound Tor and the Ink Blot Test.

 Dartmoor National Park can look idyllic at any time of year. Miles and miles of what seems like wilderness.

 

 

 

 

Lots of Thatched Cottages and stone walls.

 

Ponies, sheep and cows that roam around freely.

 

This guy has some road sense as he is walking on the path.

We normally stop at Haytor. On energetic days we even climb to the top, Haytor is higher than it looks from this view.

There are so many Tors on Dartmoor they dominate the sky line.

 East and West Dart rivers meet high on the moor at Dartmeet. This is a Medieval Clapper Bridge. I won't mention "one of us" nearly over balanced while posing for the photo ! .

The 18th Centuary Bridge  beside the clapper bridge is a better and safer way to cross.

For a change we took a different route around the moor and found ourselves near Hound Tor. It's said that Hound Tor was the Inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. The Tor was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Hundatora. There are so many myths and legends that surround this Tor, stories of ghosts and ancient graves and dwellings. On the North East side there is an old Medieval Settlement. It's also said that everyone who looks at the Tor will see different shapes, a bit like the ink blot test. What do you think ?

 

This Hound is enough for us.

Amie did have a bit of a sniff around. Good to get out and about again after the Winter.  So much for gardening today then !