Yet another grey and wet start to today. DH had the bright idea of setting off to Westward Ho! an hour before it was forecast to clear up and hope that we could catch the best of the day. And that’s exactly what we did!

Westward Ho! is a real old fashioned seaside village. Two miles or so of beautiful flat sands when the tide is down, loads of rock pools to poke around in, and not much for the kids to want to buy or spend money on, lovely!  The name is that of a book by Charles Kingsley and was developed when the book was written in the mid 1880’s. It became a popular holiday place,  and still is, as could be seen by all the families strolling about and enjoying the simple delights of a beach.

We had to bolt for the car for 15 minutes or so and sat reading our books until the squall passed, then we had the clearest, bluest sky for hours, it was wonderful.  We shared a portion of extremely good fish and chips, walked up the sands and paddled in the sea, and did a lot of people watching.

Yesterday, we went to RHS Rosemoor, which was marvellous. The ‘hot’ border was at its peak and looking fantastic. I took the pictures on my phone and I just can’t seem to get them bigger without them losing focus. We spent hours there, wandering around, it’s huge

The kitchen was glorious and I was so envious of all that room they have. That part of the garden was extensive. There were some good ideas to copy too, like growing the smaller type of pumpkin up a trellis or along a fence.

There was also an exhibition showing the illustrations of Eric Kincaid, who illustrated some of my favourite childhood books, Alice in Wonderland, and Through The Looking Glass. Oh, it did bring back some lovely memories. I did love those books, I’ve a good mind to find a copy and re-read them.

Long drive back home tomorrow and back to real life, see you on the other side