Wednesday 27 June 2012

Salcombe, Devon


We have just returned from a long weekend in the Port Light Hotel near Salcombe, Devon.  The hotel is situated on the cliffs above Salcombe with amazing views of the coast in both directions and the one reason that I can confirm that the views are good is because Sunday slowly turned from a wet, grey and rainy day to one of glorious sunshine!  


Socx in flight!
David with the dogs on the beach - before the sun came out!
Maia in flight on the beach at Salcombe!






























In the morning we went to North Sands a small sandy cove where dogs are allowed all year round and slowly the sun came out and I took off my hat, then my leather coat, gloves and scarf and eventually even took off my cardigan to bask in the heat!    We even had lunch by the beach in a wonderful cafe where the food was excellent and fresh.

That brings me back to the Port Light Hotel.  Oh how the internet can deceive!  ‘The chef loves to cook with the fresh ingredients’ yes but he is better at re-heating, overcooking and totally murdering the food!
David agrees that we are probably spoilt with Stuart’s cooking and our expectations are just too high.  When our vegetables arrived this evening they were exactly the same veg as last night!  I wonder how many times they can be re-heated.  Tonight I had the ice cream – very good – unlike the rest of the deserts that are ‘bought in’.

The plus points of this hotel; the views, the peace and quiet and their acceptance of dogs all over the hotel and grounds and that is why we are here.  We have been able to take Socx and Maia into the dining room when we have breakfast and dinner and the hotel provide a place to hang the dog towels and a fridge to store fresh dog food.   I would also say that our bedroom is very modern and has wonderful views over the cliffs so probably a ‘7 out of 10’ would be a fair mark for this hotel.

Sunday afternoon we visited an 'open garden' and had a cream tea.  The dogs also had a cream tea.... a child dropped it on the ground LOL
 Just before we went into dinner this evening I took Socx and Maia for a walk along the cliffs, the sun was warm and even the wind had died down and the only sounds were the skylarks wheeling over the fields, such a beautiful sound and to wake up to only the sounds of birds is a delight, I just love the quiet and the time to appreciate this wonderful Earth we live on.

Thursday 14 June 2012

Chickens

How exciting yesterday we received our new chicken coop!

We are going to have the chickens in the garden at the top near the water tank and I needed a new house for them.  It comes flat packed so I was up early this morning and started painting it ready to assemble at the weekend.

As per normal got it from the internet and the company were very efficient, I ordered it on Sunday and it was delivered on Wednesday from Cocoon

It does look very posh!


We are going to have 4 birds which will be ample eggs for ourselves and our neighbours who want to share the chickens with us.

Not sure what type of hen to buy but a really great friend was in today and he is picking up 20 point-of-lay hens and has kindly added 4 more to the order for us!

So now I will have to paint extra fast and get the coop ready.  A new client who does farm work has agreed to build a run for the chickens and then we will be all set.

I will post photo's of our new girls next week!!