Fun in Devon: Around Dartmoor

More from Devon, where we went to a Widecombe Country Fair and saw sheep shearing, vintage steam farm equipment, ferret racing, produce competitions, and hunting hounds (who were so sweet aside from the fact that it's their job to tear foxes from limb to limb).

We also did a little hike to one of Mama and Daddy's favourite places, Wistman's Wood, one of the oldest remaining dwarf oak forests in England.



Dartmoor is a magical place!

Fun in Devon: A Harrowing Tale

Our second full day in Devon we decided to walk a circuit from Kingston estate, taking in the surrounding farmland and a couple of nearby villages. It was very muddy, so Mama and Daddy donned their boots and Jackson rode in his sling and on shoulders. We were about an hour into our walk and in the home stretch when we came upon a workman who told us the road ahead was closed because the hedgerows were being trimmed. Being a North Devon man himself (we were in the South), he knew of no other way for us to go but to back track the hour-long route we had just taken, although we could see that Kingston was not 10 minutes away! We had no choice; we turned back. However, we soon spotted a gate that we could climb over that seemingly led to farmland over which we could see the estate in the near distance. We hopped this gate (or scrambled over it as quickly as possible with a sleeping Jackson in his sling) into the field. It was then we noticed the cows, advancing quickly and hungrily towards us. Mama had recently read about a woman who had been trampled to death by cattle in Scotland, so she was wary. And the faster she, Jackson, and Daddy moved across the field, the quicker the mass of big, hungry cows seemed to advance. Finally, we were all able to make it to the gate at the far end of the field and hop over it, leaving the cattle to bray at us though the bars. We had escaped! But only to be confronted with another vast, and fenced-in field, and worse still, the appearance of a farmer on whose land we were presumably trespassing! So there we were, stuck between a mass of hungry, braying cattle one side and a potentially hostile farmer on the other. We ducked behind some trees to hide from the farmer (who had surely heard the cows by this point) and try to figure out what to do. We could see the estate less than 50 yards away, just beyond the next fence. But now we were animal agitators and trespassers to boot! What would become of us? After awhile, it became clear that neither the farmer nor the cattle were going away, so we took decided to just lay our cards on the table to the farmer (as we couldn't very well get past the cows, who would likely be the winners of any waiting game we might try to play). So off we traipsed to be told off by the farmer, we presumed, who seemed to not notice us even as we approached.


This "farmer" turned out to be a shy and monosyllabic young teenager who didn't seem to grasp who we were, and seemed not to care at all that we were on his land. He had no advice for getting across the fence, and perhaps didn't quite understand what we were up to, so after we apologised for interrupting his work, we skipped off for the last short stretch home, relieved at how silly we'd been. But it wasn't over: another fence blocked our advancement, this one impossible to reach due to a massive heap of limbs and branches surrounding it, moat-like. Further down, this moat of dead wood became on of mud, and the fence encompassed a thick wood, which we identified as part of the estate, but difficult to penetrate even if we were able to enter. By this time, Mama was ready to get home. So she and Jackson stomped off through the mud to climb the fence into the wood. But the mud Mama thought she was stepping through turned out to be far more sinister: it was a huge, deep pile of manure, no doubt a trap laid by the cows as punishment for those who trespass into their field and then run off without feeding them. Mama sank into the morass up to her knees and could not budge her feet from the spot. She and Jackson were stuck, and sinking farther down into the bog! To get them unstuck, Daddy had to help pull Mama out by her arms, leaving her boots behind! It was Daddy who finally identified a more approachable way up to the fence and then through the deep woods of the estate, and finally to our cosy cottage for lunch. And Jackson slept through the whole thing!

Fun in Devon: Kingston and Surrounds

We spent most of last week in South Devon on Kingston Estate, a marvellous old countryside estate with outbuildings and leisure facilities.

We stayed in one of the oldest buildings on the property, Bass Court, which had its own hot tub and gardens.

Near Kingston is the village of Staverton, where we caught the South Devon (steam) Railway to a nearby town.



Next post: a harrowing tale...

Update in Absentia

We're away in Devon this week, so Mama programmed this video to be posted in our absence. Jackson is developing so fast. He can say so many words now (duck, ball, dog, socks, cat, quack, Jackson, up, nose, etc etc). Last week 2 more bottom teeth started to come in. And Sunday, he took 4 steps! He absolutely loves to dance and "sing." Here he is enjoying doing just that with Daddy:

Adventures in Oxfordshire: Inn and Out

While in Oxfordshire last week, we stayed in the country at the Trout at Tadpole Bridge , a very child-friendly B&B with a great restaurant in the pub.

It was situated next to the Thames and along the Thames Path, and we went on walks both mornings we were there.

Mama and Daddy particularly enjoyed getting to have proper dinners "out" with Jackson and a nice bottle of wine.

We had fun sharing a dessert three ways!

On the drive back, we stopped for lunch in Avebury, a village built in the midst of a mysterious and ancient stone circle (like Stonehenge but much larger).

Adventures in Oxfordshire: Cotswolds Wildlife Park

In Oxfordshire, we drove to the Cotswolds Wildlife Park, Jackson's first zoo experience!


He enjoyed patting the goats in the petting zoo section--until they ganged up on us, and their bleating made him cry.


He also enjoyed touching the pigs.


In addition to seeing animals he knew from books like zebras, lions, camels and owls, he really loved the leopards ("cat!").


He also got to see his first kookaburra. Mama and Daddy sang the Kookaburra song for him.

Adventures in Oxfordshire: Oxford

Under the Bridge of Sighs.

Sunday lunch at the Turf Tavern, which Bill Clinton frequented in his non-inhaling days.

Along the river, with punters in the background.

At the Museum of Natural History. Jackson preferred crawling all over to the stuffed animals and dinosaur bones.

Tomorrow: Photos from the Cotstwolds