Totnes

A few weeks back now, we woke up with really bad cabin fever so whilst eating breakfast I got the bright idea to have a day out in my favourite town totnes, this meant rushing around getting dressed, packing snacks, finding keys and my wallet ( which was empty) then a mad dash to the next village to get money out of the Post office to catch the bus with ( we cut it pretty fine) then a bus ride to Newton abbot then hanging around for 45 minutes to catch the bus to totnes but it was so worth it. 

I love everything about totnes, the river, the pretty houses and winding streets, the shops, the castle, the people ( I'll never forget stopping to listen to a young lad playing led zeppelin songs on an accordion ), and the laid back chilled out atmosphere the town has  that seeps into you as you wonder along the streets, also it has plenty of vegan cafes and bakeries perfect for a dairy intolerant toddler to get his cake on.

We wondered around the castle chasing dragons and looking down over the rooftops ( makes me think of the scene with burt the chimney sweep in Mary popins), perused old bookshops, browsed beautiful dresses in vintage shops, ate cake and sweets, danced to buskers playing fiddles and penny whistles and bought little treasures and bundles of ribbon.      

Gorilla hunting

Whilst summer was still hanging on and autumn was just beginning to creep in jimmy and I finally got round to finding all the gorillas that were on display in exeter ( ok so we didn't see the one at the university as it was a really long walk from the city centre) 

A few days later when the cupboards were bare, we drove down to Torquay for fish and chips and bagged ourselves a few bonus gorillas on the seafront

All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey....

Autumns drawing to a close ( ok winter doesn't really start till the winter solstice, but Christmas begins in a few days) and its been lovely this year. Lots of walks in the woods, collecting leaves,eating blackberries, learning about acorns and baby oak trees, going on gruffalo hunts, bird watching, bulb planting, throwing sycamore seeds in the air to make them spin, looking for mushrooms ( but not touch them they might make you poorly), jumping on muddy puddles, listening to jays shrieking in the sky, nighttime being here quicker, playing conkers, new baby ( ex battery) hens to look after, stuffing our pockets full of pine ones, Halloween pumpkins to carve, watching mice and voles scurrying about in the garden, driving around exmoor looking for red deer, eating soup and flapjacks, wearing jumpers and thick socks and snuggling up on the sofa with the wood burner burning whilst we watch DVDs.