Thursday

A variance in air pressure across the earth’s surface is one of the reasons for the strong winds which we seem to have experienced last night and into today. Across the surrounding countryside for couple of hours with Dippy and new footwear was both refreshing and a new experience to have dry feet and socks. It is especially inspiring watching Dippy bounce around with the joy of simply being alive, something that we should all remind ourselves of more often. After a milky coffee and rock cake with Vivienne in the warm farmhouse kitchen I opened up every door and window of Amadeus to let the drying breeze woosh through and freshen up everything. Whilst I filled up my water tank with the hose pipe I gave my car and Amadeus a wash whilst Dippy entertained himself chasing leaves and anything that moved within the length of his retractable lead which I had tethered to a hazel steak under the cherry tree adjacent to the van. I had tried putting him inside for a short time and you can see in the first picture of my collage how unimpressed he was!
L popped by fleetingly to drop off my “missing “ shoes and clothes before Dippy and I headed out to Instow for a jog along the Tarka Trail to Bideford and back where after the high winds we checked out one of the sweet chestnut trees that often bears fruit on a regular basis. The results of our foraging are well documented in today’s collage together with some beautiful red berries of rough bindweed (or common smilax) which caught my eye when running back along the Tarka Trail,. Suitably fatigued (myself not the Duracell puppy!!) we headed back for some nourishment and rehydration.
The short days and longer nights obviously requires alternate entertainment especially when living in a van, reading and radio (there is a TV in here but I haven’t yet bothered setting it up) seems to be working fine for now but I’m planning some evening classes (watch this space).
Zzzzzz