Drunken Times and Ghosts

Last week we went out to see friends up the road for dinner and we decided to walk. Unfortunately they have a rather large cattle grid at their entrance and as we were going back my Mum fell through it and hurt herself quite badley (well, she had had a bit too much to drink) and the poor thing is still in pain. This is their cat 'Lucky'. (Wasn't so lucky for my Mum though).

And their dog 'Storm'

I went to see how my planted Scots Pines were last week sometime, they both seemed fine

Although one is a little yellow from too much water!

The catch up!

Wedenesday night:

Right, well, we all got drunk! We, that's myself, Sue (who owns Dunsbeare and her daughter Katie and her husband Rod who turned up later), Mary (sister of Sue) and daughter Joanna,
Andy, Ruth, their children Teresa and Sophie (who are staying at the farm and it's their 20th year at coming to Dunsbeare in August!) all walked via the Tarka trail to Yarde for an acoustic folk evening at an oraganic cafe with it's own famous compost loo (yep, pretty disgusting!) and with the £10 ticket we were fed, watered on 2 free pints of cider and given a concert of talent! Every drink after was a £1 and our usual respectable reputation died a funny death. It was the cider that did it. To us all. And then the wine, where Rod was drinking half pints of red wine. We were loud, raucuous and couldn't stop laughing. Mary, who usually frowns upon you if you have more then 2 glasses of wine was the worst, trying to get me, Katie and Teresa (who are both 18/19) hooked up with the guys playing and singing, every so often she kept rather loudly asking if we had swopped phone numbers! Then as all of these 'hippy' things happen a fire was lit outside and we all went there and clapped and danced to the music. Rod fell over a cat, much to his daughters embarrassment with the words, "Oh My God" and Joanna tried frantically to stop her Mum calling her Dad to come down, Mary phoned him around a dozen times! At the end no-one could stand, the worst offenders were myself, Mary, Andy and Rod who had to be driven home by Katie (who was sober), Sue said she was alright but I could tell she was getting there! So Ruth went home in the car too and so we walked back in the dark (it was 1:30am) over the Tarka trail, Sue, Mary, me and Andy all linking arms laughing our socks off in the heart of the countryside, our voices must have travelled for miles, the Tarka Trail will never feel the same way again! On the way into the farm a very drunken Andy was attacked by Rocky the guard dog and we all fell on the floor with laughter! The next morning I was fine. Rod too who had to go to work, but Andy was in a sorry state, but Mary the worst! She had parked her car blocking the way out for the farm and they had to call her to move the car at 12pm, she was still in bed, at 1pm she walked down looking A MESS!!!!! She'll NEVER live it down!!!!!

Yarde round the fire!

Great fire - no drunken photos though, it's too embarrassing!

Dartmoor with sunlight patch

Rain clouds over Dunsbeare (yes, we got wet!)


Autumn skies

Thursday:

I had the LONGEST shower possible! And even managed to do some painting. Andy, Ruth, Teresa and Sophie came town for tea and ended up staying for fish n'chips. Teresa, Sophie and I were mostly talking about ghost stories and they were looking at my vast collection of books on the subject and asking me if I had ever encountered a ghost. No was the answer, but I had felt something sometimes. They asked if I would be scarred to see one and I said no. Wrong answer. That night around 3am I turned to the other side of my bed, feeling something was there and opened my eyes, there floating in space was a spooky, terrorising face starring down on me, I reached over and turned the light on and it disappeared. Trying to make myself believe it was only a dream I turned round and shut my eyes while shaking when suddenley I felt SO hot that I had to take the covers off and then I felt the temperature drop to such a degree that there was a breeze blowing on my legs . . . So I told it, 'Whatever or whoever you are, please leave me alone" and it did. I was scarred, only because my Mum had the same face looking at her a few years back in her bedroom in the cottage. It's my Dad's turn next! Anyone else had a ghostly encounter? Do comment.

All the fields have been ploughed now

Friday:

I went over to Dunsbeare for the afternoon. Katie works in one of the local pubs in Torrington and had been gossiping about us all about Wednesday night. So it's ALL over the town! Sue and Mary have lived at Dunsbeare all their lives and their Mum and Dad are very promient local farmers/people and the local district know them and their family well. So poor Sue, trying to explain to gossiping eyes that it wasn't her, it was her sister! Luckily no-one knows who I am and even if they did it wouldn't really matter! So I spent the day at the farm with Sue, we were trying to plan to go out and have dinner at Katie's pub but we didn't manage it and good job too as there was a punch up! So we stayed in with a bottle of wine and freshly picked blackberries for pudding and Katie dropped me back.

Sue's cat 'Claud' - he caught a mole not so long ago! (I wasn't very happy and neither was the mole!)

Saturday:

Now, I would have gone to the Flower festival with everyone at our local villages church in Merton but I decided against it and did all my packing (a lot of stuff in 6 weeks) and then spent 6 hours painting (all the painting I should have done before) and produced some pretty good small canvases which I needed as my friend Shirley is having a Birthday party and has freshly decorated white walls and as offered to show them as part of the party and has told eveyone to bring their cash! That'll be 16th Sept. Anyway, so I did all that and then after dinner took the last walk in the field. The cows in the field to the right were going mad as half of them had esacaped into the wood and the other half were charging round the fields like maniacs! What a sight, what a sound, hooves galloping on the ground! (where else Em. . .). So that was the last night in Devon and of course the next day, yesterday, we left in glorious sunshine. Typical.

Night cows - I love the eyes! Can you spot how many?

Wiltshire at speeds yesterday

Same again

The A303

All the fields have been cut

As you can see!

Again the closest I get to StoneHenge!

Not sure if I'm going to get to blog the rest of this week as I'm off to Canterbury tomorrow. I spoke to Laury this morning and we're staying in her friends house (who are away) which is 9 miles south of Canterbury, in the middle of no-where, with the electric entrance gates and swans in the back garden, she said bring my camera, well I, like you all know, don't go ANYWHERE without my camera!!!!!

Lots of love to one and all and see you soon,

Emy xxx