A Wet Weekend

I spent this weekend in Devon, at my parent's house (although not actually visiting them, as they are not there) It was relaxing, and I enjoyed the weekend, although I should have liked a little less rain.

On Saturday morning, I went (via a rather roundabout route) to the seaside. The roundabout route was because of one road closure - I knew this, and went so far as to check an actual paper map before setting off. However, I didn't know that there were also some other roads which were also closed but which (presumably because they were smaller roads, and had been closed for ages so anyone relevant, such as local people, already knew about them) there were no signs about. So my journey involved rather more in the way of detours than I'd planned.  But given I had no timetable to stick to  and the scenery is pretty, so it was not really a hardship.

It was a grey day, with intermittent drizzle, but it wasn't too cold, so  enjoyed a walk along the beach.

There were a few surfers (although I think the surf must have been a bit disappointing) but other than the occasional dog-walker I had the beach pretty much to myself.

I spent some time peering into rock-pools, where there were lots of sea-anemones, and snails, and tiny little shrimpy things. I also found lots of shells - tiny, red-gold scallop shells, and mussels, and fingernail shells.

Further down the beach, beyond the rocks, it was sandy, and the lack of people meant that the patterns left by the outgoing tide were undisturbed, and beautiful.

On Sunday, it was much greyer and damper, so I enjoyed a nice long lie-in (It was disappointing not to have my parents there, as usually, when I visit, one of them brings me a cup of tea in the morning, provided I stay in bed long enough)

A little later, when the rain stopped, I went for a walk near the village - it was rather muddy and damp, but very pretty!

I then went through the woods - the path was mostly mud, covered with a thick layer of beech leaves and mast.

There was also the occasional fallen tree, and the woods themselves were a contrast of green and gold and black, as some trees had lost more of their leaves than others.

The walk ended with a climb up a steep, sheep-filled field. Which came as a bit of a surprise to me, as I'd forgotten the last bit of the walk!

And it started to rain once again, just as i got back to the house, which gave me a good excuse for sitting inside and reading Terry Pratchett for a bit, before heading home.

All in all, a very nice, low-key weekend.