Two brooms were hanging in the closet and after a while they got to know each other so well, they decided to get married. One broom was, of course, the bride broom, the other the groom broom. The bride broom looked very beautiful in her white dress. The groom broom was handsome and suave in his tuxedo. The wedding was lovely. After the wedding, at the wedding dinner, the bride-broom leaned over and said to the groom-broom, "I think I am going to have a little dust broom!!!" "IMPOSSIBLE !!" said the groom broom. "WE HAVEN'T EVEN SWEPT TOGETHER!" Sounds to me like she's been "sweeping" around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Handle every situation like a dog.

If you can't eat it or hump it.
Piss on it and walk away.

As we came away from Torrington, on the way back to Westward Ho! we happened to pass by this place http://www.gnomereserve.co.uk/. The gnome reserve is set amid rural countryside between Bideford and Bude just 7 miles from the Devon Cornwall border. The 4 acre Reserve comprises woodland, stream, 30 yard pond, meadow and garden - home to 1000+ gnomes and pixies, and about 250 labelled species of wild flowers, herbs, grasses and ferns.

Now both hubby and kids had begged me to go here and I have to say I didn't want to. I am not into gnomes at all, so was rather reluctant to visit, but turned the car around, like the good wife and mother I am, and headed to my destination.

Once there we had to put on these silly hats so that the "gnomes didn't get frightened" (and they say I am mad).

we walked round a garden full of different types of gnomes, some old and some new and did a quiz that was in the wildflower garden, counting how many fairies we saw, how many cuckoos, what the names of the plants were etc etc. Hubby insisted upon buying a gnome for his van, and I saw a couple of gift ideas which I may order from the website at a later date. I have to say it was better than I thought it would be though The kids loved it, even hubby did though he had a thoughtful moment in the garden

I can't leave without showing you a few piccies of the inhabitants

Situated in unspoilt countryside is the little town of Great Torrington which is an ancient settlement sited on an inland cliff top with steep drops down to the River Torridge below.

Great Torrington for years was valued for its strategic importance. The town had a significant role in the English Civil War, specifically, the Battle of Torrington in 1646 which marked the end of Royalist resistance in the West Country. Great Torrington today has become well recognised as an important heritage centre for the history of the 17th century. It is a vibrant community and people in the town, proud of their heritage, can often be seen dressed in costume for re-enactments, festivals and celebrations.

One quirk of the locals is to put straw men outside their houses. Some hang from upstair windows, others sit on the edge of the gardens leading to their houses, others are on rooftops. A wonderful sight to see.

Great Torrington also has an centre on Castle Hill known as Torrington 1646, where you will be shown round by various people dressed in period clothing and told the story of the Battle of Torrington, all about medicine of the times by a barber surgeon, the herbs and their uses and the clothing and armoury worn by the people of that day. You can also find out how to make rat stew by this man otherwise known as the barber surgeon, who demonstrated on my son how to remove a stone from the urinary tract Very interesting day out and well worth taking a visit as it is very informative and well worth the admission price. http://www.torrington-1646.co.uk/

Headed off towards the church of St Michael and All angels which was rebuilt after the battle in 1651 .

The local museum was interesting as it had the history of glove making in the area and a feature on the various fires in and around Torrington including one at Sydney House, which was home to children who were ill, suffering from tuberculosis or other childhood ailments. On the night of Thursday 19th February 1942, there were 59 children and 8 staff resident in Sydney House. At 19:35, just after lights out, a fire broke out in the linen room, on the top floor, where the dormitories for all the boys and the younger children were also situated. The fire spread very rapidly and quickly became uncontrollable. The house was abandoned but 5 boys were missing from the roll call. Firemen fought throughout the night in freezing conditions to try and find the boys, helped by many other courageous individuals. Three were brought out but could not be revived. The other two were found dead in the rubble the following morning. This tragic event is reflected by a commemorative stone on the site of the building and the creation of a new Secret Memorial Garden in the Castle hill grounds.

The museum is housed in the town hall and admission is free.

It began to rain as we left Barnstaple so we headed up the A39 towards Hartland Abbey. Very picturesque scenery we drove through and though some of the roads were very narrow it was a joy to drive to.

The Abbey lies about one mile from Hartland Quay and lies across a narrow, sheltered valley which winds its way to the spectacular Atlantic Coast. To the right is a splendid walk which takes you down to the Quay itself while to the left is a walled garden that is worth looking at if it is not raining, or at least if it is not torrential rain, as it can be quite slippery when wet

Hartland Abbey was built in 1157 and consecrated by Bishop Bartholomew of Exeter in 1160AD as a monastery of the regular canons of the Order of St Augustine of Hippo. The Abbey remained as a monastery until 1539 when it became the last monastery in the country to be Dissolved by Henry VIII. The King made a gift of the Abbey to the Sergeant of his Wine Cellar at Hampton Court, Mr. William Abbot.

In 1583 the first of three heiresses, Prudence Abbot, married Andrew Luttrell of Dunster Castle in Somerset and the Abbey remained in that family for some 100 years. In 1704, the second heiress, Mary Luttrell married Paul Orchard. The Orchards were to remain at the Abbey through the 18th century until the third heiress, Anne Orchard, married George Buck and moved into the Abbey on the death of her brother in 1812.

The great grandfather of the present owner, Sir Hugh Stucley , who was also called George Buck changed his name to Stucley (being a much older family name) when he was created a Baronet for political services to North Devon, in 1859. The Abbey continues to be the lived in home of the Stucley family.

There is plenty to see including the donkeys that are very friendly, the Black Welsh sheep and the many peacocks that are in residence very amicably in the deer garden

The Abbey contains many pictures, porcelain and furniture which have been accumulated over many generations and is well worth a visit if only to look and admire the many paintings that are on display.

After leaving here we popped into Cheristow lavender farm, one of my favourite plants, and after looking around managed to buy a few pots of muscle rub for our tired and aching limbs

http://www.cheristow.co.uk/

A bustling market town, which we would have overlooked had it not been for the fact that we desperately needed to visit an Abbey National for some funds and the one and only library we came across told us the nearest branch was either in Barnstaple or Swansea!!! I cannot believe that they think Swansea is nearer than Exeter, but there you go So we headed into Barnstaple, found a parking space and walked along the River Taw into the town, which is home to a pannier market (well worth a visit), Green Lanes shopping mall which is home to a variety of well known shops, Butchers row (no prizes for guessing what is sold here), a huge leisure centre, as well as other places that you can visit or shop at. It also has a small out of town shopping area as well. Despite its popularity as a main shopping area for North Devon and for its tourists attractions, it remains reasonably unspoilt and we all agreed that if we lived locally then we definitely would be going there to buy our fresh fruit, bread and meat from the small shops/market it housed rather than from the bigger supermarkets.

From Coombe Martin, we headed towards Ilfracombe.

I had been there once before, many years ago and felt I needed to put some ghosts to rest so to speak as I don't have many happy memories of the place at all. However things were not as bad as i feared.

Ilfracombe, for those who do not know, is a small seaside town that is surrounded by cliffs and yes another town that is on a hill!! (can you tell my legs hurt by this time ) It was the first seaside resort to be developed in North Devon and by the early 19th century it had a road, and rail network to transport significant numbers of visitors to and from its town and beaches.

The scenery is spectacular and a must see attraction is 'The Tunnels' Which were carved out in 1823 by Welsh Miners to allow easy access to Crewekhorn Cove where there were two tidal bathing pools, one for the women and one for the men.

The museum is well worth a visit as well, full of interesting facts about the surrounding area and its history and yes I did lay my ghosts to rest

Didn't get to see much of this little seaside resort mainly because parking is at a premium with all the car parks full to overflowing. However we did make it to the Wildlife and Dinosaur part for the enthusiasts in the family.

A little disappointed in this though as there wasn't an awful lot to see in the way of fake dinosaurs, what they did have were a few models that moved occasionally but only every hour on the hour and as eldest said, he has seen better. Not sure what he was expecting, but he is the 'expert' amongst us!

There is a Dinosaur museum on site though that was well laid out and gave the history of the Dinosaur (like I haven't seen it several times already) as well as a collection of Dinosaur eggs (very Jurassic park!).

The wildlife park is home to a variety of animals though some had managed to escape and were annoying some of the inhabitants!

All Saints Church Clovelly

All Saints' Church, restored in 1866, is late Norman, containing several monuments to the Cary family, lords of the manor for 600 years. There are references to the Hamlyn family as well, the grave of Christine Hamlyn lies here as well as the father of Charles Kinsley, the Reverend Charles Kingsley served first as Senior Curate then as Rector here.

This font that stands in the church is over 1000 years old.

And an inscription on a headstone, though unfortunately we only managed to decipher some of it.

"All you hath here do pass this way, behold three children here do lay, who lived in love, all died in peace ..............."

Beautiful fishing village that is built on a steep hill in Devon, with whitewashed houses clinging to the hillside and cobbled streets leading down to a most ancient and beautiful harbour, the sea and of course, most importantly, the Red Lion Pub so you can quench your thirst once you have walked down those narrow streets. The village has ancestry going back to the Doomsday book and beyond.

Clovelly is traffic free and the main street, known very simply as 'up-a-long' and 'down-a-long', tumbles its cobbled way down 400ft of solid rock to the tiny harbour and lifeboat station, and local hostelry which are protected by an ancient stone breakwater. One of the passageways contains a small church,St. Peter's Chapel, opened in 1846, for those people who could not walk up the steep cobbles to attend the local church. There is also a small Methodist chapel which is situated next to the New Inn Bar, not quite sure what John Wesley would have thought of this

Clovelly owes its present preservation to one Christine Hamlyn who dedicated herself to the restoration of the cottages and the shops in the village. Here you will find various styles from her travels around the world, the swiss looking architecture, the fruit on the door of a cottage, all with her initials carved into the houses with the date of their restoration. The Clovelly Estate Company, which owns all of the buildings in the village and a few thousand acres around it, take responsibility for all the maintenance and is thus able to ensure that the results are a unique village, standing still in the midst of the 19th century in terms of its buildings and streets (and its donkeys, which were used to ferry goods around) but with a community of the 21st century.

Clovelly was also the childhood home of the Victorian author and social reformer, Charles Kingsley and the place which inspired him to write his enduring children's classic, ‘The Water Babies’. 'The Three Fishers' which he wrote in 1851, is a stark reminder of the harsh realities faced by fishing families.

"Three fishers went sailing away to the West,
Away to the West as the sun went down;
.....Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower,
And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down;
They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower,
And the night-rack came rolling up ragged and brown........
Three corpses lay out on the shining sands,
In the morning gleam as the tide went down,
And the women are weeping and wringing their hands
For those who will never come home to town."

Visitors, who venture all the way down to the pebbled beach at the foot of the village, are rewarded not only with stunning views across the estuary, but also the sight of a lovely waterfall emanating out of the cliff face, trickling down to the sea. There is a cave behind the waterfall where legend has it that Merlin was born.

The Quay is made from The drystone which was started in the 13th Century, extended in the 16th Century and lengthened again in 1826. The four cannon barrels used as bollards on the quay are said to come from Spanish ships from the Armada.
In the past centuries, this coastline was rife with smuggling, wrecking and piracy and was notorious for shipwrecks. More recently it is used for boat regattas which we were lucky enough to watch when we went there.

Since 1870, Clovelly has had its own lifeboat to help protect those in peril on the sea. The bay is sheltered from westerly winds and even today ships will wait in Clovelly Roads for storms to pass.

On the other side of the harbour, there is an old lime kiln once used for turning limestone into lime to spread on the fields and reduce soil acidity.

A good day out, not recommended if it is wet though as the cobbles can be quite slippery. There is a visitors centre which you have to go through first, which houses a cafe and souvenir shops so that the village remains uncommercialised. There is an entrance fee payable to the village that covers not only admission to the audio-visual programme and two museums but also for parking. A substantial part of the fee contributes to the ongoing maintenance programme at Clovelly which, by ensuring that slate is replaced with slate, and oak with oak, the village retains its original charm and magic.

Picked the dogs up this morning, both have been bathed which is nice, by the kennel owners as apparently they both decided getting covered in mud was a good idea!

Came home, spoke to mum on the phone when I heard youngest scream. He came downstairs crying and holding his hand. Nigel looked at it and decided that he needed to go to the hospital so that was my morning gone, spending it at the hospital!!

Apparently he was playing Tomb Raider and got annoyed with it, threw down the handset in frustration but must have hit his hand against the wooden surround, heard his thumb click and it hurt (as it would). By the time we got to the hospital the area around his thumb and hand was 3 times the size it should have been and he couldn't move it. After having it examined and xrayed, it is only a sprain and not a fracture fortunately, but you can't be too careful with kids can you? He did manage to throw up all over the reception area and apparently over the poor woman who was taking the x ray (as you do) which was slightly embarassing, but one thing I can guarantee with my children is that will happen if they are in pain and I did warn the people concerned

So he is home now, cold compress on, and milking it for all it is worth. we finally managed to eat breakfast, bacon rolls, and don't think I will cook the roast I was planning, too much hassle now

Hope your Sunday is a little less exciting