Stourhead

Sunday the 10th of November, a perfect day to visit Stourhead. The autumn colours were glorious against the deep blue sky reflected in the lake.

Wild Seas at Bantham

We took Monday off and headed for the coast, a good decision as it was a glorious day with really wild seas. We watched a seal having fun in the huge waves really close in to the shore and a surfer! There were lots of large hairy Fox moth caterpillars along the coast path and we had to moove several to safety to prevent them being trodden on! There were also lots of Red Admiral and Tortoiseshell butterflies making the most of the warm sunshine and a dry day, I am glad we did too!

Fallow Deer

I took this picture of a beautiful female Fallow deer near Castle Drogo, I love to see these deer but sadly the National Trust is culling a lot of them so I don't see them so often now. I know there are too many deer in some places but here there are miles of woods for them to roam in and I think it is sad they are being killed. The places I used to see them rut on and gather are growing over and will soon need "managing" to keep the vegitation down! And actually it is all about money as they are selling the meat in Castle Drogo. I think they would make more money if they encouraged people to come and watch the deer instead.

Meeth Quarry Nature Reserve

On Sunday we went to explore the recently opened Meeth Quarry nature reserve, the Devon Wildlife Trusts newest reserve and full of promise of wonderful wildflowers and butterflies which I am looking forward to seeing next spring. I love this Dragonfly bench, very clever!

The Royal Pavilion Brighton

Last Sunday we explored the amazing Royal Pavilion in Brighton, a place I had often seen but never been in.
The interior is incredible especially the huge chandelier being held by a silver dragon. Having just seen the dragons painted by Roger Dean the night before I could not help wondering if he had perhaps been influenced by seeing the ones in the pavilion when he was young! It was such a beautiful hot day I really wished I had my swimming things with me & I would have been able to have a long swim after seeing all those fiery dragons!

Roger Dean Exhibition

We have just been to see a Roger Dean exhibition near Fletching in East Sussex. It was wonderful to see so many of his original paintings including his "Badger" painting which is one of Barry's favourites. The original was £29,000 a bit out of my range! So I opted for a print which Roger signed for us & here is a picture of him with Barry and the Badgers.

Verity

On Sunday we went to Ilfracombe and saw the huge bronze statue of Verity by Damien Hurst which dominates the waterside, it is quite amazing and much larger that I had expected, she stands hich on large bronze books of law. A lot of the locals don't like it but it is a great tourist attraction and statement. Damien has a gallery oposite the harbour and you can see a selection of his prints and other items for sale there.