Day 13 & the Valley of Rocks

Today involved my daughter and I going for a long walk this morning while my son looked after my wife.

We retro The Valley of Rocks once more, but whereas our previous walk this year was a short one, this was much longer. My daughter and I took Leia over the hill and down to the coast on the other side before taking a train back up and then almost doing the walk from two years ago in reverse.

After this, it was lunch in a new location, The Muddiford Inn. The food was great, though the service could have been better. It was a late lunch which meant that we cancelled our booked trip to the Black Venus, but we will be returning here tomorrow evening for our last meal in Devon.

Day 12 in Devon

First of all, yesterday. The kids went with my wife to Paint a Pot and I took the dog for a walk at Fremington Quay. We will be collecting the finished products later this week. We had been to Paint a Pot before, again on a rainy day, but when Leia and I went for our walk, things were dryer. Afterwards, it was a meal at The Bell again, though this time I had a starter and a pudding as I did not think that I would finish a main course.

After all this my wife and I later went to visit a friend, Adam, who has moved to Appledore following the breakup of his marriage.  While we had seen him earlier this holiday, doing so without children present allowed for a more honest conversation.  I feel guilty that I have not been in touch more and I am to rectify that going forwards.

Today, we went shopping in Barnstaple, the knee of my wife holding up. Afterwards it was a return to the Pyne Arms for another amazing meal. I chose badly for my main, which would suit most, but not me. Other than that, it was excellent food (again).  I did not take Leia for an evening walk, but instead played throw the ball with her. My son had taken part for a bit, but my daughter did the most out of all of us.

Hoped the knee issues will be improving along with the weather as it has rained in the last few days.

It Could Happen to You & Castle Hill in Devon

First of all, the leg of my wife was not as bad as we feared. It is still had and after the morning walk (and watching the Arsenal game) my son and I went into the town centre to get w walking stick for her. He liked the trip as I bought him some books, though it turns out that my daughter offered him one of them to read before the trip! I would have bought him some shoes he was also interested in, but he was not wearing socks to try them on.

After our return, my daughter and I returned to Castle Hill. We had been here before and this is somewhere she wanted to return to so we did. My wife and son stayed behind to rest as neither slept well last night.  We had lunch there before a walk which we all enjoyed, but Leia loved the most. The views were amazing and despite it drizzling, it was a fantastic walk.

Later today, after a takeaway dinner, we watched It Could Happen To You. It was a sweet film which I have watched in the past before. A predictable plot with okay acting and direction, it was quite average as a feel good RomCom. Would I go out of my way to watch it, it it was on TV, I might consider watching it again. 

Rogue Agent & Arsenal

First of all, Arsenal. I did not get to watch the match on Saturday night, or as normal for me when I miss it, the following morning. I did catch up with it today. I was amazed that we won by such a big margin, also that it could have been better as well. But I was concerned that we let in two goals as against better teams, this could result in a much worse result. As amazing as Gabriel Jesus is, and he is amazing, I do hope that the team remembers that it was good before he joined as I do not want us to become a one man team. We have had issues with stars before, this being the case with Thierry Henry and more recently with Aubameyang.  But this time last season, we were bottom of the league and it is good to be at the other end of the table. Watching All or Nothing has been a great reminder of this. 

Yesterday we watched Rogue Agent. My son did not watch all of it but the rest of us enjoyed and were appalled by it. I do, or did care for a couple which may have involved something similar, but not on the scale seen in this film. As seen with the 50 shades films, there is a line between grooming and romance and in the first and only 50 Shades film that I have watched (so far), this line is blurred. In Rogue Agent, the way the line has been crossed is quite clear, at least in the film for in real life, the agent is now free. I am glad I watched it and I am interested in watching the other adaptations of this and may do so later this year. 

Day nine in Devon & The Grayman

With the day we have had, this should be called the green man! First of, after the morning dog walk, we visited Adam, a friend of ours in Appledore. Leia loved meeting Phoebe, his dog, as well as his two children. However Leia got jealous of us giving another dog attention and when we left to go to the Royal George she did her best to ignore us. The view there was spectacular, sadly the food was not up to the standards that we have had before. This is probably going to be our last trip to Devon, at least for a while and it is sad that our last memories of this place are not better especially considering that the views are spectacular. Despite Leia ignoring us, she did make some friends herself there.

The downside of today was my wife injuring her knee and foot, we are all crossing our fingers that she gets better soon.

As for the film, so long as you switch your brain off, it is an enjoyable action packed film which starts well but does not finish in the same manner.  Apparently there is to be a sequel and I suspect that I will only watch that if I am really bored or the rest of the family make me!

Day Eight in Devon

No beach trip today, but after the dog walk, it was a breakfast of bread, cheese and fruit (and yoghurt for some).  After this, we went for a drive and returned to the Valley of Rocks. My daughter and I went for a short dog walk, nothing compared to what we did two years ago.

After this, it was lunch then a train ride which I loved and the others liked. Actually, I think that Leia liked it as well. My daughter, Leia and I went in 3rd class while my wife and son travelled 1st class, dogs not being allowed in the posh carriages.

We have rested through the rest of the heatwave today and have just finished playing the Horrible Histories board game where I came last finishing behind someone who was not able to answer a multiple choice question on the death of Julius Caesar!

Anyway, time to meet a friend tomorrow…

Day seven in Devon

Again a relaxing day, again at Woolacombe.  We did leave at lunch so that my son could watch Never Have I Ever. We are not sure what we are to do tomorrow though.