It would take far more than a bit of rain to depress us though. In fact, Dartmoor rain nearly managed to be funny by the end of the week. We managed to pitch the girls tent in a short gap in the deluge (I say we, I mean Max and Fran, obviously) and then snuggled down for an evening together. We had taken lots of things to do, but of course the Olympics ended up being required viewing for the first half of the fortnight and the rest of the time everyone played cards/read/knitted or did stuff I now can't remember.

Even when it was wet it was warm enough to be amused by how much water Dartmoor can experience.

Seriously, the ducks moved out of their pond and on to the lawn This photo was on one of the last days however. On the first day we vegged and on the second we dodged the rain by going to Exeter museum, which is good for a few hours diversion.

First however we went for lunch in a pub; girls hugely impressed by this, Bene mostly watched the huge tv

We also walked to the park with the catacombs in it, where Max used to be a grumpy teen. Fran was very creeped out. No idea why: who wouldn't enjoy their parents taking them to view dead people shoved in a wall?

Dead and old. The day just gets better.

This tiger was shot by George V. Which makes it all just fine.

The moth eaten giraffe is still there. This is good because it is one of the coincidences that binds Max and I. We both had childhoods involving stuffed giraffes and nearly being eaten by crocodiles. If the giraffes go, we have to divorce. (We also have to divorce if nearly eaten becomes eaten, but so far we are good on that one).

Fran educated Josie.

Then we went off to visit Sarah and Steve. Here my son laughed at Steve as if the man was an idiot and their son behaved like the erudite and socially charming chap he is. snarf. The video of Bene collapsing in hysterics at Steve waving makes good viewing but I have no idea how to remove it from a Nokia. C'est la vie.

Sarah and I mostly chatted, promised to meet up agin later in the week and entirely failed to do so, due to Devon being an O2 black hole.

Google+

Merry Raymond