A sunny market, 3 lambs and #30DaysWild

It’s all happening down in Devon! Markets in Exeter, sunny days, bleating lambs, attempting to do a little bit for the 30 Days Wild challenge and visiting county shows and festivals. So to catch up with the livestock at Breazle Smallholdings.

We still have the Devon Dusters who are currently munching their way through the grass at the farm, completely content and still attached to us as ever.

For some of you who don’t know, Molly got another three lambs. These ones have not been named but have been featured on our Facebook page quite a bit. They have finished drinking milk and are now slowly exploring the big wide world of the out in the big wide world of the farm. Getting used to a big life with other sheep, new sounds and other people.

Our other 3 lambs – photographed by Molly

Sitting on the edge of the river. Crying seagulls fighting over bread and a mass of swans gliding across from one edge to the other. It’s market day in Exeter. Every Thursday and the sun is shining glistening ripples shimmer in the light. The sun is on my right burning my cheek and the end taste of sugar and cinnamon donuts linger in a need to hold onto it a little more.

I can here dad and Molly behind me chatting away behind the food stall, the griddle getting steamy as it waits for customers to taste dads crispy dosa. The swans look so majestic. Swooning in elegance like they own the river. The bridge the reaches one side of the river to the other is filled with wheels of cyclists and kids. Canoes clank together floating gently on the ripples.

The Wildlife Trust have a challenge this June. #30DaysWild where people can do a random act of wildness of each day. A way to connect with nature and feel happy and healthy. Hugging trees, walking bare foot in grass, learning wildflowers, helping birds…

It’s not to late to take part! http://action.wildlifetrusts.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1823&ea.campaign.id=48499

Merry Xmas from Lifton

It’s our first Christmas in Devon and Molly and I have been making the cottage christmassy, by putting up fairy lights and setting up speakers for our cd/tape player to listen to music. Bowls of satsuma’s and apples are on the table and the dogs seem to always be sprawled out on the floor with their legs in the air asleep.

On Wednesday we did a Christmas night market at Piazza Terracina, Exeter, the last market of 2015. A perfect oval of food stalls with music playing by Sandie Horlier and The Locked Horns. A few couples dancing and crowds of people mooching around deciding what to eat. It was on and off rain but we had four hours of clear weather until our journey back when it tipped it with rain. We set up our new front board which we couldn’t wait to see what it looked like. Just now needs painting black now and then chalk added on.

This morning we went for a long dog walk on Dartmoor in the blistering wind and rain. A sheet of mist covering our view. Both dogs drenched from head to toe. Wind whistling through our ears. Back home, we made a fire, opened a few pressies and put the chicken in the oven ready for Christmas dinner. Molly is preparing the veg and stuffings. I made a fruit cake for pudding.

We did it!

We did it! After our first Bath Market we were slowly getting the hang off everything. The cooking quantities, packing the ice boxes and the van, the tea and sandwiches for the car journey, the unpacking, setting up, dishing out and going home.

With rain drizzling in Lifton, we were praying that it would disappear. But as soon as we passed Okehampton the sun shone in our favour. The drive was only 45min away and in our huge transit van we felt ontop of the world.

I left dad to do most of the setting up, the tent, tables, cooker… and then we were came across our first problem. Wind. As dosa is such a sensitive dish, the heat has to be controlled perfectly for it not to stick. This time though we made a makeshift wind guard.

Around 6:30pm the crowds came. The salsa was on and the smells were wavering in the air. Next to us we had Good Game – meat in buns and on the other side the beautiful colours of homemade macaroons. The customers kept coming and coming. At one point we had a huge crowd just watching as dad made the dosa pancake on the hot plate and then added dried potato curry and served it with tomato chutney and dhal.

My dad told me a story of when he went to mess (communal eating place) in Sri Lanka, there would usually be 40 children there and the guys making dosa would have 1 large rectangle hot plate and one would wipe with water to clean and the other would make 20 dosa’s at one time. Dad used to shout at them to hurry up, and they kept saying ‘ok, ok, it takes time’.

Will be at the Piazza Terracina again in Exeter on the 17th September. So if you are around feel free to pop over for a bit to eat. There are lots of other wonderful stalls there, from meat to vegetarian.