Our front lounge at Sandays is an important part of the house for all of us and gets a lot of use. We are continually making improvements here which are not always visible, but these changes for the good certainly are!
A few weeks ago we had plantation shutters fitted which make such a difference in lots of ways and have been given the seal of approval from returning guests.
Part of the purpose is to filter the sunshine which (as we face West) can be very strong through the glass in the afternoons. This has led to us changing the faded seat covers on the cane furniture now we are able to protect them a bit better. Very pleased with the result!

Although we are into October it is still pretty warm around here and signs of Autumn are not abundant yet. At Sandays the main signs are that the American Ivy we have around our fence and decking at the front of the house is beginning to look more red than green, and the Nerines (Bowden Lillies) are shooting up at the back.

I took some photos while out on the Warren yesterday to provide a bit of a flavour of how it looks right now and you can see those here. It is always nice to see the ponies back in the Autumn and although they are clearly slacking on the job in this photo, they will make a huge difference over the next few months.

I was dog walking at the time so I didn’t have the opportunity or camera to capture these other wonderful things:

at least 6 different types of butterfly including a peacock and a clouded yellow                several large dragonflies                                                                                                    a cormorant feeding and then drying off around the main lake                                          probably a hundred or more gulls on the beach between groynes 9 and 10 (judging by the sound there were some oyster catchers among them)                                                numerous flocks of small birds dodging in and out of the bushes along that first section of the Warren up to groyne 9                                                                                               a kestral hovering and hunting 

Can’t believe it is almost October! I spent a large part of this afternoon gardening, re-imagining the baskets and planting some bulbs. It was so warm I abandoned the task half-way through and went for a swim, an unexpected pleasure after some of the recent stormy weather. Quite a few people on the beach taking advantage of the sunshine.

Gardens generally are still looking good especially those with sunflowers, dahlias, or produce such as squashes, apples or plums; plenty of places to visit in the area to make the most of the season. Harvest Festival services in the churches and schools, and a food festival coming up shortly at Powderham.

We were in the South Hams today which, despite a rather wet day, was still managing to look beautiful. Lots of flowers and vintage buses doing trips all around the area. But never mind all that, here is the MOST AMAZING THING, check out these pics. The first would under normal circumstances be considered great , but just look at the next two! This was on Slapton Sands, the architects nowhere to be seen. Have never seen anything so elaborate, hats off to the creative team.

Rarely has September been quite this warm, how wonderful! The beach is a lovely place to be right now and plenty of people still around to enjoy it.
Also perfect weather to enjoy the various trails still in place this month, such as the outdoor sculpture trail at Cockington,
or one of the lovely gardens such as Bicton Botanic Gardens.
Lots of events happening over this next week or two all hoping to make the most of the sunshine too. The Shanty festival at Teignmouth will be hard to miss this weekend, the Dawlish Walking Festival starts this Saturday (there are 4 walks on Saturday alone!) and the enormously popular week long Agatha Christie Festival kicks off in Torquay.

If you can manage a short break we have a double room available for 3 nights at Sandays next week: Wednesday 13th, Thursday 14th, Friday 15th, we would love to hear from you!

Dawlish Celebrates Carnival begins next Saturday August 12th and runs all week. Literally something for everyone and their dog. Community parade on evening of Friday 18th.
Look out for programmes on sale around Dawlish and make the most of the wonderful & wacky events taking place. There is lots of free stuff but donations are needed to keep it all going.

The Devon schools break-up for the summer this Friday but this week has already been busy throughout the area with families so fair to say that the summer holiday has already started. The weather has been a bit of a challenge but at least everything is turning green again after a very dry (and rather lovely) June.

Teignmouth carnival kicks off this Saturday so there will be loads of family stuff happening there, Powderham Castle are doing a Medieval Month, and of course every attraction is geared up for maximum fun during the next six weeks. Look out for opportunities to join the Rangers on the Warren or Countryside Park and learn a bit more about this place you like to visit.

So whether it is the Moors or the beach you are after, enjoy and help to keep it clean and beautiful. 

Ramm (Royal Albert Museum and Art Gallery) in Exeter is a wonderful place to visit and with free entrance and can be enjoyed for whatever bit of time you can manage when you visit Exeter. 

One of the current exhibitions is Gatekeepers to Heaven which brings back to Exeter six exceptional medieval manuscripts which until 1602 resided in the Exeter Cathedral library. The oldest of these, the Leofric Missal was made in Canterbury and Exeter between about 850 and 1020.

The beauty of these books is hard to describe and the exhibition as a whole sheds light on the medieval world and Exeter’s place in it. Runs until 3rd September when the manuscripts will be returned to Oxford. Some of the content is digitised and can be scrolled through on the viewer.

The image on the left below is possibly the first self-portrait! Hugo the painter/scribe.       The image on the right is from the manuscript Jerome, commentary on Isaiah.

Exeter Morris can be spotted in many different places over the summer, check out their website for all the details. We enjoyed watching them during this week at at Topsham where they danced in two different places and provided brilliant entertainment for the many people around. There was glee at the end of both sets when people were allowed to join in and did so with great enthusiasm! Very good evening.

We have an unexpected vacancy in our back double room (D2) due to someone needing to leave much earlier than planned.

Available from Thursday 6th for 5 nights, £85 per night B&B.

We joined a Devon Sea Safari this morning: wonderful!
Lucky to have an amazingly calm sea and it was such an enjoyable experience. Thanks to the knowledgeable skipper we had the thrill of being in the midst of dolphins as well as spotting lots of different sea birds.
Would definitely recommend!
Also spotted the Shaldon – Teignmouth ferry skipper sporting some unusual headgear.

The annual Coastal Dash (organised by Dawlish Coasters running club) took place this evening. With the sun still shining brightly at 7pm and a backdrop of surfers and sailing boats, a  multi-coloured group of runners set off from The Boathouse at a great pace along the Warren as far as groyne 9 before looping back to head to Dawlish. By the time the last ones had faded from view the front of the group were already in sight again. A lot of people out supporting and just enjoying the spectacle on such lovely evening.