Just a little selection from a walk on Thursday evening, mobile in hand.
Peeping Through Gateways, Topsham at Dusk
A Walk on Dartmoor
For my lazy poet Thursday I posted a photo of the Ten Commandments of Dartmoor and as Bulldog at http://visitstothepark.wordpress.com/ was intrigued I said I’d do a post about it. Each blue square on this map is just one kilometre but don’t be fooled into thinking this is a really easy walk, if your knees aren’t brilliant and you have asthma it is still exercise.
We couldn’t find anywhere to park in Buckland in the Moor, so we drove on to Cold East Cross, parked beside the road and walked up Beacon common.
This is the view as you approach the stones, looking towards the beacon plantation. Incidently the Beacon here was lit as part of a chain of fires to mark both the millenium and the Queen’s jubilee.
So to the Commandment stones. In 1928 a local landowner William Whitely commissioned WA Clement, a stonemason from Exmouth to carve the tablets with 1547 letters at a cost of £50. Mr Clement lived in a hut nearby while he carried out the work which took about 9 weeks. As well as the Commandments there is a favourite quote of Whitely’s,
But there’s a power, which man can wield
When mortal aid is vain,
That eye, that arm, that love to reach,
The listening ear to gain
That power is prayer.
The stones were re-carved in 1995 by the Dartmoor National Park Authority. These are some more views from the beacon.
Heading back down you follow the granite wall.
Enjoy the peace and clean air.
Perhaps a muddy cool down – I’ve shown you this one in an earlier post!
Smile if your knees aren’t completely wrecked!
Find a shady spot to dip your toes in the icy water.
and make sure the dogs are dunked clean!
I hope you enjoyed the walk and learning a little more about the Ten Commandments of Dartmoor.
Inside Houdou
In the heart of the medina in Marrakech lies a beautiful haven of peace. Even it’s name, Houdou, means serenity, in Arabic. It’s a 17th century mansion, with an inner courtyard, shady and green with citrus trees and the ever present buntings chanting their song. The roof is part shaded and part in full sun, a lovely place to rest and enjoy a view of the Atlas on a clear day. There is a hammam and if you’re too hot from shopping in the souk, there is a plunge pool to cool you down. Food is freshly prepared, local but with influences from the French owners.
I’ve tried to show you what it’s like INSIDE a traditional riad, I hope you like it and if ever you visit Marrakech I recommend it highly!
Can you show us Inside? Maybe you would like to see other interpretations to inspire you.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/photo-challenge-inside/
Lazy Poets Thursday Haiku, the Dartmoor Series
The Ten Commandments
Commandments times ten
carved in stone they lie waiting
for all to obey
Wordless Wednesday
Off the Wall
or maybe I’ve just lost the plot, what do you think? This is my attempt at this week’s photo challenge, which is really hard. Cheri Lucas Rowlands asks that we try to use photos with an unusual point of view but I found it difficult to come up with anything framed in an unusual way that I haven’t posted before.
I started to think about editing and had the idea of a dream perspective, this is the result.
Join in at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/unusual/
Travel Themes Distant and Hidden
I missed Ailsa’s Distant theme last week, but I’ve just found this photo of Haldon Belvedere in Devon that I quite like so I thought better late than never.
And for this week I’ve chosen the not quite hidden . . .
You can join in at http://wheresmybackpack.com/2013/09/06/travel-theme-hidden/
Rommel told me off!
I confess I’m not very good at responding to all you lovely people who comment on my posts. It isn’t rudeness or even laziness, it’s just pure overload, full time work, study blah, blah, blah! Now Rommel is an absolute treasure and he pointed out that I asked a question but didn’t listen to the answers so now I’m going to.
These are the berries from a Guelder Rose, or Viburnum Opulum. The bush likes moist soil to grow in and I saw this one beside a village pond in Hampshire. The berries are a good source of Vitamin C but they have to be cooked and apparently they need a lot of sugar to make them palatable. 
These are elderberries, and not good to eat. Many, many years ago I picked bucketfuls to make wine. It was a rich, dark and syrupy drink that wasn’t really sweet enough for me, a bit like cough medicine. I prefer the light summery flavour of elderflower champagne, made from the delicate sprays of creamy white flowers. I’ve never tried making it because I worry about the little creatures that feast on the berries. If the flowers are all picked there wouldn’t be any would there? But it doesn’t make sense to simple Gypsy, because some people DO make it and there are still plenty of berries, perhaps they’ve done the maths.
This is a Cotoneaster, a common garden shrub that hugs a fence or wall and provides food for birds in winter and attract butterflies and bees. They are poisonous and would give you a very bad stomach.
Blackcurrants! Pretty and very shiny, but straight from the bush they are an acquired taste. They make delicious jam or jelly and are cooked with apples in a pie. The best possible use in my eyes is in a certain blackcurrant drink, full of Vitamin C that begins with R and ends with A!
Raspberries are one of my many favourite fruits and of course they are lovely in jam, and all sorts of desserts, especially with my dark chocolate brownies. But I prefer them straight from the cane, I never wash them just pick, blow away any lingering bugs and pop tehm right in my mouth.
So Rommel, am I forgiven?
If you don’t know him you should go and visit him, he’s been missing for a while but he’s back now and I’m so glad, he’s an absolute star. http://thesophomoreslump2.com/2013/09/03/eisa-festival-saying-sayonara-to-the-summer-in-style/
Lazy Poets Thursday Poem
Jammed
Pausing on the edge of night foreboding
Tense in traffic jammed up in the gloam
Hovering on the brink of the half light
Waiting for some story to unfold
Beneath the bridge a sense of something stirring
Waiting hoping longing to be told
A Killerton evening
Would you give away your family home for your political beliefs? Sir Richard Acland did in 1944 with Killerton, his 6400 acre estate just a few miles outside Exeter, handing it to the National Trust. The estate includes 20 farms and 200-plus cottages, many miles of footpaths and woodlands to walk, and the main house that is open to the public. A walk that has long been a favourite of mine and my children when they were growing up, is at Daneswood, great for an hours pootling. Here are some of the sights in and views from the wood this misty, late summer evening.
Lucid Gypsy 