
Hello again! I hope that you are all enjoying the summer holidays.

We have just returned from a holiday in South Devon. It is an area which I have visited on many occasions and could easily live in as I enjoy being close to the sea. The scenery all along the River Dart is exceptionally beautiful! I particularly enjoyed the various boat trips that we went on, such a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
My first stop was Totnes to visit Amanda's stall. I was not disappointed, not that I thought I might be! There was plenty to tempt me. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car packed with all our other holiday things so couldn't take a picture of Amanda's beautifully displayed stall.

Jar covers, a tablecloth, union jack bunting, cards... bought from Amanda's stall

and a very pretty night dress for Phoebe also bought from Amanda

I found this lovely 1930's plaster statue of the Virgin Mary on an antique stall at the Totnes market

After our journey down to Devon via Totnes, we arrived at our holiday accommodation

Here is where we stayed in Venn, the setting is beautiful and peaceful. The barn has only just finished being converted and is only a 5 -10 minutes drive from Dartmouth. The owners live just behind it. They were very friendly and ensured that our stay was a pleasant one.

The view from our accommodation
As we were not far from Dartmouth, we popped over there on most days. There are some lovely shops, art galleries and a wonderful French patisserie!

The Quay, Dartmouth

Dartmouth Museum & shops

Bought from a vintage shop called Second Love in Dartmouth

I love the scent of this soap!! I bought it from The Cove in Dartmouth

All aboard


Boat that takes you to Dartmouth Castle

Dartmouth Castle

View from Dartmouth Castle


Back in Dartmouth

Can we do more crabbing please?

The next day....and what happened to the sunshine? A day out at Woodlands (an adventure park for children) We were soaked as it rained the whole day! Why choose that day to visit the Park? Well some of Phoebe's favourite TV characters were visiting on that day only!
During the holiday, the weather was mixed but that did not stop us from doing things. On one of the days we took at trip on the steam train from Kingswear to Paignton and back



View approaching Dartmouth on the way back from Paignton


The cafe at the Kingswear Station
Another place I love visiting is Salcombe. It is colourful and a vibrant place in the summer.


Always have to get a few sweets from here
I also popped in to Amelia's Attic. The interior is lovely and full of gorgeous gifts, jewellery, bags etc.. For some reason I forgot to take some pictures...too busy browsing!


One of the many pretty houses to be found in Salcombe

And another one, both these houses overlook the water
There are many pretty little pubs to discover around the area. We stumbled across this pub, The Trademan's Arms in Stokenham by accident after having taken a wrong turning and ended up having a lovely lunch there. It had been closed for several months and had only just recently re-opened, it is fully refurbished and redecorated.


We went to this little cove near Dartmouth Castle

Despite it being in summer, we still managed to find some areas which were not crowded.
Part 2, soon....which will feature a visit to Greenway, Agatha Christie's holiday house.
Isabelle x