Feest Isolation Days – 21 October
I’m liking the symmetry of my October missives. Has anyone noticed? The date and the number of days is lining up. Something has to! 221/Twenty One.
I promised a bit about Exmoor. We have booked it again and plan to go next month. That says all I have to say I suppose. Red Door House was a total success. We could step out from our front door which was indeed red, and walk on some fantastic paths. I discovered that Exton is sitting in a place which means you have to crawl up out of or into it from every direction. And what a lovely crawl it is! I took myself walking for a couple of hours on my own while Terry was busy fishing and caught the sun.
I don’t often walk on difficult paths on my own like that, but as we’d done nearly the same route the day before I felt confident I could manage. I didn’t get lost once! Two hours and about four miles later I got back home. We took all of our food with us having prepared it in advance over a few weeks. Everything was frozen meaning we didn’t have to cook. A bit of rice or spuds but no proper cooking. We didn’t and don’t go to restaurants so we’ve done a lot of cooking lately, and it was really great to have a break.
We saw some of the sweetest looking sheep! I’ve never seen sheep with such pretty faces and amazing ears. They are everywhere on Exmoor and are curious about you until you get right up to them. Then they scamper.
We walked along the coastal path at Kilve, which is something we’ve never done before. This part of the world is worth exploring and it isn’t that far from home. We wondered why we never went there before. The beach is from a different millennium. Layers of rock that took millions of years to form. Puts things in perspective.
The pheasants had just been released for shoots when we arrived and there were pheasants everywhere! The pop pop pop of guns meant that some of them weren’t there for long and clearly were dinner for somebody somewhere. Pheasants make a real racket when they fly up making me gasp most times when they did. I got used to them – nearly.
I don’t get the sport of shooting pheasants though, they are reared, fed, and then released in their hundreds, they are fairly dozy birds, and on my walks I saw at least three of them dead beside the road. They don’t skittle across very quickly which means that the poor drivers are making decisions…bird or brakes. They probably cause accidents from time to time as well. But so do drivers on their mobile phones!
In Britain, the law is changing on mobile phone use while driving. You will no longer be able to pick up your phone if you are driving. That means a loophole in the law is being closed and those many many drivers who pick up their phone can no longer do so if they are behind the wheel. If you can’t part with touching your phone, and you’re stopped, you will be fined £200 and get six penalty points on your license. Seems to me some people ought to leave their phone in the boot!
Another week on Exmoor in four weeks time! We are lucky folks. Coming home was lovely too.
As our butcher is also a shooter, I’m pretty sure we will be having pheasant for dinner sometime soon. Sorry veggies and vegans. But it is that time of year!
Stay safe, distance, wear masks and whatever you do don’t plan a holiday in Wales in the next few weeks! Firebreak begins on Friday. (It used to be called Lockdown!)
With love
Kathy x