A pressing engagement

Apple day in Ashburton. A friend's orchard, a small tractor, a crusher and a press. And last but not least, a (mostly) willing gang. The bottles weren't especially elegant, but that's the reality of recyling.

The kingdom of Yarnia

..is a place bursting with wools in rainbow colours. It's where knitting novices are welcomed with kind hearts, cups of tea and endless patience. We went 'into the wardrobe' at Spin a Yarn as knitting virgins. Half an hour later, we were ensconced in their workroom, cuppas at hand, and already onto the third row of our first knitting assignment - dishcloths.

Adventure down the Avon

It was the third time I've swum down the Avon estuary, from Aveton Gifford to Bantham, and each time has been different. Today it was overcast and there was a strong wind constantly pushing us back. But halfway down the estuary it calmed, and we floated on our backs by the bank, under gnarled old oak trees, gazing up at the leaves and watching them fall delicately into the water. We then stopped on some mudflats in the middle and sucked on some samphire. At one point we saw the most enormous gathering of swans - I counted thirty three, with nine cygnets. In the final leg of the swim the tide raced and we were swept onto the beach.

Penny bun

Sometimes you come across things when you're not looking for them. We were out in the woods, finding lots of hedgehog mushrooms but none of the elusive penny buns. On the way back to the car, Alex reached up to pick a small specimen by the path - and nearly trod on a beautiful plump penny bun as he did so.

Spot the starfish

What camouflage eh? We found this handsome specimen on the beach at Bigbury. After this we swam around the fringes of Burgh Island and carried out a guerilla raid on the hotel's private Mermaid Pool - a gorgeous tidal pool with a wooden diving platform in the middle. Sadly I have no photographic evidence of this daring feat, but can confirm we did indeed dive off the platform before making our exit.

In the underwater jungle

There are sometimes days when familiar surroundings feel like uncharted territory. It was hot and still, and the sea around Burgh Island was smooth and benign. The water was calm and clear; we could see every frond of seaweed as we swam over rocky mountains and chasms below. It was so still that we were able to go in and around the rock formations that surround the island, venturing through channels and into coves and caves. At one point we came up against a vast, chunky, almost geometrically carved cliff face that looked, as my friend Anna said, like something out of Lord of the Rings. We were truly in another magical and mystical world.

One mile swim

Organisation. Precision. Timing. This was the Hospicecare charity one mile swim at Roadford Lake near Okehampton. It was a distinct contrast to other 'organised' swims I've done, which have been anything but. We were colour-coded according to the 'wave' we were setting off in, and then herded into pens before the start. Although the competitive, serious swim isn't really my thing, there were some lovely people there and we had some nice chats.

Postcard puzzle

Rummaging around a charity shop in Paignton I found an old postcard that stopped me in my tracks. On the picture side, there was a photo of the Avon estuary at Bantham. On the other were charming drawings, illustrating a romantic account of a family's sailing trip in their boat Kipper up the river on the incoming tide, during which they stopped by an old kiln and made a camp fire. A true Swallows and Amazons adventure. Read the full story here.

Dart downstream

Autumnal afternoon sun, as well as a desire for the refreshing balm of the Dart, drew us to the river. Rather than just swimming around we felt like going from A to B. We went in at one of our favourite places, which we call, unimaginatively, the Big Rock. Well, it is in fact a noticeably big slab of rock. We then floated, swam, crawled and slithered down the river towards Spitchwick, going through various little waterfall junctions en route. The water was particularly clear and beautiful, probably because there hasn't been much rain in the last week or two.

Foray to Fowey

It's a classy swim when you get medals AND cakes.
I had heard on the swimmers' grapevine (well, from my friend Sue actually) about a charity race across the Fowey estuary. So a small group of us headed over the Tamar, where we found a brilliant trio of women dressed in old-fashioned swimsuits and flowery caps organising the event. It was a rare chance to swim in Fowey Harbour, which is exceptionally pretty; swimming there is normally banned. 86 of us, accompanied by canoes and various craft, swam to the other side of the estuary and back. We all got big gold medals and scrummy customised cupcakes afterwards. The latter courtesy of a local firm called Big Buns.