An Old, Beloved Favourite ......... Gone!

Derek has very quickly embraced another of our Dawlish Warren family holiday traditions, to wit, the amusements where tickets very definitely mean prizes! However, there was one mahooooosive and unbelievable catastrophe we all had to get to grips with as soon as we arrived, only the disappearance of our beloved "Ball Dropper", the first and very last machine we ever play at the beginning and end of our long Dawlish Warren weekends. 

As soon as we walked in, we made a beeline to where it's stood loud and proud for the past four years at least, but it wasn't there and despite all our walking round in every direction it wasn't to be found and we had to accept the inevitable, it was gone.  It was, I have to say, emotional, very, very, VERY emotional.  If we had only realised last year (pictures above) was our last time playing, those balls would have been grabbed, like balls have never been grabbed before!

However, tears and sighs aside, the show had to go on and a substitute, which also included the handling of spherical objects was found, if in a much more sedate and unfrenzied fashion, ten pin bowling ........

...... of which Young Master Bertie excelled ........ 

...... consistently winning tickets equal, if not greater, to any we've previously won on the much mentioned and much lamented Ball Dropper ...... wherever it is now.

I think, with having Derek on board, we ended up with more tickets than ever before, earning enough for a small Nerf gun for Bertie and a replica dance machine in brick form for Iris, not to mention the obligatory tubes of Parma Violets and single chews to use up the remaining tickets, oh, joy upon joy!!!

Then, with all our arcade budget resources depleted .......

...... it was off for an ice-cream, where, to be honest, there was almost too much choice .......

 ..... especially when flakes, sprinkles and sauces are also thrown into the equation.

...... but, in the end, for me, it had to be a straight pistachio ..... bliss! 

Mr D, do you remember Mr Hargreaves always dashing off to spend a week or so in Dawlish Warren the moment the school bell rang on the last day of the school year? I think he'd gone for the same week, same hotel, same everything for at least thirty odd years, bless his soul. 

Spoilt For Choice, Naughty But Nice, Dawlish Warren.

For Eric, a most go, port of call while we're in Dawlish Warren has got to be Naughty But Nice, the sweet emporium. 

After a year, it's still remains the same, despite changing hands to another very nice gentleman ........

......... except that it now shuts at five o'clock, so no dashing out for the odd 100g of sprogs or pint pots should a whim or fancy come over us. Our evenings confectionary has to be planned in advance, as does our "posh", local, breakfast marmalades and jams! 

Eric was hoping against hope that they might just have a few "leftover" candy sticks, but sadly the story was the same as dans Evesham, Barratts have stopped making them, still no questions in Parliament, yet!

However, Naughty But Nice's range of chocolate nibs and crumbles was, impressive, so 100g of Toffee Crumble, Orange Nibs and plain chocolate nibs were duly purchased, along with 100g of chocolate raisins, milk bottles and sherbet pips, plus an extra long bubble gum flavoured cable!

It has to be said that buying your confectionary exclusively from the jar and then bringing it home in an crisp paper bag is just too romantic and nostalgic for words, grabbing a bag of Revels or jelly Snakes from the shelf in Tesco or even our beloved Home Bargains, just isn't the same!   What are we like?

Wonderous Sandy Erections

Oh my life, to be back in our beloved Dawlish Warren has been truly wonderful, .........

........ especially as we've been able to introduce all its pleasures to a very enthusiastic Derek, who says he's never dreamed of such happiness!

Amongst said pleasures, let's just say that he doesn't shy away from hard graft in the guise of building a whole series of very mean sandcastles ........

...... with an unflagging and boundless energy for mounds, moats and complicated drainage systems 

........ with a constant flow of ideas, including innovative water storage for when the tide's really far out and collecting water one bucket at a time is a seemingly endless task! 

Derek is quite the taskmaster, striving for sandy, seaside perfection ..........

 ....... determined to create as many happy memories from this inaugural beach experience with his now well and truly adopted, honorary niece and nephew as he possibly can .........

........ even if he, at times, has left them totally exhausted.

It's hard to believe but he's even put Eric in the shade with his dynamic sandy excavations and erections........

........ and now, we can't help but wonder what we'd be or ever do without him, bless his little stripey jumper! 

Our Last Summer Hurrah

Sooooooo, we've been away for a looooooong weekend, despite being on the very cusp of the new school year and I can think you can safely say that with the five of us plus our beloved niece and nephew on board in our beloved Dawlish Warren .........

....... it's been quite the experience and a little hard to keep on top of things at times, despite all of Darrell's meticulous planning ........

...... especially as this is also Derek's very first family away time with us as an until now stranger to caravan life, to wit No. 287!

However, to his credit, he's taken to it like a seagull to a wantonly discarded pasty!

He's embraced the whole annual experience with a wild and abandoned gusto, certainly proving he's one of us ........

...... from the traditional and obligatory first night fish and chip supper .........

...... just dipping in with the rest of us .......

....... followed by sharing a hearty tray of Nutella donuts with a million and one sprinkles for pudding ........

........ a treat almost too glorious for words with Darrell, just this once, casting his calorie counting app to the wind.

And then, with barely a second to let it all go down, the mandatory first ride on The Pirate Ship aided and abetted by his best friend Eric  .......

What on earth are they like?

The rest of us? Well, we were just happy to watch!

It's Been A While, But .......

It's been a while, but after a bit of an absence, it seems that hedgehogs are slowly  creeping back to the charity shop bric-a-brac sections, according to the ever fragrant one after a mooch round town, perhaps its something to do with the approaching autumn? 

It has to be said that two, of the larger decorative persuasion, on one shelf is quite some going .........

 ..... including this quite spectacular festive piece, complete with pearlescent mistletoe berries and a said creature on either side, thus enabling it to be displayed any which way, from any angle, for full artistic and naturist appreciation!

However, on this occasion no considered purchase was made, as, even though it's really too early to think about, Darrell, most probably, has very firm ideas already set as to his Christmas decor and Alice, being spookily attuned to his creative foibles and whims, very much doubted that this year there would be a place for such a monstrosity delight, despite any of Eric's inevitable hedgehog related pester power, perhaps next year?

Sad Repercussions

 Following on from Alice's mystery nuts yesterday ........

...... it has to be said that our hedgerows are currently overflowing with blackberries .........

...... however, unfortunately they all seem to be very small and undeveloped, dry, and pretty sour.  We're blaming the whole heatwaved summer debacle with it's corresponding lack of any rain to help juice them up.

So, no unfettered and merry family berry picking expeditions this year .........

....... which in turn will result in a very sad lack of Darrell's most excellent apple and blackberry crumbles in the freezer, to help warm and cheer us, when served for pudding of a Sunday lunchtime throughout the autumn and winter ........ bum, bum, bum, bum, bum!!!!

Squirrelling Away!

Oh my goodness, poor Alice was in quite a quandary after her walk this morning .......

...... the two beech trees, on the cusp of our estate, are just beginning to shed a most ample supply of nuts .......

..... giving a very satisfying crunch underfoot according to the ever incorrigible Derek and Eric.

However, poor Alice, always thinking of others, saw this as a wonderful opportunity for our lovely family of squirrels, Boris, Carrie and their children Wilfred and Frank, to build up a store of said nuts to "squirrel" away, to help them get through the winter, when food's a lot sparser on the ground  ........

 ....... but how to let them know where such a bounty of food was waiting for them? 

The last I heard, she was using all her feminine, womanly wiles to persuade Derek and Eric to help her to collect as many as they can muster, to then scatter over our communal garden fence for the squirrels to find, collect and hopefully hoard!  What on earth is she like?