Coleton Fishacre

The second National Trust house that we visited while staying in Dartmouth was the former country home of the D'Oyly Carte family. They first saw the land where they were to build their house while sailing in their boat along the Devon coast. The house was built in the mid-20's (as was our own home). It is Arts and Crafts in style and the rooms are beautifully elegant. The garden extends to 30 acres, with a stream running through the valley and down to the sea. There are many tender plants and it is a delightful place to wander. We took the short ferry crossing from Dartmouth.

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A short break

We have been in and around the town of Dartmouth for a few days visiting a couple of National Trust houses and gardens that I have been wanting to see for quite some time. The first day we bought tickets for the ferry that would take us up river to the home of the crime writer, Agatha Christie.

We sailed past Agatha's boathouse, a delightful place where we sheltered from a spell of bad weather on our wander about the gardens.

Here is our first view of the house, just peeping out above the trees.

A cottage by the jetty, now a holiday let.

The view from the boathouse is lovely and the interior a delightful place. During a heavy downfall of hail we sat happily inside until it was over and the sun was shining again.

The house stands well with lovely glimpses of the River Dart below. It is crammed with 'stuff', all of it collected by Agatha Christie and her family, nothing brought in to set the scene as in some houses that are run by the National Trust. We had a very satisfying nose all about the place, house and grounds, with such a lot to see.

Autumn

Leaves are falling, we have had some rain, but there is still warmth in the sun and we sit out to enjoy it whenever it shines.

We are busy in the garden removing the bushes and plants that didn't survive the summer draught.

It is a pleasure to see a bit of rainfall even if it means that the leaves stick to the roof of the veranda!

Once a month we have a meal where we eat whatever we want, the rest of the time we eat to a cancer inhibiting diet. The access to the beach is a steep climb. We walk down a zigzag, along the beach and up another zigzag. It gives us a good appetite, ready to enjoy a meal in town. (And it works off a bit of the indulgent eating on the walk back!) We passed this pretty in pink bike and rider, well placed in front of a colourful beach hut.

We ate our starter and main course inside but the weather was so tempting that we took dessert and coffee outside.

I'm happy to be back working on the allotment now that the soil no longer looks like dust. It was not a productive year. I was so envious of the local Saturday morning veg stall, how did he manage such fantastic produce? He must have had access to far more water that I had been able to carry!

I've got lots of oranges on my small tree, but will they ever ripen? I doubt it.

Oops!

Last weekend our elder daughter was home for a few days and we went for a swim and then a hot drink at the beach café. We were surprised when we got down to the sand and saw a beached sailing boat. What was the story behind that? I like swimming here because the sea is shallow for quite a while and therefore very safe, I can have a good swim without getting out of my depth. Was it the shallow draught that scuppered this boat? In the week a friend came to stay, happily another swimmer and we had a lovely dip. The beached boat was still in place looking more forlorn than ever.

The sea is still warm but the weather now is very autumnal. I'm clearing ground at the allotment ready to put in some autumn planting onions and garlic. It has been a very poor year for homegrown food. Small parsnips and leeks have survived the drought but whether they will play catch-up now that we have rain I shall have to wait and see. The tomato crop has been the most successful and is still going strong.

The gazebo is now rather chilly but the conservatory is a nice place to be at this time of year. A solitary rose has bloomed. Maricel Neil, a china tea that struggled in the extreme heat but has given me this one flower to say that it's okay. The plumbago has flowered throughout the summer and I've taken a number of cuttings.

This delightful, dainty poppy is flowering in the garden. I love everything about it and hope to collect enough seed to have more flowers next year.

We gardeners are (generally) an optimistic lot!