you MUST watch this

this is one of hte most amazng things I have seen in a long time (and I spend a lot of time looking at amazing things online, so trust me). Thank you to Buff for bringing this to my attention, the impact was immense.

Turn up the volume and enjoy:

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1264197074519RA60


updated:
this is a completely different thing to the one above, but i enjoy immensely each time i watch
(if you tube pulls it go to College Humour website and plug in 'Dangerous Wands'

Introducing Charles Robert Brooks.

Hey there blogland! I’m an Aunty!!!!! Charles Robert Brooks! Charlie was born 10.25 pm 19/01/10 3.15kg (6.94lbs). Liv, Chad and the little man are all well. Well done you two! Pictures imminent.

Roy sports a touch of sun. Why? Been fishing all day. See the new grandchild? Nah, it can wait - the weather is perfect for fishing! Humourous on one level, doubly so because he packed the camera.....

Rocco holds Charlie

Daytrippin': Clovelly

Clovelly is one of the quaint tourist attractions (if not THE attraction) in the northern part of Devon (west of Appledore and the Ho! See map below) which is famous because, god DANG, it is steep. Dating back to the Norman Conquest, Clovelly is a town built into the cleft of a 400ft cliff. Why? No idea. None of the travel brochures actually addressed this madness. I like to think that it is the result of a drunken dare from one Lord to another. Oh the English! They sure know a thing or two about comedy hijinks! But I guess WHY is beside the point. Referenced in great English literature (Kipling, Dickens) it is privately owned (hence a hefty £8 entry fee) and has been so by 3 families since the beginning of (it’s) time. A fishing hub once, today it’s main bag must no doubt be tourists who come to see the sledges and donkeys that rule the town in place of cars. Oh how quaint! And sarcasm aside, there were elements of it that really took my fancy. No doubt had I not been holding onto a stupidly heavy pram as we descended the steepest cobbles known to man in minus 43 degree temperatures, I might have found myself quite besotted with the place.

As this daytrip happened on one of the last days of our holiday, we decided that Dave and I could both choose to visit the one place we felt we could not miss. Dave chose Clovelly. I chose The Big Sheep.

It's hard to see, but i attempted to circle The Big Sheep on the map. Now. Any good Australian worth their salt would expect to be greeted by the sight of an enormous fibreglass sheep. Indeed, I was almost beside myself at the prospect of an enormous sheep and on the verge of forgiving the English for the previous night’s fish and chips, Jordan and their dubious nationalisation of foreign cricket players. But after 5 years in this country: I should have known better... so i got what i deserved. (note: that link above could be the most inspiring thing I have seen on the internet in 2010. The big potato!)

no large sheep. In fact, not a sheep for miles. It was some sort of lame theme park. Lame, lame, lame.

Clovelly: Before the descent.

i have no idea why i spent so many years worrying about my chin when it is patently obvious the nose is the issue

obviously not dressed by mama.

top of the town

you may notice some clothes changing happening. An unexpected bonus from the rather small age gap between the two (plus Fred is so slight and rocco is tubba)

old cobbles!

it was this sort of thing that took my fancy. Lovingly placed on exhibition to the passing hoards, kitsch, slightly-mad--nana mementos. Just right for the type of person who would choose to live in this freaky unusual town

i must get one of these

sledge. And a bowl of water for passing doggies. How kind

sorry doggies.

this never gets old does it? I would have born 6 of these had the store been open

how things are transported into the town

fruit

tiny but genuinely charming harbour. Tide out (duh)

i can’t even tell you how steep (and high) these stairs are. Something of a pansy when it comes to heights, i’m surprised i got close enough to take this

clovelly from below. Only took 15 minutes, 43 swearwords, 4 arguments and 2 heather meltdowns.

the truck that took the less able (aka pram inflicted) back to the top of the hill. probably the mine and fred’s fav bit. Mine because it heralded car heating and Fred’s because... well... we’re in the back of a ute. Unfortunately unable to exactly capture the sheer joy on his face.

heartbreaking conclusion to ute ride

Too Awesome Not To Share

 i strongly, strongly advise you check out THIS link

Daytrippin: Instow.

Another daytrip, this one to Instow (see map below) the place that you see from the Appledore quay and accordingly the best place to see Appledore from. Much like Appledore, but smaller and somewhat less chariming, there is not much to the town so the brief stop included nothing more than a run on the beach. This day, like many in recent times, was co-o-o-o-old. Not good when your eldest had taken to throwing both pairs of mittens and a hat into the murky waters on previous days (he thought it hilarious, and he was sort of right. I mean – what are you gonna do?!? Seeya gloves!). Although we did manage to get the hat back as the tide was out and it amazingly landed on the very edge of the steep steps leading from the quay to the water below making it simple for Dave to retrieve. However not so fortunately for Dave, the port etc had gone to his head (as this episode took place on Christmas day) and he decided to try to get the gloves from the spot a few metres on where he estimated Fred threw them. NOW. A normal person would recognise that the black, wet-looking silt/clay that lay at the base of the steps is for the most part covered in masses of water and therefore best be tested before....you get the idea. It still cracks me up to think of Dave’s woozy voice coming up from the darkness below (it was about 4pm, so dark in these parts) exclaiming ‘Oh no! Hezzie! Oh no! Hezzie! Oh no!... I’m sinking, ...my shoes! ... my shoes.....Oh no.... *silence*.... that was not the best idea’.

Where was I? Oh Instow. These are the pics from our 10 min jaunt on the beach.

there be appledore. Fred bolts for the water.

there be rocco overload in this post. Partly becuase they ran in different directions and I'm slower than Fred, but mostly becuase dear god he is one cute little button.

for the first time ever, Rocco did not attempt to eat the sand.

da and fred

arty.

all the ligertwood boys.

rocco is going through a ball phase. he is NUTS about them. if he sees one (and he is ALWAYS looking) he simply must have it.  which made this situation somewhat difficult.

that red jumper in hte fa distance is one of 2 guys kicking a ball. Rocco not only ran from the car to join them (and held his own) but on our return to hte car dissolved into a back-arching tantrum and had to be carried for almos the entire istance. We put him down when were were almost back to the car thinking that he would have forgotten about the ball.... apparently not....