Ooooh, Devon is a place on earth

I was very sad to come back from our long weekend in Devon; the thought of swapping rolling golden fields and woods for concrete was not a happy one.  I notice the seasons changing in the countryside but in town really the only clue is what is being stocked in the shops.  And since they usually get bikinis in in February and cashmere in August, it’s hardly a reliable guide. 
 
We did less walking than we’d hoped as P had damaged his tendon chasing a friend’s toddler the previous weekend and made it worse by trekking a lot of hills on the first day.  It was an extraordinary hike which seemed to have no level ground on it at all – and a disproportionate amount of up.  I puffed like a steam engine on the ups and on the final one I thought my head and heart were going to simultaneously explode.  Still, it gave us an appetite for our fish and chip supper – we’d skipped lunch and had a bottle of New World sauvignon blanc cooling in the fridge (the only wine that deals with vinegar!) in readiness and I’d checked the opening hours for the chippy.  Except the internet lied and it was shut.  In fact, nothing, NOTHING was open.  Except for Budgens.  Which, as it turned out, was uch the same thing.  We were in a (lovely) B&B so no cooking facilities which restricts the options.  A cheese and pickle roll was not what I’d envisaged but that was our supper. 

Luckily the view made up for it a bit as the sun set behind the trees and the mewing of a buzzard gave way to the hooting of two very chatty owls.

 
We also had a lovely lunch out on a floating platform in the middle of an estuary in glorious sunshine and dinner at a beautiful country house hotel.  And a solitary clotted cream scone for lunch on my birthday! 
 
The concrete jungle and work politics have made for a blue, blue Peridot.  And then a large cockroach decided to have a bit of a fun run around my desk and it was all a bit much. 
 
I only had two days back at work this week and that felt like far too many!  This, and the fact that you have to be very organised to do a starve day, has meant I’m not back on the diet proper until next week.  I’m trying to ease in by cutting out the large amounts of bread-type products I ate whilst away so that I don’t pass out when I eat nothing after Sunday supper until Monday lunchtime – and then only very sparingly (usually just over 200 calories for lunch and just under 300 calories for supper).  But the seasons are definitely changing and as it is, I am not going to get into my winter coat at this rate.