Just Humans Being

26/08/2024

Sime's always been fascinated with ancient roads and byways - all around us here in the Exe Valley there are many. He's reading a book at the moment called The Road by Christopher Hadley, about Roman roads across the UK.
This morning we walked up the steep unmetalled track behind the farm, it's probably hundreds of years old and reminds us of a mountain pass. We were treated to a wonderful sight at the top. A herd of 8 deer grazing on the other side of the valley and then disappearing into the woods. 😊😊

22/08/2024

The novelty of the internet and an assortment of pics over the last few weeks.
We are now in the Exe Valley pet sitting and have been suddenly bombarded with requests to do more and more pet sitting!
We need to think seriously about how we live and how we can fit in eveything we want to do!
It is wonderful that folks love and appreciate what we do, but it would mean being away for 6 weeks now and over Christmas - which would be great fun for us, but we do have other commitments at home. Will this be the push for change? Maybe. 😊😊

10/08/2024

It's a funny time not having any internet at home and although we do feel far removed from everything going on, life is really simple. We have to venture out to deal with work stuff on the laptop, but it's easy to do and actually it is really nice having quiet time at home.
While checking stuff today - this daft blog post popped up from 7 years ago...I keep telling Sime that we need to write a book. Something silly...people need more daftness in their lives.
😊😊

Love, laughter, compassion, unconventional life, travel, family, veganism, recipes, nature and the simple pleasures in life.

27/07/2024

Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better.
😊😊

Love, laughter, compassion, unconventional life, travel, family, veganism, recipes, nature and the simple pleasures in life.

27/07/2024

Having a weekend with a new pet sitting chum.
😊😊

24/07/2024

We haven't had any internet at home for weeks now and it's actually great! We are more productive, we go to bed early, get up early, get out early. We get out in nature, walk more, read, write and draw. We listen to old CDs and make music. We are more decisive, creative and enjoy dreaming up exciting plans!
We are also incredibly grateful to work in beautiful places with wonderful people and their pets...our view this morning while eating brekkie. Just sets us up for the day.
😊😊

18/07/2024

Tonight's adventure.
A circular walk around Church Cove (the other one). We had a look at the Lifeboat Station and saw the Lifeboat coming in.
We met a fellow Stokie in the lovely St Wynnwallow Church who lives locally and has invited us round to sample her mum's home made Staffordshire oat cakes...which is just a dream come true! We still miss this delicacy and crave them quite often - a wonderful connection!
Anyway, it was an incredibly hot but beautiful walk which has ended with a pint of Proper Job each in a nice little pub.
😊😊

17/07/2024

Exploring a quiet woodland on the Roseland.
We've been fascinated by this place for years and wondered whether it is possible to venture in...
Well, there wasn't a private sign, so we decided to go for it!
We had this beautiful, unspoilt place to ourselves.
A nice little treat and Mabel tagged along too.
😊😚🐶

15/07/2024

We discovered the coast path walks at Predannack recently...as usual not a soul around. Beautiful up there!
😊😊

15/07/2024

We've spent the night in a hotel, it's been so hot in here that we've had to have the fan on all night!
Anyway, up early and we felt like writing a blog post...which is nice!!!
😊😊

Love, laughter, compassion, unconventional life, travel, family, veganism, recipes, nature and the simple pleasures in life.

14/07/2024

Chun Chums.
Last night we walked up to Chun Castle (iron-age hill fort) and Chun Quoit near Morvah.
Had the whole place to ourselves, so a wonderful evening spent in the beauty of the hilltop with fabulous views, beautiful flowers, birds swooping around us and insects buzzing us. A nice end to an old chap's birthday in the warm sunshine. 😊😊

13/07/2024

Gnomey Pops is 64 today! 😍
Had a nice lunch at Orange vegan cafe in Mousehole and sampled a butterfly pea latte, which is the blue drink.
30 years ago today I bought him our first CD player and a CD of an African band we'd seen at a festival called Adzido. He had been reluctant to get into CDs, but once he had it - he loved it!
We haven't had any internet at home for a couple of weeks again and luckily we still have lots of our old CDs, so we've enjoyed listening to them through our modern speaker and hearing detail we've not heard before.
Happy Birthday Beautiful Chum and yes I do still love you now you're 64!!! 😙
Simon De La Mer

02/07/2024

Mini road trip at the weekend...visited a terrifyingly high up Launceston Castle - neither of us could take photos at the top as it was just too high and open! We also visited the sweet church in Week St Mary with birds nesting in the entrance and where a photo seems to show Sime in the background holding a weird creature! Then on to Penhallam for a lovely woodland walk to see the remains of the 13th century manor house. We stayed overnight at the old police station in Launceston with a great host who we ended up spending the evening with at the local pub! On our way home yesterday we stopped off for a walk with our little furry chum in Ladock woods and met a nice doggy and mum who took our number for a future pet sit...Love our funny adventures!
😊😊

29/06/2024

We found an abandoned church yesterday at Ruan Major. The public footpath we followed was very overgrown and quite a challenge, but we made it! 😊😊

23/06/2024

Yesterday's Roseland walk.
Bohortha to Place - where we saw a grand wedding taking place in the grounds of Place House. We took the woodland path towards Porth and then climbed up the steep path back up to Bohortha - it was really tough, especially with the high humidity, but the views once we got to the top were stunning...St Mawes and Falmouth are just across the water.
😊😊🐶

22/06/2024

Percuil on the Roseland.
Another weekend with one of our beautiful pals.
😊😊

17/06/2024

Sancreed Beacon and Holy Well.
A splendid afternoon and evening in the warm sunshine. Had our photo taken in the church by an interesting woman who told us about the Pinwill sisters from Devon who were professional woodcarvers and their work is found in lots of churches across Cornwall. Fascinating story. Then on our way to the well we met a lovely group of folks from CASPN (Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network) who take care of ancient sites around mainly the Penwith area. They all had their shears and had cleared the area around the well ready for our arrival...so we like to think! 😊😊

09/06/2024

Early morning sunshine - feeling rejuvernated!
😊😊

08/06/2024

Weekend with some of our chums in Devon.
😊😊

29/05/2024

Sweet buddy. 😊😊

28/05/2024

Woods at Turnaware point.
Another lovely walk on the Roseland where we met some very nice doggies and humans.
😊😊🐶

27/05/2024

In the woods again today.
😊😊🐶

26/05/2024

Pet sitting on the Roseland for a few days.
Staying with our chum and while Sime's out gigging again - we're enjoying a snuggle. 😊🐶

25/05/2024

Life in a small space.
Can be quite challenging when your partner is learning songs for a gig...the repetition is always a little testing.
Good job I love him. ❤

25/05/2024

Wonderful! 😊😊

This is the third story that we've filmed with Jenny. To watch the previous two films, see links below:All Cats Are Black - https://youtu.be/dK2km_x9-as"Lov...

22/05/2024

Coastal walk before breakfast.
We decided to set off for work earlier than usual today and have brekkie on the way.
We made up our porridge boxes and wrapped them up to keep them warm.
Nice to chill out by the sea before our day begins and even have had time to read our current book...Small is Beautiful by EF Schumacher. This book came to us over 30 years ago and it continues to remain as important to us today as it did back then.
😊😊

21/05/2024

Ladock Woods.
Out with our chum after work...got caught in a comical torrential downpour. Long time since we've experienced such heat and rain at the same time and dried off quickly.
Wonderful. 😊😊🐶

20/05/2024

A nice place for second breakfast.
On our way to work.
😊😊

14/05/2024

Towan Beach on the Roseland.
Out with our chum this afternoon.
😊😊🐶

08/05/2024

Up and out early this morning.
Sky is absolutely covered with trails...must have been a busy night.