A Mohawk, a Bouzouki – guess who came to dinner?

 

Sometimes I can go for days without talking to a single person but this last couple of days I have made up for it in spades.  Kim http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/

 is that rare combination: a good conversationalist and an excellent listener and his son Rogan is one of the most charming, laid back teenager I have ever met ( he made me feel my cooked breakfast was excellent (boys in the family don’t get big ideasJ)
 

Talk with the right person is very therapeutic ultimately, but the first night my brain was spinning all night as the wire wouldn’t be disconnected. 

We decided to do a pleasant circular walk- we started up North Hill where I suddenly groaned, clutched my chest and bent over.  Not surprisingly the boys thought I was having a heart attack but I had felt my pearls slither down my chest and I didn’t want them to spill down the lane.  Somehow the magnetic clasp had opened.

 We had a meal out in the evening and throughout the meal I was aware of the table on our left almost completely silent and apparently listening to our unstoppable blethering.  BTW beware of long chats with Kim if you have secrets you must keep.  I know he would keep mum but there could be stuff you should keep to yourself.

 We had a brief bouzouki break and I enjoyed its tone and versatility

After some map reading the next day we went over Exmoor to Tarr Steps which had family memories for all.  Kim’s father is a painter and Tarr Steps was one of his subjects.  Discretion overcame valour (I have previous as far as the Steps are concerned) and so sat quietly licking a honeycomb ice cream whilst the young and younger diced with death over the river.  I remembered the more acute danger of the stepping stones over the river at Bolton Abbey –but then they are tougher up there.

 

Having done another pleasant stroll we decided to have lunch at one of the two Inns at Exford.

I got Kim to choose but refused to tell him which I preferred and amazingly he chose the right one.  I thought it was very generous to do even more driving just to give me a spin and we all appreciated it – even following the two muck carts for a couple of miles over the moor.
 A few shots in the garden and it was time for them to start their journey home, where I’m sure Magggie and Meg were looking forward to hearing about their adventures in the south

Some photos below.