Failure is the Key to Success

• Went to the Ridgeback website to get my bike serial numbers, so that I could enter them in http://www.immobilise.com, to find they removed facility #
• Registering your bike on http://t.co/N8vWllh is easy, create an account, add an item, select "bicycle", then add serials etc – done thanks #
• My car went in to get the air conditioning fixed today… and stayed in overnight for a replacement radiator as well. #
• Hmm, It's looking like a coat day as I wait for my lift, otherwise I'm going to get drenched. #
• Got my car back today – washed. Shame didn't take the mats out before soaking them, had to spend 10 minutes drying them before drive home. #
• Check this video out — Sting – Englishman In New York http://t.co/94aEGS1 via @youtube #
• And now @ebay_uk have removed the country the item is located in from the listings! Really getting fed up with the changes, getting unusable #
• Less than 2 hours until Dr Who starts again. The kids are excited. Mid season break isn't good. #
• BBC News – Rhino horn raiders steal replicas from Tring museum http://t.co/xMYtNcB #
• Back from a very nice day and meal @The_RHS Garden Wisley. Surprise for Mum to find us there when she turned up with my brother and family. #

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• Ebay have been playing again. Why can't they just leave what works alone. The new listings with tiny date and bid information are awful. #
• Trying out my new @NikonCoolpix S9100. Very pleased. Tried several including the Coolpix P300, but like the feel and speed of the S9100 best #
• Just caught up with Secrets of the Pop Song Ballad from last month http://t.co/oVLOWrM Love the song by @guyachambers and @rufuswainwright #

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• So sad to hear that 12th century Norman King in Dunstable was burnt down last night and that arson is suspected #
• The e-petition that 'Convicted London rioters should loose all benefits'. – http://t.co/NJHKSgA has nearly reached 100,000 votes #
• Its nice to go away on holiday, but its nice to have your own bed back #
• The Royal Scottish National Orchestra perform an impromptu rendition of Ravel's Boléro at Glasgow Airport. http://t.co/SIt3lZh via @youtube #

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Unfortunately, the forecast was correct for this morning; we woke up to a wet day.

By the afternoon, the weather had dried up a bit, so the kids and I went out on Hallsannery’s nature trail. It was a bit a challenge in the cow field, where the cows had licked the signs off the boards, but we just skipped those ones. As we reached the end, it started raining again, that combined with the long grass that was still soaked from earlier in the day, we got a bit wet.

At least I finally got a photo of Hallsannery before we go home tomorrow.

Tags:Hallsannery

Today’s plan was to return to Tunnel Beaches at Ilfracombe. The kids wanted to go rock pooling using the nets at the cottage. The tidal pool on the beach is visible from about 3 hours before low tide to 3 hours after. Low tide today was 10:08, so the pool would be there until about 1pm.
It was also a bit of a shock today to find that the Norman King pub in Dunstable had burnt down last night. A fire, which is being treated as arson, started just after midnight and had completely destroyed the thatched roof. Church Street was closed until about 5:30 this morning.
Anyway, back to Devon, it was a bit more windy than we were expecting today, so I bottled it and didn’t wear my shorts. We eventually got to Tunnel Beaches about 10:30 and made our way through the Victorian tunnels to the ‘ladies’ beach and the tidal pool. The kids and I went rock pooling, them in their crocs, me in bare feet, ouch. After an hour or so we eventually headed back to Jo and then they went down to the tidal pool. At about quarter to 1 we left the beach and took the nets and clothes back to the car. We then headed down to the front to eat at the same place we eat last year, The Wheel Inn. It appears that the pub is now in new hands and no longer serves food at lunchtime. They did recomend we eat at 6 St James Bistro, further up the road, so we went to have a look.
It was a good recommendation, I had the Exmoor venison and it was so tender. I hadn’t had venison for years, so didn’t hesitate in my choice. Jo had the steak and ale pie, P had bacon and cheese omelette and A had Margherita pizza. It’s only a small restaurant, but well worth a visit.

Tags:6 St James Bistro,Ilfracombe,Norman King pub,Tunnel Beaches

Today was lovely weather. After a slow start, the kids went out to play on the tennis court. We joined them after a bit and had a nice walk through the bamboo to get there. While we were playing a buzzard soared overhead and the swallows were ever present.
The afternoon was much of the same and we returned to The Clinton Arms in Frithlestock for the evening. It was a bit quieter in there tonight, but the service, food and atmosphere were still good. I asked for a real ale recommendation and tried one of the guest ales, Black Prince; very nice. I’m definitely a real ale convert.

Tags:Black Prince ale,Clinton Arms