"Red sky at night, shepherd's delight."
Or so the saying goes at least.
After weeks of murky clouds, torrential rain and flooding, the heaven's have cleared and we have finally been able to enjoy some truly gorgeous weather, with temperatures reaching around the mid teens. With no garden to speak of, my new solace during this glorious weather has been the Mill on the Exe (http://www.millontheexe.co.uk/), a pub that's nearby, with a great beer garden by the river and well priced Dartmoor Best for the drinking (£2.70 a pint). I can only recommend this to anyone in the Exeter area but advise getting there early should you want to enjoy the beer garden as it is very popular.
Yes. Marking in the sunshine is a hard life.
Lympstone: somewhere we've often visited but not really explored as much as we should have. Today, with the fine weather seemed to be the perfect day to do just that and we decided to try out the walk up to Lympstone Common as recommended on the Railway noticeboard (http://www.southwestcoastpath.com/walksdb/559/). I also had my own personal goal for the walk and that was to locate and gather some ramsons, also known as wild garlic. All the books and blogs I read say that this is the time of year to look out for them, but having searched high and low these past few weeks they are no where to be found and I have been starting to think that a) they don't exist and b) even if they do exist, you cant find them in Devon. The walk itself, Levi and I can highly recommend. It was not too taxing for lazy bones like myself, but provided enough hills, fields and rugged lanes to provide a sense of challenge and accomplishment on the end of it and we were able to enjoy the stunning views from the ridge at the top as well as sheep, tractors, thatched cottages and streams. But despite all the pretty scenery, my heart still ached, for despite getting Levi in on it, there were no ramsons to be seen anywhere and my bag remained woefully empty.
The only bit of the walk that was a little bit hairy was the section between the rocky stoney pathway and Summer Lane which makes you go on the main roacd into nearby Exmouth which was extremely busy. Luckily, we're young and fit and could throw ourselves into the verge everytime some maniac in a mini hurtled towards us, but this would be impossible should you have a dog or buggy. I think the website should have more of a warning on this and I am going to drop them an email over the next few days.
Towards the end of our walk we came across A La Ronde (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/a-la-ronde/) a delightful regency house with sixteen sides and unusual windows. It is said to be the inspiration for the Shell House in the last Harry Potter film. One for a rainy day I think.
And then, just as I was about to give up all hope I smelt it. The oniony garlicky smell hung on the breeze over the Common so delightfully that I thought I would weep (sad, its true, but I can't tell you how hard I've been searching for it!). "Levi! Levi! Help me find it!" I cried, and a few minutes later I had not garlic as I'd initially thought, but wild onions and did a manner of victory dance, there on the Common for all to see and to the bemusement of local dog walkers.
And so, after a pub dinner at the Swan in Lympstone I pondered on what to do with my stash. I looked through a number of recipes online and I decided on Ramson Pesto based on the recipe here: http://nami-nami.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/wild-garlic-pesto-aka-ramson-pesto.html
35g parmesan
50g crushed almonds
75g olive oil
120g wild onions (leaves and roots)
Blend parmesan and almonds before adding the wild garlic. Then add the olive oil slowly so it doesn't spurt everywhere with a layer of oil on top to preserve it.
You might be wondering how it tastes. Well, it tastes bloody fantastic. Not as acrid or strong as regular garlic with a certain richness to it. I shall certainly be keeping my eyes open for it again over the next couple of months.
Now last week, before the happy garlic times, we headed out to North Devon to enjoy a walk along the Taw Estuary. There were plenty of avocets, curlews and geese to watch on the mud flats but sadly little forage worthy (I'm still not 100% comfortable picking all the green leafy things - will have to wait til they start getting flowers so I can more positively identify them).
We stopped for lunch at the Braunton Inn (http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/thebrauntoninnbarnstaple/), an old manor farm near Chivenor which had one of the best share platters I've ever had with melted brie and chutney, pork belly and lamb and wouuld really recommend it to any visitors to the area.
The walk is all on the flat and well paved so buggies can be accomodated easily and the views are very pretty.
Gall wasps seem to be a big part of the ecosystem here by the estuary with all the trees covered in galls (thankfully empty) with the tell tale holes where the larvae have nibbled their way out (as illustrated by Levi, below).
In Barnstaple itself we found a great indoor market - these are sadly dying out. I must dig out the photos of me as a child sitting on my Grandad's shoe stall in Leicester one of these days but it great to see such a big one. The afternoon was finished in the Golden Lion Inn, clearly once a great pub, but though the people were welcoming, the Doom Bar was very yeasty and the pub clearly doubles as a kind of night club in the evenings.
As for local businesses here in Exeter - The Fat Pig Home Brew Competition now has posters confirming the date and the Old Fire House has a punk folk band on tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day.
Three weeks til the Easter Holidays. I will stay strong! And have pesto for dinner tomorrow! Goodnight!
