Chew Valley Lake

We made a very brief visit to Chew Valley Lake, it's a large reservoir in the Mendips and is an important site for wildlife which has been dedicated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a great spot for birdwatching with over 260 recorded species.

It was cold and we couldn't let the dogs off the lead so we didn't stay long but Oscar did a lot of walking and it was the first time that we'd been able to go for a walk without having child carrying equipment (pram, backpack etc.)  We'll have to make a return visit now the weather's warmed up (a bit!)

View Chew Valley Lake in a larger map

A brief visit to Exmoor

We went to Exmoor, stayed in the Exmoor Forest Inn in Simonsbath.  Places of particular note were Dunster, Lynton (and Lynmouth), Dulverton and the Tarr Steps.

View A Quick Walk From The Exmoor Forest Inn in a larger map

View Lynton in a larger map

View Dunster To Gallox Castle in a larger map

View Tarr Steps in a larger map
On the way we stopped off at Blue Anchor and were rather taken by the beach, it was a lovely plum colour.

Lynton and Lynmouth were very lovely, it's a shame that the funicular railway was closed for maintenance as we didn't really get to see Lynmouth properly.

Back in Dunster Oscar found that he could keep me out with the fine iron gate.

We had a great walk up to Gallox Castle.

 Look Exmoor ponies!!

 The Tarr steps were really rather impressive and the surrounding area was great for a walk.

 Maybe we'll move to Exmoor....

The end of 2011

It seemed that we were busier than usual in the tail of 2011, it seems that:

1. We didn't do as much to put on the blog
2. I didn't have time to update the blog with what we did do...

Well to get up to date this is what we got up to from Halloween to the end of the year:

Unveiling the Shepton Market Cross

The Shepton Market Cross is quite an important part of the town, it's an iconic feature and was in a poor state.  It was recently renovated and as the scaffolding came down I took some pictures:

Oscar and the wellies

We had a bad experience with Oscar and trying to put him in wellies in the past but with all the wet weather we had to get him some suitable footwear.  Fortunately we found some boots he really likes:

Worminster Down

Applying one of our special techniques for finding a good local walk (a look on the OS map for densely packed contour lines) we decided to walk near Worminster Down.

I have to resort to taking pictures of myself and Oscar as Nicky doesn't like to stop to take pics

I'm afraid that Oscar didn't really want to be out for this walk.  We got to the top of the hill and got him out of the backpack so he could walk a bit and he wouldn't move and demanded his raisins.  Once back in the backpack he complained all the way back to the car....

The very small blue figure is Oscar, we attempted the 'we'll just go without you' line but he called our bluff....

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Oscar and the dinosaur

I was out with Oscar and the dogs when Oscar started shouting there's a dinosaur:

Stourhead 10k

Nicky ran her first race since before being pregnant with Oscar.  I only managed to get one blurry photo on a rather wet day due to holding Oscar back with one hand.

Pictures to embarrass Oscar when he's older

Everyone should have pictures to be embarrassed of so here's one of Oscar:

First Christmas 2011

In usual tradition everyone descended on the Little House in Westbury for a good old Christmas bash with Grandad Mick and Nanna Helen.

Little Indi going for the iPhone (the ultimate baby lure) 

A brief trip to London

We visited Chris and Jasmin (not not my sister) for some Christmas drinks and to celebrate their engagement.  After that we had a lovely dinner with Jasmin (that's my sister this time) and Stewart.  The next morning we went with Jasmin to the Natural History museum.  Oscar really loved it and was pointing out whale sharks, vampire squid and many other sea creatures he has learnt from his obsession with The Octonauts.

Christmas 2011

Christmas was lovely, just the three of us this year but Nicky really gave us a lovely spread.  Unfortunately Oscar had been ill since First Christmas and it came to a head on Christmas day (he had such a high temperature he got the shakes) but after seeing the out of hours doctor we were back home and able to enjoy the rest of the Seasonal break.

Our Christmas day walk was brief and we only went to the fields by Charlton viaduct but we all had a nice time.

Oscar's new drawing table

Oscar loves drawing so Grandma got him a nice drawing desk.

A walk round Maesbury Castle

Our pernultimate walk of the year was a revisit to Maesbury Castle.

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The last walk of the year near Kingston Deviril

Our final walk of the year was in Kingston Deviril.  The weather was really grim but not too cold and meant dramatic views.

View Kingston Deviril in a larger map

There's been some sort of footwear mix up...

Hello 2012

We had a very pleasant New Years Eve; we actually managed to stay awake to see the new year in. Nicky planned a very special dinner to span over the evening to help keep us going which was fab.

We went to Poole to visit Nanny Glynis, Mark, Louise, Luke and Owen on New Years day.  It was lovely to see them all and Oscar had a wonderful time building train tracks and playing with the boys.  It also meant that we were in the neighbourhood (Wimbourne Minister) for Nella's 1st birthday party.