What a fabulous sunny day we have just had here in The ‘Shire! (That’s Devonshire by the way!) the sun was beating down.. I was so pleased to have had the day off. I took advantage of the weather and my free day and met up with two friends. I met Lucy first from her bus and we mooched down the hill to The Glorious Art House. Lucy’s little girl had started full days at pre-school this week so we decided on meeting up for an “adult” coffee. Of course I have these all the time but Lucy was very much looking forward to her first in a long old time! We were able to sit out in the lovely courtyard as it was so warm. It was truely fabulous. Lucy had a flat white coffee and a chocolate brownie and I plumped for a red bush tea. 

  
How pretty does that coffee look by the way?

  
We soaked up some rays before heading our seperate ways. We have vowed to meet up on a regular basis as it had been too blimmin’ long since the last time we caught up.

After lunch I walked over to my friend Emma Garnet’s house. We decided on a trip down to the quay so we could stretch our legs and get out in the glorious weather. The Welcome Cafe was our destination. Again, I was taking a friend somewhere that they had never been before.. It’s always lovely when you take a friend somewhere new and they fall in love with the place too. Emma thought The Welcome Cafe was a gem of a place. We were greeted by the lovely Coralie and Simone. Two sisters that run the cafe alongside their mum and dad. We surveyed the cakes in front of us.. A wonderful choice of homemade on the premises cakes. Emma had a rather large slice of lemon drizzle cake and I asked Coralie if I could have a small slice of the autumn berry cheesecake. I couldn’t handle a whole slice.. I have been there many times before, in fact they have featured in “My Week In Pictures”, that I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish a whole slice. I had a pot of tea to wash my cheesecake down and Emma an Elderflower fizz. 

  
We sat out in the courtyard for a while soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the warmth of the sunshine on our skin. There is something about sunshine and its warmth that gives you real lift. We both felt like we were on holiday. So good!

I showed Emma around inside as she hadn’t been there before, like I said. We found this rather wonderful mirror in one of the rooms. 

  
  
I had hoped that the blackberries would have started coming out which they had. I had come prepared with a bag to collect them in. Emma was rather helpful as she is tall so she managed to get some big, juicy ones from up high!

   
 
We picked enough to put in a crumble alongside some apples.. Yummy! I can’t wait to make it and of course, eat it!! 

  
I will need to wait a week or two for the blackberries to come out in full force. When they do I will be out with a large tuppaware. I will try and pick loads and freeze them so I can pull them out of the freezer throughout the winter months and make yummy fruity delights!

I had a wonderful day meeting up with my lovely friends. The sunshine was the icing on the cake!