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HarcourtArt

8am on Brae Hill on the 26th May had a surreal atmosphere as the crystal clear air and bright low sunlight bathed the deep blue river water, the whitened drying sand on the falling spring tide against the green bluffs of farmland in such a perfect light. The clean colour along this brilliant estuary reaches out to the hard outlines of the headlands and the horizon already dotted with fishing boats. The air is fresh not yet of the summer balmy warmness and the people are few. Most have dogs and wellies whilst some have water bottles and lycra. I had a dog and ...

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 Police Dog Hogan filled the Lyme Regis Marina Theatre with full noise from their eight instruments - energy bluegrass with folk and subject matter close to the west country and other everyday observation such as mustard wine war and love. Go see.

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Staying with friends close to the sea on the north Cornish Coast at this time of year is a treat as apart from the delightful company one can move about  the flower strewn lanes with ease and walk almost alone appreciating the strong contrasts in colour between  the azure sea the very yellow clean sand  the sky and the so green uncut grasses flopping the edges of the paths and pushing up on the horizon and out of the back of our garden the cypress trees framed the view nicely. A  little further up the west country coast noisy things were ...

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  [caption id="attachment_1041" align="alignnone" width="293"] La Almuna[/caption]   Late April in Andalucía couldn't be better with warm days and a breeze and the odd downpour necessary to bring on the abundance of flowers shrubs and trees that make up this rich landscape. It was 25 degrees plus last week and not a cloud in the sky making it less easy to make pace in the hills but the quiet tapas bars of the villages provided refreshment and the natural fuentes  along our routes allowed cool clear revival without difficulty. Staying  with Diana Paget at La Alumna is quite exquisite if you don't want super ...

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