I left home for Devon on Friday, via Epsom, home of the Derby and numerous other splendid events, horse related and otherwise.   I was going for lunch with Sally and her lovely daughter Holly.  I hadn’t seen them since Turkey so was very much looking forward to it.  Even more since Sally is a very good cook and I had been hearing good things about Holly’s recent culinary exploits.  Michelle was also joining us and I was really looking forward to the day.

To save some WW points I went for a very low point breakfast.  Blackberry and raspberry smoothie.  Ingredients were one punnett of blackberries, a handful of raspberries, 1 tbsp tahini, 1 heaped tbsp Greek yogurt and some semi-skimmed milk.  My photo does not do it justice but the colour was phenomenal and it just screamed out MEGA VITAMINS!!!!!!

I took a bag of mixed leaves for lunch, that I picked in the pouring rain and my first radishes of the year and took them too. They are a mix of yellow and red radishes.   I wonder if you can eat radish leaves – does anyone know?

I popped in to see Dad and had a coffee.  He and Jilly have decided to move house and I knew they had sold their house recently and it was great to hear that they have found somewhere they want to buy.  So fingers crossed for them that it all works out well.

A short drive later and I was driving over the Downs and passed the magnificent Grandstand at Epsom.  A few moments later I am parked up and walking through the door.   And what a vision.  The Hummingbird Cookery book was open on the counter – nothing has ever been a disappointment from that book!  And there was Holly, who had hung up her saddle for the day and was in the kitchen making a Mississippi Mud pie which, despite me being one of the world’s top chocoholics, I had never tried before.  I was very excited and it took all my willpower to keep my paw out of the large bowl of melted chocolate and other gorgeous ingredients that Holly was carefully pouring in to the pastry case.  Suddenly the idea of counting points shot out of my head and sadly didn’t return again until…….  Not sure it has.  Oooops :-(.  More about that later.

A BBQ was the plan and despite the pouring rain, a BBQ is what we had.  We had some lovely sausages with chorizo which had been wound in to a whorl and stuck on a stick, 2 types of chicken kebab, couscous with apricots and a tasty dressing, tomato and red onion salad, mixed leaves and radishes.  The lunch was great and check out the pretty tablecloth.

Much as I enjoyed the lunch, I was really looking forward to the Mud pie.  Holly brought it in and I am sure there was a fanfare of trumpets to accompany her.   And is that a halo behind her head?  Well it should have been because the Mud pie was excellent.  Crisp pastry and velvety chocolate topped off with whipped cream.  Yum, yum, yum.

Michelle had excelled herself too and brought a homemade lemon tart and raspberries.  What a perfect pudding combo.  Lemon and chocolate and raspberries.  Wow.

How is a girl supposed to stick to points or even care about points when faced with such divine treats?  Diet?  What diet?  I ate a slice of each and didn’t even bother to take a photo of my plate.  Both puddings were magnificent and worth every calorie.  The good thing I can say for myself, is that I didn’t have seconds and I did manage to decline the cheese.  I also had zero alcohol as I had such a long drive ahead of me.  This is almost convincing me I behaved myself!  Which I definitely didn’t.  I decided I will be good for the rest of the day and take away happy memories of a wonderful lunch with lovely friends but no guilt.

Outside Sally’s dining room was a pear tree, so heavily laden with pears they were practically reaching the ground.  It was still raining but undeterred Sally was out there picking away.  I was given a lovely going home bag of 8 just picked pears.  It doesn’t get fresher than that :-).  Thank you ladies for a wonderful lunch.

And so Harvey and I continued our journey to Devon.  Destination was my Step-Father Ian’s and Helen’s in Sidmouth.  I left at 4pm instead of my intended 3pm.  It was pouring with rain, it was a Friday night so the M25 car park would already be chocka, it was a Bank Holiday weekend and I had a long drive ahead of me.  Thank goodness for Steve Wright and Simon Mayo.

James caught a train down from london so we picked him up at Honiton and finally arrived in Sidmouth at 8:45 pm.  It was lovely to be there and I hadn’t been since April so it felt great to arrive, great to see Ian and Helen and then be asked to sit up at the table as dinner was ready.  And did I want a glass of wine?  Hello happiness.

Now Ian is also a really good cook.  Maybe that is my problem.  I am surrounded by lovely people who invite me over and ply me with booze and serve irresistible and delicious food.  No, that is not my problem.  I am my problem.  Because I can never say no.  And that is what I must do if I am to succeed at losing weight.  But before I succeed, I thoroughly enjoyed the chicken casserole, sausages, cauliflower and salad we had for dinner.

And then I ate a small slice (my only saving grace is that it was small) of apple and blackberry pie with cream.  I can’t believe I ate 3 puddings in one day !!!!

And now I am in Devon, I am going to really struggle with temptation as just down the road is one of my favourite eateries in the world – The Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis.  I am meeting my sister Lucy there in the morning for breakfast.  How will I get through the day within points?  I need to sleep on this and will blog a highlights (and glossed over lowlights) of Devon when I return.