Fred and I set out yesterday to meet my friend Marie in Ottery St Mary (the village), stopping beforehand in Colyton to see the parish church and afterwards in Cullompton. Colyton's St Andrew is the same vintage as Ottery St Mary (the church), but each has its own treasures and delightful features. The Ottery church has a working clock (pre-Copernican, i.e., based on earth being the centre of the universe) while the Colyton church has a fine Saxon cross uncovered in a tower wall after a fire in 1933.

Today Mum and I walked to town and visited several more studios open for the Arts Fest. Most of them have the artist available to chat with, sometimes while he or she is working. Here's Laurence Anholt, illustrator of children's books.

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We arrived without mishap in Lyme Regis yesterday, guided by a SatNav (GPS) system loaned to us by Lionel. After greeting Pat and Fred and catching up on family news, we went down to the seafront (a 15-minute walk) where Pat and I walked along to the Cobb and back to where Fred and Mum picked us up in the car. The area is in the midst of its annual celebration called Arts Fest, which consists of open studios and exhibitions throughout the town. Today we went down to see several of the arts venues including Fred's mill. Since I saw it several years ago, the restored mill has been fitted with a generator that contributes power to parts of the mill complex and, if there is enough, to the grid. The mill still grinds organic wheat for flour as a demonstration of the way it was used for several centuries.

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Yesterday the two of us set off to visit three local churches. One eluded us, but we'll try again today because it's on the way to Lyme Regis, which is our next stop. The other two were charming Norman parish churches, restored and in use. St Mary's in Lytchett Matravers was locked, unfortunately, so we could only peer into the windows to see its medieval interior. The churchyard was extensive and, as is common with some very old churches, was guarded by two very ancient yews.

In the evening, we all piled into Lionel's car (including Milo the boxer) to do a pub crawl. We covered five, although one was closed, within a five mile loop near Lionel and Mary's house. The prize for most charming location had to go to The Anchor in Shapwick, a postcard-perfect village consisting of thatched cottages, pub and church.

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We covered many centuries in typical English weather today -- driving rain and brilliant sunshine. First stop was Stonehenge, which reminded me somehow of the volcanic island I saw in Hawaii. Similar bare surroundings (only in this case the fields were green and gold rather than rocky and ashen) and same feeling of "older than human time" even though these stones were clearly placed by humans. The free audio tour added a great deal to the visit, even though many things about this place are still a mystery.

Next we went to Salisbury to see the cathedral, with the tallest spire and the best example of early Engllish Gothic buildings in the country. It lives up to its billing, even with the usual scaffolding covering one outside wall. My favourite part was the Chapter House, an exceptional building on its own, housing one of the four remaining copies of the Magna Carta.

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For the first time in my adult life, I spent my birthday in the land of my birth. Pretty far from the original event, it's true, but in a green and pleasant part of England, to be sure. We started the day at Wimborne Market, which is a combination of fresh foods, garden plants, clothes, flea market finds, whatever-you're-looking-for market, coming out with lots of veggies for dinner and (I couldn't resist) a very small Purbeck Pottery jug. My present to me.

Next stop was Mary and Lionel's daughter Mary's house, where we met and admired lovely Ruby, who is four months old, and enjoyed our hostess's pear almond tart. Back at the house, we had an early dinner; the main dish was dubbed Angela's Vegetable Medley in my honour. Claire had to catch a flight to Edinburgh from Southampton airport, normally a 40 minute drive away. By the time we left it was teeming rain and traffic was unusually slow most of the way. We dashed into the terminal with less than half an hour to flight time, but Claire was ushered in quickly and on her way.

Back home again, we set to work on a large bag of windfall apples that needed to be peeled and cooked before they spoiled. Our birthday tea was a traditional Dorset apple cake along with Dorset cheddar, a Dorset blue cheese and a very creamy French blue, nicely complemented with port. An excellent and memorable birthday!

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Today was family reunion day and what a great party! We had almost 40 people from various parts of the UK and Canada (five of us from Canada) convening on the hotel near Farnham about midday. Lots of hugs and chatter, greetings and introductions, covered the milling around time before lunch. then we sat down at several large tables, with the kids at their own. Meryl and Doreen had arranged the place cards to mix things up. The meal was fine and filling and we managed to get most of the group organized for a group picture before it was over. We caught up on weddings, new babies, and individual news of all kinds. By late afternoon, we headed off to the south with Lionel and Mary to their home in Corfe Mullen, a very pleasant drive that included a short detour in the New Forest. Before dark we walked their boxer Milo along a lovely footpath past rabbit runs and horse paddocks.

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We're here and we're doing great. Finding the hotel was a diversionary adventure, but we made it finally midday yesterday. The hotel was less than helpful - more about that when I have more online time - but we're comfortable and already in party mode. The gang arrives in the next hour or so. Stay tuned for an update at our next stop, I hope: Corfe Mullen this evening.

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Before I talk about last night's tech event, I'd like to be on record for achieving a harvest/home effort on Saturday. With Bob's help, I managed to collect most of the grapes from the vine on the patio and made an impressive amount of jam, enough to share with the neighbours.

Last night's DemoCamp was the first I had been to for ages and my, how it's grown! Hosted at the Toronto Board of Trade, complete with buffet dinner, it felt more like an official suit & tie thing than democampers and torcampers are used to. Not to worry, the presenters were the same jeans & T-shirt crowd and the works in progress as interesting as I'd hoped.

Favourite presentations: Greg Wilson on Beautiful Code (but that's a book I really wouldn't understand), Andie Andreoli on Startup Weekend (great to see what old friends are up to)

Bonus items during the break: watching people play Guitar hero II, playing with the prototype for One Laptop Per Child (can't resist the usual descriptor: it's cute!).

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I saw the heron yesterday, silently checking out the pond. Bob had seen it a couple of times already, but I hadn't. On a whim I took Tiger down to the pond near lunchtime and there it was, staying only seconds before it sensed us nearby and elegantly took off. No wonder we haven't seen many fish near the surface lately. The smart ones are staying low.

Today's bird sighting came after I watched the Celtic Festival parade of pipe bands -- a good show in itself. As I walked back to the car, I saw a cormorant drying its wings on a dead tree in the river. I came closer and noticed that on the same tree was a kingfisher. Double treat and right in the middle of town!

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Thanks to Boing Boing, I now know what needs to be done. My various obsessions can converge perfectly because I have found the pattern to knit my own Dalek.

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As I flew into Saint John this afternoon, I was struck by the vast forested areas outside the city, looking quite beautiful in the late day sun (except for the odd clearcut section). I'm back here for the week to meet with colleagues at a client's offices, mostly people I work with already from home. To console myself for having to spend the last glorious day of the last summer weekend alone, I ordered the special for dinner. I think the lobster was more or less local, but I'm pretty sure the strawberry shortcake wasn't. It was all delicious anyway, and as penance I took a quick walk up the street (a very steep hill) and down again before it got dark.

Claire has already found a flat in Edinburgh and some free neighbourhood wireless. That's my girl!

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