Lovely day with lovely friends

 The pub we met our friends at was lovely, it had a huge garden which was full of beautifully tended flower beds, with plants climbing up pergolas, interesting statues (including one of a gorilla sat on a tree trunk), life size wicker deer, and an enclosed fully equipped play area for children (there were only 2 kids yesterday).  And being on the bank of the River Exe, it had really pretty views too.  I didn't take many photos, I tend to forget!  But here's a couple:-

There were good Covid precautions in place and the tables were well spaced apart.  Inside the pub was just as lovely - we only went in to use the loos though.  We sat outside to eat as it was such a lovely day, and Betty is happier in more open spaces.  The bar staff were all so nice, really friendly and cheerful.

The men both had cod and chips - absolutely huge pieces of fish, and they both said the fish was really moist and tasty, with gorgeous batter.  My friend had scampi, which she enjoyed, I had Hunters Chicken which was delicious - moist chicken (sometimes it can be a bit dry and overcooked, not so here) with lots of bacon and cheese, and a really tasty bbq sauce.  We all had mounds of chips and salad, I don't think any of us finished the large portions.  Betty did have a couple of my chips, and a piece of chicken wiped clean of sauce, which she wolfed down.

Afterwards, we went for a walk - it's a very picturesque area, with a big hill in the distance (which we all quickly agreed we weren't going to attempt to walk up after a big lunch!).  Betty had a good run around in a buttercup covered field, whilst us 4 adults slowly strolled around the edge, watching ducks on the river and the fly fishermen by a lake just beyond the river.  It was warm and sunny, with next to no breeze, and we had a lovely natter catching up on all our news.  And we all had a cuddle! (it's been around 18 months since we last saw them).  We've known C & D for 13 or 14 years, we originally met through a caravanning forum (we both had touring caravans at the time) hit it off straight away, and went on lots of caravan hols with them, until we both sold our vans around the same time a few years ago.  They live by the Kent coast, the other side of the country to us, but come down here on holidays once or twice every year (not last year though!), so we see them every time they come down.  It's a pity we don't live nearer each other, we'd see a lot of them if we did, they're a lovely couple and we get on really well, we have the same interests and sense of humour and are all Londoners....although we're from west London, C & D from the east London area.

We went back to the pub after our walk, for more coffees and drinks (lovely coffee), before finally parting ways late in the afternoon.  It was a wonderful day, and I'm sunburnt!  Not too bad, it's not really painful, thankfully.