Well last week was quite busy. Tipsy Scone did a little meander around Devon.

Firstly to Exeter to check out Foodeaze. Closed again (for refurbishment) according to the poster outside. It sounds like it has managed to make links with Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food so hopefully this valuable foodie centre will be up and running once again. We had a quick lunch at Chandos Deli (Spanish Tuna baguette for Marcus and a Brie roll for Tipsy) and a snifter in Michael Caines' pub in front of the cathedral. After the snow events of last week business had picked up again and shoppers were hunting down those high street bargains.

Then the next day we were off to Exmoor where we stopped for an absolutely splendid lunch at the Hood Arms in Kilve, which is just outside the picturesque village of Dunster in West Somerset, where Marcus had the most amazingly tender rack of lamb (from the salt marsh of Steart) and I had a lovely warming soup.

Barnstaple Pannier market has over a hundred and fifty years of trading and is a vibrant and pleasing mix of stalls, some just an elderly couple with a few jars of homemade chutney and baking potatoes (15p each) and some laden with XL moleskin trousers and trapper hats. Friendly and colourful we couldn't resist some ewes milk cheese and a bag of cheap bananas.

Bought a magnificent piece of haddock in the nearby Butchers Row, very freshly caught and then landed in nearby Appledore which is one of the few success stories in the sad times we live in for our fishing communities.

Then tried to do lunch at The Quay in Ilfracombe which had just that minute opened for the Valentines Night shenanigans but instead ended up at Hunter's Lodge on Exmoor. Damien Hirst's loss was our gain as we could cross off another section of the South West Coast Path on a fantastically clear day. From the cliffs towering over Heddons Mouth we could see the snow-covered Brecon Beacons across the Bristol Channel. On Exmoor itself there were still impassable roads and slowly thawing drifts and on the inland section back to the pub we had to detour around the more stubborn patches. Warmed up in the Hunters Inn with a pint of Exmoor and a ploughmans. Both excellent.