Moose on the Move!

Ok, so I said I'd tell you about letterboxing. To allay any fears - it does not involve a baseball bat.

We've posted some photos recently of some of our trips out into Dartmoor. You may have noticed that there are a lot of large rocks in Dartmoor. In fact we posted a photo of Chris standing on some large rocks in Dartmoor. Well, our neighbours Dayna and Ben told us a little while ago about 'letterboxing'. Apparently there are hundreds (thousands?) of letter boxes all over Dartmoor, mostly hidden amongst the rocks. Initially they were actually used for comminication. People would drop a letter addressed to so-and-so in such-and-such a village in one of the letter boxes. When someone else came along - perhaps on their way somewhere - they might pick up that letter and either take it to the village or at least to another letter box which was a bit closer. A bit like a really slow and unreliable postal service operated by volunteers.

These days it's just a bit of fun. All over Dartmoor there are now tupperwear containers and metal boxes and the like which contain a little information about the owner of the box, a rubber stamp and a little comments book. Now, 'letterboxing' is a hobby that people have. While you're out in Dartmoor you take a along your own little book and collect stamps from all the boxes you find. It's kind of fun. Kind of obbsessive, true, but kind of fun. It becomes very easy to just keep walking and wandering and looking in little crannies.

So a couple of weekends ago (12th February) I went out to Dartmoor with Dayna, Ben and couple of their friends (Claire and Mike) who were visiting for the weekend. Unfortunately Chris stayed home to do some work. So while Ben and Mike went bouldering (climbing on rocks) Claire and I were taken on our first ever letterboxing trip by our keen guide Dayna. I am proud to report that I spotted the first few boxes! The first one was especially hard to spot - a thin black metal box in a narrow space between two large rocks. Eagle Eyes Elke - that's me!! Amazingly we found 6 letter boxes in total, some less well hidden than others. Dayna was able to add significantly to her stamp collection and we all went home feeling quite contented.

The following day - Monday the 13th was the day we were booked on a flight from Heathrow, at noon, going home. We didn't get on the plane (obviously). That night we went out for dinner to celebrate/commisorate and think about the year we've had since we left. By and large it has been great.
When we got home from dinner we took our unused tickets out into the back yard, looked sadly at them and then put the lighter to them. We thought there would be something quite symbolic about burning tickets like that - certainly more dramatic than just tossing them in the bin. Despite trying several times, we have discovered that airline tickets (or at least these ones) are practically fire retardant. We eventually came back inside ceremonially unsatisfied with some slightly singed expired airplane tickets.

The other reason Monday was exciting was that the Animated Exeter festival began, marking the beginning of a really busy two weeks for me. The first week of the festival 13th - 17th was Schools' Week. I was helping out with groups from various schools (primary and secondary), we took them to a few exhibitions around town and then to a workshop where they got to have a go at making animations themselves. Most of them had a great time and really enjoyed themselves. I had a great time too - interacting with lots of different kids and watching them get a kick out of the magic that is animation.

After the schools' week I helped in some other workshops that were open to the wider public, these were also great and all the bits and pieces were edited together to be shown on a loop at the end of the festival. There have also been screenings of various animated films from the south west of England and from around the world. Most of the films have been brilliant but, inevitably, not all - I enthusiastically encouraged Dayna to come along to some very early Russian animations, one was a bit fun and interesting to watch, the other was a bit painful... but at least now we know that we don't want to see it again. (small plus but still plus!)

I've met some great people involved in the industry over the last few weeks, including one new friend - Julia Roberts. She's living in Denmark at the moment and furthering her animation skills in Viborg. She's also said to Chris and I that if we're in Denmark in the next little while we're welcome to visit. There's also a chance that she and her partner may be moving to Malta in the Mediteranean in the next couple of months, so if we fancy a summer holiday in the sun we have a place to stay there too. Great huh? Ok, enough messing around with you. Her name is Julia Roberts but she's probably not the one you're thinking of, (that's if you're thinking of the internationally famous actress from such movies as Pretty Woman and The Pelican Brief)

The festival finished with a brilliant screening of that clasasic animated film The Snowman (adapted for the picture book) in the Exeter Cathedral. It was accompanied by the Devon Youth Orchestra and Exeter Cathedral Choir and was a really stunning finale. We had a little party to celebrate the end of the festival afterwards and all went home tired...

So - school starts back this week after a week off. Half way through the school year already!! Six weeks until the next holiday - but we're going to go on a little trip before then. We have just booked a little trip to Switzerland for a few nights in mid March. It is the second ski trip of the season that Chris has been day-dreaming about. We've booked into a chalet with mountain views - very exciting!! Hopefully I won't fall over or be run into this time! Ha!