Devon week ..
I enjoyed a busy but peaceful week in Devon from 14 to 20 January. I am trying not to miss too many choir practices because of the difficulty of the B Minor mass, so only went from Wednesday morning to Tuesday morning. Rather a lot of handbell ringing planned - but I decided to go with it as another resolution is "do it while you can". I am in danger of winding down before I physically need to do so!! We scored a QP of 6xspliced and of Yorkshire Royal which was quite an achievement, and the peal of 6xspliced was lost after about an hour and a quarter when it all turned into a mush. We have decided to go for a few single methods before trying again.
The weather was mixed - with a lot of greyness, cold and rain. But there were also several wonderful days with deep blue sky, bright sunshine, very cold and with smattering of snow around on the moor. I had some wonderful walks up on the moor towards the end of the week in particular - and Suki thoroughly enjoyed it too. She was rolling in the snow, eating the ice, and once even fell through the ice when she jumped onto a snow covered large puddle. We also had several nice walks in Parke and the Plantation as usual, and a jaunt up to Bovey Valley Woods.
I made a start on sorting out the sheds - completely clearing the newer one and have started to put all the gardening and building tools in there, together with the gardening bits and pieces, at least for the time being. I managed to clear a corner of the old shed and stacked the chairs there which has made it easier to get around. I saw Bill King and he is going to get rid of the bottles and rusty cans of petrol that are lying around, which is a relief.
On Sunday I went ringing but didn't go to the service as it was Morning Worship - but I did ring up Margaret beforehand and arrange to go to lunch with her at Pinks Place. We sat on the "singles" table this time - and Ann Power sat on the table behind us with her daughter, Wendy, which was nice. Once again we had a wonderful 3-course lunch for £8.95 - homemade soup, roast beef with yorkshire pud, and then lemon meringue pie (see photo - it's on the left!)
I managed to get up to see Mary three times. I didn't buy any shopping, but ate up things from the freezer and cupboard - mainly fish until I got sick of it and changed to soup etc. There were some bits and pieces from Christmas to finish up too. I enjoyed my evenings in putting on the new comfies that Jayne had given me for Christmas and watching TV with the candles lit. Handbells at Moretonhampstead were enjoyable as usual - we are now practising the concert music for Exmouth on Maundy Thursday. I was very pleased when Ann said she didn't want to go to Wolborough on Friday so that I could stay in the warm and have an early night.
Before I left I found a cleaner and some gardeners - another couple of things ticked off the New Year resolution list. Jean from Domestic Bliss seemed quite young but very competent - and she also does dog walking and handyman jobs. She is going to do once a month between my visits, so hopefully I won't have to hoover myself before leaving each time, and it will help to keep on top of the dust which seems to settle rather persistently. The gardeners, Amanda and Brian, looked suitable stocky and weathered and again seemed very competent. They are going to spend the next two months clearing and tidying the garden, taking down the ivy, etc - which will mean extra hours - and then maintain it and plant some plants etc, but doing the minimum to keep it looking nice without being too expensive. So I was very pleased with all that when I left.
I had a good journey back on the Tuesday and did well at choir in the pieces I had been practising. I even went to the pub with Mike - and enjoyed it! On Wednedsay we went to Guy's to ring minor - once again failing to achieve very much but enjoying the ringing and the practice. We went to Cafe Rouge as usual - I really enjoyed the food and I drank the wine rather quickly so we had another bottle and took some home. On Thursday I went for a walk with Maryanne in the morning - 6 miles starting and finishing at The Polecat in Prestwood. We had a lovely lunch there at the end - one of the nicest homemade burgers I have ever had. I spent the afternoon and evening packing for Majorca and trying to finish off all the admin.
I made a start on sorting out the sheds - completely clearing the newer one and have started to put all the gardening and building tools in there, together with the gardening bits and pieces, at least for the time being. I managed to clear a corner of the old shed and stacked the chairs there which has made it easier to get around. I saw Bill King and he is going to get rid of the bottles and rusty cans of petrol that are lying around, which is a relief.
On Sunday I went ringing but didn't go to the service as it was Morning Worship - but I did ring up Margaret beforehand and arrange to go to lunch with her at Pinks Place. We sat on the "singles" table this time - and Ann Power sat on the table behind us with her daughter, Wendy, which was nice. Once again we had a wonderful 3-course lunch for £8.95 - homemade soup, roast beef with yorkshire pud, and then lemon meringue pie (see photo - it's on the left!)I managed to get up to see Mary three times. I didn't buy any shopping, but ate up things from the freezer and cupboard - mainly fish until I got sick of it and changed to soup etc. There were some bits and pieces from Christmas to finish up too. I enjoyed my evenings in putting on the new comfies that Jayne had given me for Christmas and watching TV with the candles lit. Handbells at Moretonhampstead were enjoyable as usual - we are now practising the concert music for Exmouth on Maundy Thursday. I was very pleased when Ann said she didn't want to go to Wolborough on Friday so that I could stay in the warm and have an early night.
Before I left I found a cleaner and some gardeners - another couple of things ticked off the New Year resolution list. Jean from Domestic Bliss seemed quite young but very competent - and she also does dog walking and handyman jobs. She is going to do once a month between my visits, so hopefully I won't have to hoover myself before leaving each time, and it will help to keep on top of the dust which seems to settle rather persistently. The gardeners, Amanda and Brian, looked suitable stocky and weathered and again seemed very competent. They are going to spend the next two months clearing and tidying the garden, taking down the ivy, etc - which will mean extra hours - and then maintain it and plant some plants etc, but doing the minimum to keep it looking nice without being too expensive. So I was very pleased with all that when I left.
I had a good journey back on the Tuesday and did well at choir in the pieces I had been practising. I even went to the pub with Mike - and enjoyed it! On Wednedsay we went to Guy's to ring minor - once again failing to achieve very much but enjoying the ringing and the practice. We went to Cafe Rouge as usual - I really enjoyed the food and I drank the wine rather quickly so we had another bottle and took some home. On Thursday I went for a walk with Maryanne in the morning - 6 miles starting and finishing at The Polecat in Prestwood. We had a lovely lunch there at the end - one of the nicest homemade burgers I have ever had. I spent the afternoon and evening packing for Majorca and trying to finish off all the admin.
