Back in Devon at last!

At last I got the magic text from Wayne that they had finished all the work in Devon and cleared away.  Just in time for me to go down for Easter.  First I picked Jayne up at Heathrow about midday on 4 April.  I decided this time to park in the short term pick up car park and pay the fee - which was only £6 - and this took away all the stress of where to meet and avoided the risks of picking up in the meet and greet area.  I got Suki out of the car and we walked around outside the arrivals area until finally Jayne came out (dogs were not allowed in the terminal itself which was a shame as I would have had a coffee and enjoyed the wait).  It was really great to see her again.

We went straight on down to Bovey from Heathrow, giving us 3 hours for a good gossip and catch up, arriving just before 6 pm.  It all looked fabulous - and I was particularly impressed with the rewiring and all the extra bits which had been done without being part of the specification.  There were outside sockets and several security lights and nice TV points and telephone points dotted around.  The newly decorated walls looked wonderful and fresh, especially the living room which had previously been wallpapered.  However the place was also a mess, with boxes of stuff and furniture piled up all over the place and thick layers of dust. Jayne and I uncovered our beds so that we could sleep that night, and the next day prioritised getting the spare room ready for Wendy arriving the next day!

I took Suki up on the moor the first morning - and it was just fantastic to be up there and really lifted my spirits.


In fact I was lucky with the weather for the whole fortnight and nearly every day was sunny and clear (if somewhat cold at least at first).  By the end of the fortnight people were talking about the gardens needing rain!

By the time Wendy arrived the next day we had got the kitchen and utility room things unpacked and put away and had uncovered 3 chairs to sit in.  We had a lovely 2 days with Wendy - she came walking with me each time I went out with Suki and we went to Yarner Wood, Parke and Stover.  We also had a mooch into town and a coffee and panini at The Flying Pig, which is now called Inner Light with new blue themed decor and has gone vegetarian. Not a pig to be seen! The best thing about it was that there were plenty of vegan versions and the vegan paninis were apparently very good according to Wendy.  The service was very slow - and didn't improve on the other occasions when I went in with Jayne - but they were friendly and hopefully they will get slicker as they get more used to it.

The three of us went to Trago Mills - Jayne and I were looking at carpets while Wendy had a mooch, and then we all looked at curtain poles!  We sat in the sunshine on the bench in the garden in the afternoons and Wendy even did some weeding! On the Friday evening we went to the Cromwell at 8 pm to eat and were told they weren't taking any more food orders as they were expecting a group of 5 and a group of 8!  The pub was about half full and we had easily found a table - but luckily I asked about food before ordering drinks.  We dashed off to The Dolphin and found it heaving - the only empty table in the place was one with reserved on it.  Again we were lucky in that they gave us that table anyway and took our food order.  We had a lovely meal and a very pleasant evening. When I went to pay the girl said they had done over 130 covers that evening.  I then told her about being turned away from the Cromwell at 8 pm because they were expecting 13!  She said she too had been turned away - at 7.45 pm!  And Bob later told me he had been turned away recently.  I can't see how they can continue like that.

Once Wendy had gone the rest of the week was a mad whirl of getting the place as straight as possible, going to look at carpets, getting the new blinds and voiles organised and various shopping trips.  Jayne was fantastic - and seemed to relish the whole thing - whereas I kept losing the will to live.  Trago did not have enough of the carpet I liked, so we went round the carpet shops in Newton Abbot and I selected one.  However the company kept winding me up - first they wouldn't provide a quote in writing and then when they did it was horrendously expensive and still not detailed enough.  In the end I decided not to have anything to do with them and was back at square one when I left - leaving the whole thing in Jayne's hands.  We had the lady from Devon Curtains to come and measure up for the roman blind in the kitchen and the voiles and curtains in the sun lounge.  Then I had to choose fabrics from the sample books and also tracking and style of roman blind.  I never realised there were so many decisions to make.  We put a lot of furniture and boxes of stuff in the garage and spare room temporarily so that the carpet fitters (when I eventually got the carpet) would not have too much furniture to move.

We also enjoyed several coffee and lunches out - a couple in Inner Light and one at Dunelm.

Mike had originally intended to come down by train on Palm Sunday, but had to go in to work during Holy Week so he drove down on Maundy Thursday after work.  Jean had invited him to the handbells that evening, so after a quick cup of tea and a pasty he came on to the rehearsal.  I had gone ahead with Ann etc and had left him the grid ref for Jean's house.  We had a very enjoyable evening - it was lovely to be back with them ringing handbells.  I had forgotten how magnificent they looked.  Mike rang 9-10 and I rang 11-12.  On Holy Saturday Bob arranged a special method practice for Chris, Paul and Becky to ring plain hunt.  We had a productive couple of hours although it was hard work ringing all the time. Tim came over on Good Friday and Holy Saturday for more attempts at the 41 surprise minor in hand.  We rang right through the peal on both occasions, but sadly not in one go!  Neither did we score any QPs although had a few attempts. We phoned up for an indian takeaway in the evening - when we turned up to collect it they were in chaos with only one person serving and a new guy taking orders (very slowly!).  The restaurant was full - and everyone was complaining about the length of time it was taking to be served - and there was an hour wait for takeaway orders (even ours which had been phoned through earlier).  A large group eventually gave up waiting and said they would go and get a drink somewhere and come back in an hour - and it turned out to be a group with Gary who owns The Cromwell. I was sorely tempted to say to him as he left "oh dear - are they too busy to take your food order!!".  Sweet justice!

Mike came out for a couple of walks with me - we even got up on to the moor one day.  We went out along the ridge and then cut down to the tramway and back along it.


The three of us also had an exciting walk through the woods by the stream in Stover where several fallen tree trunks proved something of an obstacle, and Mike fell over in his chair landing on his chin at one point.  Suki was very bouncy on the walk and insisted on chasing after the ball over and over again.  The next day she was very stiff and could hardly move - and definitely didn't want to go for much of a walk.

Mike's mum came for lunch on Easter Day, and also for coffee a couple of mornings.  She seemed to like all the new decoration and work although she did keep asking what had happened to the carpets!  We had a lovely lunch - once again the oven worked its magic although I managed to make the stuffing explode!

On Easter Monday Mike went off on a ringing outing with Bob in the afternoon and then Jayne and I joined up with everyone for a meal at The Dolphin in the evening.  Again we had a really nice meal and an enjoyable evening in good company.

Mike and I went home in our separate cars on the Wednesday.  Mike went to Bracknell for a works do, and I went for a walk in Parke with Suki before heading home.  In the evening I went to ring handbells at Guy's - where we failed to ring Yorkshire Major.  Ho hum.

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