Devon again - stressed out!

Well I never thought I would be writing that as a heading!  I went back to Devon early on Thursday morning, after seeing Mike off to work at 7 am, and arrived at lunchtime having been delayed by an accident on the M5.  I was lucky because the satnav was telling me to come off at junction 22 to swop 45 minute delay for a 20 minute one but the traffic came to a halt just before that junction.  When it got going again it was clear that all 3 lanes were moving so I stayed on the M5 and sailed through.

The hedges had been done and the magnolia pruned while I had been in London, and it looked very bare - but neat!


Jayne was champing at the bit to get started on moving the furniture etc so we spent several hours doing that and eventually got the sun lounge and living room furniture in place and I set up the TV.  I phoned Ann to say I couldn't go to handbells as I had completely run out of oomph. I took Suki out for a walk (tourist info car park, through Mill Marsh and into Parke and back) and then we had a quiet night in watching TV.  Very pleased to find the Chromecast now doesn't interfere with the TV signal since setting up the TV again with new aerial socket so we can leave it switched on and ready to use.

The weather was fantastic all week - reaching thirty degrees some days and even hotter in London.  We were able to wash blankets, pillows, cushions etc and get them dry in the intense heat and sunshine.  It was wonderful.

Jayne went off to work on Friday and I took Suki up to Yarner Wood for a lovely walk which did my soul good - there were even some ponies just inside the gate which was the icing on the cake. Beautiful weather, excellent walking, fabulous scenery and wild ponies! Walked in to Bovey when I got back and picked up a new soundbar I had ordered from Tesco.  I used the money card they sent me when I complained about the lack of money on the gift card I had bought Carolyn for Christmas. I also bought a nice salad and some other bits from Kings Kitchen for the next couple of meals.  Went to Tim's in Exeter at lunchtime for an QP attempt at Bristol - which didn't go.  But it was good practice.   Jayne came in later and grabbed some lunch and then headed off to David and Lin's for the weekend so I had the place to myself which was nice.  I took Suki out later in the evening when it had cooled off a bit, and again went through Mill Marsh so that she could go in the river. I was amazed to find that I could get 4G in Mill Marsh park - useful to know.

On Saturday I walked with Suki from the tourist information car park at Haytor up on to Haytor and then round by the tramway and back through the quarry. It was another beautiful day and there were lots of ponies and foals - and calves. Suki managed to find some water in which to cool off but it is very dry up there now.


We went out early when it was cooler but by the time I got back to the car park it was almost full.  I went to see Mary on the way back, who seemed fine and pleased to see us, especially Suki! I spent the rest of the day setting up the soundbar and sorting bits and pieces from the small bedroom, including setting up my computer and printer and putting all the cables and computer bits away in drawers.  I had cleared quite a lot of space in the bedroom by the time Jayne came back on Sunday.  I also copied several of Jayne's classical CDs so that I could upload them to my playlists on Google.  I was able to play them through the soundbar while I worked and was very pleased with the quality of sound and the ease of connection, both to the computer and to my phone. I also copied some stuff for Jayne from old laptop to new and on to usb stick and at one time had 3 laptops on the go!


I had an appointment with the bank on Monday, where I refreshed all my accounts and all Mary's accounts.  I was a bit early so I went for a coffee at Inner Light.  The lady owner was serving this time, and the coffee came quickly, was very hot and the mug was full!  What a difference from the usual sluggish service and half filled lukewarm offering.  I just hope her husband hasn't lost all their custom while she has been hors du combat.  There certainly weren't many customers in that day.  I mooched about the town and did a bit of shopping, buying some nice things for lunch from Kings Kitchen.  Gill, the owner, pressed a loyalty card on me - presumably because I had been in twice!

Jayne appreciated the lunch I had prepared when she got in from work, and then we carried on with the clearing of the spare bedroom. By evening it was clear and Jayne changed the bedding and did the finishing touches to turn it back into a lovely guest room while I was out ringing, all ready for Jude who was arriving the next day for a couple of days.  We were both very pleased with the progress we had made - and Suki looked pretty comfortable with it all too!


On Tuesday went to Tim's again where we finally scored the QP of spliced surprise royal.  Jude was expected at 5 but turned up at 7 so it was a quick turnaround to get to the Dolphin where I had booked a table for 7.15.  Jackie was waiting for us when we got there, and we had a very pleasant evening and another nice meal.  I had the beef, chicken and ham salad with a £1 portion of chips which was perfect.

The next day I took Suki out early and did the short circuit in Bovey Valley woods and then went to see Mary again.  I then met up with Jude and Jayne at Parke for lunch at the cafe.  I decided to have a cream tea as I hadn't had one for so long - but the scones were very solid and I actually felt rather full and uncomfortable afterwards. Serves me right! In the afternoon we went to Trago Mills for a look round - and I ended up buying a new armchair for London!  (See next blog for photos).  I had been looking for one for months and was very pleased with my find, especially as it is a recliner too.

I went home the next day, meeting up with Jay for lunch on the way. The Old Inn was shut when we got there, but we went to the White Horse in South Cheriton where we had an excellent ham, egg and chips for £6.50.

And now to the stress!!  It was a lovely week, lovely to be in Devon and lovely to be spending time
with Jayne again but I came away stressed out by the various works in progress and dealings with the various people involved.

Curtains - Victoria had been grumpy and rude when she hung the voiles, and had left them hanging off the rails in places where there were insufficient hooks and gliders, which also meant they dragged on the shelf in those places where they would get dirty.  There is also a gap at the right hand side between the curtain and the shelf because the ceiling is not parallel to the shelf.  I emailed her to ask her to do something about the faults and she said she would bring more hooks and gliders when she brought over the blind.  Then I got an invoice for the blind and was told I could come and collect it!  When I queried this and said I thought she was bringing it to me and fitting it, and at the same time bringing the hooks and gliders, she said she was too busy and that it was easy enough to fit the blind and that she could give me more hooks and gliders!  This was just as I was leaving so I had that going round in my head, composing my email of complaint over and over again, as I drove home.

Carpet - there is a fault in the carpet right slap bang in the middle of the double doors.  Vince said there would be no problem in taking it all up, right through all 3 rooms, and replacing it at no cost, and this would even leave me with enough of the original carpet to do 2 bedrooms, but the thought of all the hassle of doing that is somewhat prohibitive. We are leaving it for 2 weeks to see if it settles down after hoovering.  So that is also on my brain.

Hedges - the quote was for £640, the invoice was for £728 as VAT had been added!  I was incensed but paid it.  Now I wish I hadn't and had just paid the £640 quoted and argued over the rest.  I feel I have been ripped off and also that I was too hasty in paying the full amount.  So that is niggling at me.

Insurance - and then to cap it all Saga insurance rang me while I was driving regarding the renewal of the house insurance and then started berating me that I hadn't told when Jayne had left and that the house was empty, even though I had told them she was leaving last October.  They were unable to accept that everything I had told them would happen had happened.  So I had to terminate the call in the end and tell them I would deal with it when I was home and had the paperwork to hand.  So that too was going round and round.  It's a wonder I got home safely at all with all that going on in my head.

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