Devon - and more snow!

When I arrived in Devon from Stoke Mandeville it was positively springlike - the sun was shining and the birds were singing and it was just beautiful.  I forgot to unset the alarm when I went in, and was drawn to go out in to the back garden as it was so lovely and sunny - at which point the alarm went off!!

The following day I saw rain was forecast and got out early for a nice long walk in the plantation - the rain started at 10.30 and it hammered down all day resulting in lots of flooding and everywhere for walking is now a muddy boggy mess. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing the final paperwork on Mary's estate.  I was not impressed with the Tell Us Once service we were offered by the Registrar when registering Mary's death.  There was a council tax bill for Mary when I got here and when I phoned to query it they stated they had not received any notification.  When I telephoned HMRC to enquire what was happening with the income tax refund, they wouldn't tell me anything because they only have Mike as the authorised person.  It was his name on the death certificate.  If I had written to them myself they would have had both of us recorded as the Executors - I would have sent a copy of the Will to prove it.  We haven't had any correspondence from any of the other people who were going to be notified except for the Teachers Pension Service.  I haven't bothered chasing the State Pension service because her pension was paid in the day before she died.

I was supposed to be ringing handbells at lunchtime on Thursday but it was cancelled by Sue Sawyer as she had had a meeting scheduled in at the last moment.  There's a certain irony to that, given I had moved hell and highwater to be available. I did go to the Moretonhampstead handbells in the evening, and as Cess wasn't there I was actually useful.

This will be my last time at the house before Jayne gets back, and there was a lot I wanted to sort out before she gets here, so I kept the rest of the trip fairly free. 

The handle on the garage door broke, so I put a new one on (quite proud of myself).  


I got some grass seed and Tom seeded the channel in the back lawn.  I purchased a cheap telephone as I realised the one I had wasn't charging up, and I got a few bits and pieces in Trago such as paint for the outside table and chairs (there's rustic and then there's just rusty!).

But mainly I just had a really good break.  I had several good nights' sleep which did me the world of good, and also lots of lovely walks despite the weather - it snowed at the weekend and got very cold.  I had a proper wash and trim at the hairdressers (only £14.50!) and I took Mary's ring in to the jeweller to get a quote for refurbishment.

I was all set to meet up with Lee and Emma in Totnes on Sunday - but I got up at 6 am to find this outside the window


So we called it off - and I didn't even drive to church as there were warnings out about snow and ice.  I dithered about walking up to the church to go ringing, but decided not to go as I didn't want to risk falling on ice on the hill, and I hadn't taken Suki out because I was waiting for things to warm up.  I felt a bit guilty when I heard them ringing 4.  However the local radio said that snow was coming our way from 10 am so I took Suki for a quick walk round the block just after 10 and found that actually the roads and pavements at that time were ok - made me feel even more guilty!  It started snowing when we were out - and it continued to snow heavily all day!  It looked really pretty - but Suki and I stayed in for the rest of the day as it showed no signs of letting up.


I spent almost the whole of the day cross stitching - and made great progress on the Sheltie project.  It was like being on holiday.

It was still snowing when I went to bed, albeit more gently, and it clearly snowed during the night as well.  When I woke up there was thick snow everywhere and it was clear we wouldn't be driving anywhere soon.


However the sun came out, and I knew I couldn't keep Suki cooped up another day (she was driving me mad wanting to play with toys) so we ventured out and walked to Parke.  It was magical - so pretty.  The pavements were a bit dicy but once in Parke it was easier to walk through the thick snow. The sun did come out as we got back - and for the rest of the afternoon.




We had a lovely long walk and then stayed in for the rest of the day.


The practice at Bovey was cancelled which was a relief.  As the afternoon progressed I could see that the other side of the drive was nearly clear of snow because the sun had been on it, so I decided to clear my side of the drive so that the sun could start drying it out with a view to getting the car out the next day to go home.  The snow was very easy to move - it was soft and wet - and I rather enjoyed shovelling it all to the side.

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