Happy Birthday, Romas.

It's Romas' birthday today. It's hard to imagine that our youngest is 29, how time flies. We don't see much of him as he's still up in Stoke 4 hours drive away (if there are no road hold ups). He's kept very busy with a full time job, teaching drumming, playing the drums for a couple of bands and working on the house he shares with his partner Laura. 

With light cloud cover this morning the frost wasn't so severe. It remained cloudy all day with a sprinkling of rain in the morning. Peter was out rowing first thing or rather moving trailers and stuff around the yard to get the gig out and then rowing. I was also headed out but had to wait at home until Peter returned as the lock on the front door is playing up. Last night we just locked the inner porch door but Peter got some advice and says he knows how to solve the problem. Walking into town I was dressed for two seasons, flip-flops & sunglasses for summer and a jacket & trousers for autumn. I had a few things to do in town and naturally I dropped into the charity shops. I don't need anything specific but there's always that feeling that there's a treasure just waiting to be found. Wasn't tempted by anything today. I really felt the last uphill part of my walk home after yesterday's walk.

 Some more photos from yesterday's walk.

New top section of the stairs down to Rockham Bay to replace the section that became unsafe after a  cliff collapse.

 Rockham Bay, a safe swimming beach.

Looking back over Rockham Bay after climbing the last long flight of steps.

Cold.

We had a frosty morning that turned into another crisp, cold day. With nothing scheduled for the day we decided to go up to Mortehoe for a coast walk. We parked outside the Post Office as usual and walked along the road that leads out to Bull Point Lighthouse.

It was quite warm walking in the sun and sheltered from the wind. I was glad that I had chosen to wear shorts but I needed a hoody to ward off the chill from the somewhat icy wind. Plenty of baaing in the air as a farmer moved sheep to another field. 

The track follows the high ground giving great views out to sea with Lundy on the horizon. The air was clear enough to make out Lundy's lighthouses and the church. 

When our knees are fitter we'll take one of the side paths, slippery mud through the trees, that lead down to the stream far below the high point which gave us a good view of the cove known as Bennet's Mouth. 

For today the first part of our walk was an easy stride along the road leading to the automatic lighthouse and holiday cottages that were once the lighthouse keepers' accommodation. 

Having reached the lighthouse we then followed the paths that run along the top of the cliffs heading back to Morte Point. The whole walk was only four miles it was mostly up and down including three steep flights of steps. I'll post more pictures tomorrow but included the one below taken half-way up the first set of steps with a gate right at the bottom to give an idea of scale.

Back home there was housework to finish before getting ready for my Pilates class. We had Tony tonight. His class is Pilates only so although we get plenty of stretching and twisting it isn't the energetic session we have with Sandra which leaves me in a puddle of sweat. I like both styles but feel I need to exercise aerobically. Although I've been active all my life I haven't done much that is strenuous apart from the occasional sawing down of trees. Even cycling 6 miles to work every day was at a sedate pace, riding horses is about skill and when I took up jogging that wasn't fast and after I got up to nearly 2 miles at a time my knee gave out and the doctor advised me to stop. I'm working on increasing the resistance on the exercise bike to build up muscles rather than just to maintain flexibility. Hopefully at some point my fitness will improve. After all I'm only 62.

A Trip To The Vet.

5.30 and the sun has gone down. Time to hibernate I think. It's been a crisp cold day with a frosty start. 

Speedy is now sporting a 'cone of shame' following a visit to the vet. He scraped his leg last week and it was healing but yesterday I saw that he had licked it raw and made it much worse. Hence the visit to the vet which cost £54 for a 10 minute consultation, the cone and some antibiotic tablets. The next time I spot an injury however small that cone is going straight back on. Speedy was such a wimp, as soon as the vet came near him he climbed up my front and had to be examined while he clung onto me for dear life. No swelling in the joint but antibiotics just in case. Two tablets a day for five days (they'd run out of the liquid antibiotics). Luckily the tablets are fairly small and Speedy gobbled down the first one pushed into a piece of cheese.

I will admit to laughing as I watched Speedy being brought to a halt each time the cone caught on something. He's tried pawing at it and walking backwards away from it to no avail. Lots of tail swishing but that's how it has to be for the next 5 days. The vet said to keep him in so the litter tray has been moved back into the conservatory from the garden. They're not that keen on going out when it's so cold anyway.

I have taken off the sticker that said small dog size. 

Before going to the vet I had to drive across town to collect a car scratch repair kit from a lady who had posted it on the Free FB page. I'd looked at the map on my PC and jotted down brief directions but failed to notice that the road was in two sections. I found the first part easily but the numbers began at no 10 and I was looking for no 6. I got some vague directions from a passer by but then got held up behind a highways vehicle that blocked the road while it repainted the white lines on a speed hump. It took one more turn around until I found the correct house where I collected the unused repair kit. Saves me spending out for one to tidy up the key marks all down the side of our car before they get rusty. The 'Don't Bin It' group is handy for giving away and getting stuff but also has comments looking for recommendations, warnings about road conditions and other community chit-chat. 

Cold.

Today has been bright and sunny with an icy wind blowing.  Too good a drying day to miss though I made sure to use plenty of pegs to secure the sheets to the line. Peter spent the afternoon manning the gig club publicity stand (photos and a gig) in the Pannier Market. This was part of an eco-publicity event. I suppose you could say that a gig is an eco-friendly method of transport though that would be stretching the point. I thought about going along to see what was there but didn't. Apparently there were some local growers and producers and a very expensive electric BMW as well as the Green Party but not that much to see. I had planned to fit in a walk to Manning's Pit but by the time I had worked on my journal notes and done the ironing and a bit of mending it was too late. Next step for the journal is to practice my middle earth style italic writing and bring the journal up to date.

Cold.

The most notable thing about today's weather has been the icy wind. A few showers in the morning and a hazy rainbow in much the same place as yesterday. I took a chance and got my washing on the line almost dry before yet another shower had me rushing to bring it back in again. During the afternoon I carried on making notes from my January posts. So many tedious days spent painting or scraping and so much junk taken down to the dump. Working within one's limitations seems to take forever but eventually things get done.

I've wrapped garden fleece around the big tub of osteospermums by the front door to protect them from the cold. Although we are not likely to get any snow as was forecast for Scotland there was hail again today. The clocks go back tonight. Hopefully that will mean we wake an hour 'earlier' tomorrow. Not looking forward to the darker evenings though.

Winter Is Coming.

It's been a cold day of sunny spells and wintry showers. The morning showers included a double (if you look carefully) rainbow ending behind the trees at Bradiford. 

Between squalls the sun shone but I wasn't tempted out, not with the  wind blowing straight down from the artic.

In the afternoon the changing angle of the sun gave us a rainbow at the back of the house.  

One especially fierce squall brought not only rain and wind but hailstones too. I'm glad I got the geraniums brought inside in time.

I spent my afternoon writing up more notes for my journal. Usually I jot down a line each day which I then combine to make notes for each season before actually writing in my journal. However I didn't do this for last winter when so much was going on with settling down after the move, making repairs and getting workmen in. With the way the blog is laid out it is easier to start at the end of each month and work backwards which takes a little getting used to. It is interesting to see how much things have changed since we first moved in. At least we now have heating upstairs for when it gets cold.

Cold.

It's been a cold , clammy day with not even a pretty sunset to brighten things up. I might even have to give up wearing shorts. I spent the afternoon in the sitting room working on my family journal notes. I could see that robin back hopping around under the buddleia bush where I sprinkled some seeds and peanuts. I'm hoping that its presence might encourage other birds to visit the feeders hanging in the bush. 

This was a much bolder robin that was hopping around only a few feet away from me under the plant benches at the garden centre yesterday. 

I took a photo of my established pitcher plant with a ruler beside it to show just how big the pitchers are. The longest of the pitchers is 8 inches long not counting the lid.

Cold.

I've had a busy day out and about in town. In the morning I met up with three friends for coffee at the Ashford Garden Centre which has now been taken over by St. John's Garden Centre. A definite improvement both in the amount and variety of plants and in the cakes on offer in the café. It was lovely to be with friends sharing our news and hopes for the future.

I've been looking for this kind of pitcher plant for some time so when I found two at Ashford today I lost no time buying one of them. I also had a good look around all their plants and ended up buying a reduced tray of 20 violas in shades of blue. These are now in pots in the back garden.

I was determined to get some cyclamens today and ended up buying some from three different places. Lidl's had these large cyclamen (above), about 12" high which were only £1.79 each. I put them in a spot next to the front garden path. I got two small cyclamen at BJ's which didn't have a great choice of colours and then bought a tray of 4 in Tesco's. I've planted these in groups to add a pop of colour when I look out of the sitting room window. That is most of the gardening done for this year. Just some pruning and sweeping up of leaves as they fall from the acers.

Tonight's sunset was not a spectacular as last night's but was still a blaze  of colour across the sky.

Cold.

With the days getting colder it was time to bring the pelargoniums (geraniums) inside. They're not my favourite plants but looked good trailing down the wall under the decking. As well as snipping off all the brown leaves, signs of my neglect, I cut back the longer stems and after dipping in rooting compound pushed them into compost for some extra plants next year. 

The bright violas went into the planter to cheer up the view from the kitchen window. After sweeping up the fallen leaves, mostly from the acers, the deck looks clean and tidy for the winter.

No rain today but a watery sky with the merest hint of blue all day.  

The sunset began with flashes of gold and then suddenly the sky glowed orange and ended deep red (darker than the photo) from west to east.   

On the bike ride yesterday Peter spotted that my back wheel is out of shape adding to my being a bit wobbly.  He'll take it to be straightened out by Gordy, a local character who seems to have always been there in his shop filled with bikes from floor to ceiling with just enough space for Gordy to fix a bike.

First Bike Ride.

I woke early this morning and lay in bed watching the stars before getting up at 7.30 to do my morning exercises. It's not often that I'm awake and ready to start my day at such an early hour. It was crisp and cool with a good breeze which was good for drying my washing. The towels weren't quite dry by the end of the day so they're airing over the radiators which came on late this afternoon. With all the morning jobs and phone calls out of the way we decided to get out our bikes for a ride down the Tarka Trail towards Braunton. I used to bike 6 miles to work each day through central London but stopped 34 years ago when our oldest was born. Since then I've been on a bike once, about 15 years ago, when I rode with the boys to East Down. So it was with some trepidation that I set off, followed by Peter who was keeping an eye on me from behind. That was after we lowered the seat so that I could supplement the brakes by putting my feet on the floor. 

To get to the Tarka Trail we had a short downhill road section but once we reached the busy Braunton Road there was a welcome cycle lane on the footpath that took us up to the bridge and then down to the river. Need I say that I got off and pushed my bike across each junction.

It was pleasant to cycle beside the river listening to the different birdsongs of the marshland birds. There were a fair number of people on the trail, cycling and walking, as it's the half-term school holiday.

Despite using my exercise bike every day for well over a year I soon began to run out of puff. I'll just have to increase the resistance level for my daily pedalling to build up some stamina. Eventually we should be whizzing right down to Braunton and then the sand dunes and sea at Crow Point. Today we turned around before Heanton. Instead of going all the way back to the bridge we turned off into the industrial estate and called in at the Co-Op. I chickened out and walked my bike home up Chaddiford Lane on the pavement. Not only was I tired but even though it is a two way road with all the cars parked on either side drivers have to take turns to squeeze through the space and I didn't feel confident swinging around the parked cars and checking for cars coming from behind. 

At home I ironed the washing from the line and when Peter got back from meeting a friend we caught the last half an hour of sun at the top of the garden.

Cold.

Although it hasn't rained today for most of the time it has been gloomy and grey. Not even the chance of sunset to brighten the evening sky as a grey sea mist rolled in quite early on.

While Peter was out chasing up builders for the last two jobs that need doing I baked some peanut butter and chocolate chunk cookies to replenish the biscuit box.  

Spotted the robin again, foraging around under the buddleia bush in the front garden. Though they are the boldest garden birds this one looks a bit wary after having spotted me through the window. I tipped some peanuts and bird seed on the ground to encourage it to return and maybe to use the feeders which are now in the bush.

Sunny.

It's been another day filled with sunshine. I had to be out in the morning and for a while I thought that my summer shorts should be abandoned in favour of a pair of light trousers but in the end I was glad that I changed back into my shorts. On the way into town it was quite chilly on my arms in the shade but I much prefer to be a little cool at times to being too hot at times. In my ambles along the crowded High Street I counted eight other adults in shorts, all men but most people were wearing coats or jackets. My backpack keeps my back warm and my legs just don't seem to feel the cold.

Before going to the High Street I called in at my friend's to give her a card and this drawing of her dog that I had done for her as it's actually her birthday tomorrow. Drawing is not my strong point but I copied a photo and the result was not too bad.  She had friends staying and we had a nice chat before I headed off to the High Street. Called in at the bank to make sure they didn't pay out the house insurance renewal as we've got a better deal for next year through Peter's old union. Then went to the library to take back three books two of which I hadn't finished. One of the unfinished books was poorly written, too many adjectives etc. and was the third of a trilogy and I didn't like the way the story was going with the other. It's very rare that I don't finish a book. It was so nice out in the garden when I got home that we sat out in the sun loungers for the rest of the afternoon. I did take out my folder of notes to collate for my family journal but didn't even open the folder. Instead I read the whole of one of my library books. It was a light story, not a romance but a magazine level story and easy to read.