Mostly Dry.

Although it looked like we were going to have rain today we escaped with the merest hint of  drizzle. That made a nice change for Peter who was rowing this afternoon. Up till today it had rained every time he was rowing. Today instead of rowing in the River Taw they took two gigs over to Appledore so that they could launch directly into the sea which is more fun. It's 11 miles to Appledore and being in the last two crews out they were asked to turn up at the boatyard in Barnstaple to clean out and put away the gigs and all the equipment. Two crews equals 14 people but only 4 turned up to help in the boatyard so Peter got home after 7.00.  The 10 others just went home. A case of 'somebody else will do it'.

Meanwhile at home I felt the need to get out and stretch my legs so I walked down to the Co-Op. I thought it might get wet so I didn't take my camera. On the walk down I occupied myself by seeing what was flowering in the front gardens along the way. Plenty of camellia bushes with white, red or pink flowers. One was a spectacular double red and another had white flowers splashed with red. Lots of winter flowering heather in white, pink and purple along with nearly open snowdrops and a few daffodils. Also spotted Skimmia berries, flowering Viburnum and a solitary Vinca flower. Another thing that caught my eye was a major building job on one of the bungalows along the road. The whole place was surrounded by clear plastic around and over scaffolding that reached up over empty space. The whole roof had been removed as well as the ceilings of the ground (US -first) floor leaving just the walls. The bungalow is of typical block construction and they must be adding a whole new floor as well as extending out to the side.

At the Co-Op I got myself a few treats, not the sugary kind (shame) but baby sweetcorn, button mushrooms and Cox apples all of which I can eat without feeling guilty. On the way home I met a former work colleague who retired before I left work. We had a nice long chat before I carried on home to more exercises.