Breezy.

I've been in a much better mood today. Firstly it has been a breezy and often bright day. It is also getting a bit warmer. Last night in Bude (Cornwall), the temp didn't drop below 10C. We have been grateful that our bedroom is now a tropical 12C. For the last few weeks it has been 8-10C which is a little on the chilly side. I've been working outside for most of the day but I didn't feel the 4.1 earthquake in the Bristol Channel.20k north of Ilfracombe that happened at about 1.00.

And I'm in a good mood because I've  GOT THINGS DONE. There was half a bag of cement left over from the work on the chimney. With the right amount of sand I had a full wheelbarrow load of cement to mix. I had just done the dry mixing and added the water to make a large amount of cement when down came the rain. Nothing to do except cover the barrow and carry on working. First I laid a course of bricks along the back wall as the wood that had been there was too rotten to re-use. Then I used the rest of the cement to bed in the 3 beams. No wonder the the front beam ripped off, the mortar in the stonework was crumbly, like sand. I brushed off all the shoddy mortar and fixed the beams as best as I could. I've never been too good at trowel work so it is a bit rough and ready but hopefully will keep the wood in place. The rain eased off so I didn't need to cover everything.

Then I tackled the next task on my list, cutting back the blackcurrant bushes on the side nearest the old wood shed. The side of the shed is  falling apart and that was the job I had planned to do this week. As well as the cutting I got all the branches cleared away too. I was nearly finished at that point but decided to pull up some grass that I had spotted growing in a bed by the yard. Walking up the drive with half a bucket of weeds I thought to pull any odd weeds that were growing in the ground cover plants on the slope by the drive. At first I thought there were only a few weeds but once I started looking I could see a lot of tiny weeds, mostly grass. So that job took a little longer than I thought. 

All in all it's been a good day. Peter has just arrived home but he is off out again for the gig club's AGM. That might go on for quite a while. 

Wet.

It drizzled all day long and this evening has settled into heavier rain. The forerunner of yet another weather front. While my mood was 'up' yesterday I realised that it would be helpful to write a list of rainy day jobs that I could work my way through on miserable grey days. Even though I did do some of those this morning I could feel myself beginning to slide into that grey hole where I have no energy to do anything while at the same time feel awful because nothing is getting done. So I put on my wet weather gardening gear and went out to tackle the shed roof. Although the screws were tricky to break off it wasn't an impossible task and eventually I got them all done. Then, most importantly I bagged up all the small bits of plastic and stacked the broken sheets ready to go to the dump. I really, really can't bear to see bits of plastic etc lying around on the ground or mixed in with leaves and brambles. It makes me feel ill which is why I have such a problem with my neighbour's dump overlooking the stream.  He's got stuff stacked in front of it on his side but it looks bad during the winter when the trees have no leaves to screen it. Hence my casual tossing of rampant weeds, grasses and anything else that might grow, up onto the side of his dump.

Although it still looks  messy I can see order beginning to return to the shed. I also cleared some of the stuff growing behind the shed, pulling up the last of the brambles and some stinging nettles that are just starting to grow. Some shoots of the Rambling Rector rose needed moving off the hen run fence and back into the trees. So that's another job done.

The winter heathers are starting to flower and brighten up the hillside.. 

Warm.

The sun was back again today and it was much warmer. It was nice enough that I was able to open windows to let some fresh air in. I could never live in one of those eco houses where everything is sealed shut. I feel a good breeze blowing through the place freshens everything up, except when the farmers have been muck spreading. This morning I met up with 7 friends, and 2 babies, for coffee and chat at a big garden centre. We had a lovely catching time up with each other's news and laughing over some of our daft escapades. By nature I am someone who is happy with solitude but it is very easy to cross the line into loneliness especially as we get older and our families move on. (There has been quite of lot of research into how loneliness can be  a major factor affecting the quality of life for elderly people and I intend to make sure that I keep in contact with as many people as possible rather than just enjoying my own company.) Today was such a good time, I don't know about chaps but there is something special about a group of women friends. 

 Views from the car park looking across the estuary towards Barnstaple.

It was quite hot when I drove on into town. I nearly left my jacket in the car when I parked up at Lidl's but there were a few ominous clouds in the sky and I didn't take a chance. I paid my usual visits to the library and health food shop and had a quick browse around the other shops before buying fruit and veg at the supermarket and filling up with petrol. This car must have a bigger fuel tank than the micra because it cost me £35 to fill it up. Even with my short journey to work that only lasts about 2 weeks.

Coming home there were more and more grey clouds in the sky and when I stopped to pick up the recycling box I felt a few rain drops.  

Sunny Sunday, Wet Monday.

Yesterday (Sunday)

It was a lovely sunny day so when Peter returned from his early morning row we went off to the beach. It seemed that everyone in North Devon had the same idea. The place was simply teeming. Not only was it the first good day after weeks of storms it is also the beginning of the school half-term holiday. I was glad Peter was driving as he had to squeeze into the tiniest parking space. 

We strolled around on Barricane Beach enjoying the warmth !! of the sun and the sea air. 

I walked into the waves to take a photo of this starfish, not often seen on these beaches, and ended up with water over the top of one of my wellies. The rest of the day was a little disappointing. I couldn't shake a sinus headache and I didn't get much done. The shed roof is a little trickier than I thought and I got to the point where I wondered if it would be better to pay the £50 excess and claim on the insurance. But then they would only bump up the premium next year. I got one screw undone but then after that all the other screws have been burred (over enthusiastic use of the electric drill when the roof was repaired) and they simply won't undo. I have to break each screw by bending it back and forth. As none of the plastic is salvageable I resorted to smashing it away from the beam to make it easier to get to the screws. There are 3 beams, one is off and another is almost off so if I keep at it I'll get the job done. 

Today started with drizzle which got heavier as the day went on. I opened the front door to hear an incredible racket - hundreds or even thousands of starlings filled all the trees around the house. it was just like ......

 "The Birds". 

Unlike the film it took only one clap of the hands to send them on their way. I don't feel I have done much again today but I did fix the curtain rail back on the wall in our bedroom and made a good start on my school planning for next half-term. The only time I went outside was to drive the rubbish and the re-cycling up to the road for tomorrow's collection. Another 3 half sacks of plaster from the outbuildings went up in the general rubbish. 

Happy Birthday Vytas.

Vytas (or should I say Dr Masteika) is 28 today and I'm sure he is having a wonderful time somewhere in SE Asia. (Laos last time I heard.) 

I'm sure that for Vytas the most important event in the past year has been his engagement to Sally. Typically of Vytas he proposed half-way up a mountain.  

For most of the past year Vytas and Sally have been living and working in Auckland, NZ.  They have been able to visit the main LOTR location sites sending home plenty of photos for me to enjoy.

They seem to have embraced the NZ outdoor way of life with weekends spent hiking, camping, caving and trying out water sports.

As well as exploring the top of North Island they flew down to Wellington for a long week-end. Naturally the Weta Workshop was not to be missed. 

December 24th they flew down to South Island to start their travels. (In a proper plane.)

A surprise Christmas present from us was a helicopter flight up on to a spectacular glacier. 

Lots of hiking and other sporty activities around South Island before flying to SE Asia, Borneo, Thailand and Laos so far I think.

They've been jungle trekking to see the orang utangs, visiting temples, chilling out on beaches ....... 

 ....... Visiting more caves and communing with elephants in Thailand.

And they have another 2 months of adventures before returning to the UK. Keep on posting those photos Vytas.

Calm.

Last night's wind and rain continued on through the morning so we had a bit of a lie-in. My back doesn't let me sit up in the mornings so it literally was a lie-in listening to R4 and watching the trees lashing about in the wind. 

When we did finally get up it was to discover that last night's storm had blown the roof off the small shed by the yard. 

The whole roof had been flipped over and the force of the wind had even ripped out the concrete holding the beams in place. I was hoping that we would be able to simply flip the whole thing back again but unfortunately the roof came down over the corner fence post of the chickens' run and at least half of the plastic panels have been damaged. We do have insurance but the excess we would have to pay is more than the cost of a couple of new roof sheets so I guess I'll be roofing this week. Considering that once again 129,000 homes are without power today and so many people are still flooded I can't really complain.

Then one of the curtain poles in our bedroom which has always been wobbly came away from the wall. Luckily since my big DIY sort out I knew exactly where the wood glue and the NoNails were and Peter was able to securely fix the fitting back on to the wall. For most of the year our curtains are just ornamental as we don't bother to draw them but we've been keeping the bedroom curtains drawn to help keep out the cold.

It stayed dry all afternoon so after unhooking the baskets that had been hanging under the shed roof and thinking about how I am going to tackle the roof mending I got on with more weeding. Earlier I had found Speedy tucking into the carcass of a cock pheasant but then Patch stole it and took it under a tree. Short rations for those two tonight.

Stormy.

Fueled by Valentine's Day chocolates I was up and busy by 8.00 This was partly because I wanted to get the duvet cover into the washing machine nice and early. The hot wash takes 3 hours and though I have 2 covers for our super-king sized duvet one is better quality and I try to wash, dry over the rayburn and iron it in one day. Which I have managed to do.

Then I wanted to get out before the weather closed in and check that the dam was diverting water on to the field. I took the above photo a bit later in the day during a dry and almost sunny spell.

The stream has been fast flowing all day but the level hasn't risen. I wonder if the lake outflow was partially blocked the time it rose up and over the lawn up to the back door.

Once I had checked the dam and sorted out the run-off on the other side of the road I realised that with the ground so wet it was probably a good time to pull up the brambles that grow by the drive. That bit of rough ground belongs to our neighbour but he doesn't do anything with it and during the summer the brambles grow across the road. After I had a good tidy up of the sides of the road I thought I might as well carry on and clear the brambles from the wild bit of garden behind and alongside the hen run. The wind was howling through the trees and it had been raining steadily all this time so after a while I had to go and change into a dry coat and remove my fleeces because all that work was making me hot. Not only did I clear all the brambles but I dug out the drainage ditches that channel the water away from the hen house and onto the field next door. That wasn't vital work but winter is a good time to keep on top of the brambles that spring up as soon as your back is turned. I keep those bits of the garden as natural shady woodland but brambles and stinging nettles are not welcome. The rain got steadily heavier so after a good morning's work outside I rushed through the housework before having a long hot shower and a bit of a relax in the afternoon.. 

During a brief dry spell I took a walk around the garden to look for photo opportunities. Speedy came with me to the pond to look for and eat, frogspawn - Yuck! 

The weather is due to get worse overnight so no rowing again for Peter tomorrow.