Windy.

It's been a day of sunny spells and sudden squalls.  Much less depressing than yesterday's greyness. During the dry spells I was able to clean up the lower (old) decked area; picking up leaves and washing down the wood. I've finally opted for bleach and a large sponge to remove the rest of the algae. I also trimmed the rose bush a bit as the wind was shaking it back and forth. The wind got even stronger in the evening with sudden gusts and the thudding of rain being blown into the windows.

While I was inside I finished writing up 'autumn' in my journal. I don't think the journal would be very enlightening to a stranger reading it but for me it certainly acts as an aide memoire. Very useful as the years blur together with the same major events happening every year. 

This morning Peter gave me the task of sourcing a second mount for our Satnav to put in the car. He'd had a look on-line and hadn't made any progress so my on-line shopping skills were needed. I began by looking on the maker's website but couldn't see a mount for our particular model. Next step was to prise a phone number from the depths of the help pages. My intention was just to ask for a part number and link to where it could be purchased so imagine my amazement when the help desk person not only found the part but informed me that he would be sending it to us at no charge. Wow, that was a surprise and I did double check that I hadn't misheard.

Wet.

It's been a dismally grey day and raining for most of the time. The highlight of the day was possibly the window salesmen knocking on the door to hand out a leaflet and ask if we needed any new windows. They were out of luck as our windows are all new, not that I would do business with anyone who came calling at the door. Nothing else of note today apart from collating my September, October and November notes ready to write up autumn in my journal. Oh and I poured some whiskey over the Christmas cakes.

The white orchid in the sitting room is finally starting to loose its flowers, a whole six months after they first appeared. Most of my other orchids are smaller flowered and don't last quite so long.

Wet.

It has been a very wet day today and rather mild. I needed a couple of things from the Co-Op so instead of walking I had to take the car. I'm trying to stick closely to the Christmas cake recipe so didn't want to use dark soft brown sugar instead of light. Also I didn't seem to have any mixed spice. There is a jar with the pen rubbed off that I think might be mixed spice but I didn't want to take the chance. I looked up the ingredients of mixed spice to see if I could make it at home but I certainly don't have any ground mace. Shopping done it was time to mix the fruit which smelt deliciously of orange and whiskey with the rest of the ingredients. I split the mixture between two tins (why do Christmas cake recipes use such large quantities?) so one will be loaf shaped. Three and half hours later the cakes were done. We have a gas cooker so Peter bought a temperature gauge that sits inside the oven so I could make sure the cakes baked at the right temperature. The cakes are safe (from the cats) on a tray in Peter's study where I'll be 'feeding' them with more whiskey.

It's choir tonight so right now I'm multitasking by singing 'Time after time' and should just have enough time for 'Crossing the bar.'

Grey.

First thing this morning the sky was blue(ish) but by the time I walked into town the sun was shining weakly through the overcast sky. From then it simply got greyer and colder. When I got back from town I really could have curled up on the sofa and gone to sleep. After a cup of tea it was time to start the evening exercises as a warm up for Pilates.

In town I got some books at the library then joined the queue at the Post Office. I used the self service machine with some assistance from the member of staff who whizzed my cards through. At least all my cards have been posted. I thought I was early with my UK cards but when I got home there was our first card from a former neighbour of ours. Our card should get to her in a day or so.

Most of our presents to the family will be of the home-made/baked variety and I was pleased to find this Christmas themed tin to put goodies in.

Windy.

Today's photos are some of the ones I took while waiting outside Rosemoor.

Today has been very windy with some heavy showers. It was a good thing I went to the garage to check the water trays as one of them was nearly filled right to the top. I feel better now that they've all been emptied as it keeps the whole garage drier if there isn't water falling on to the floor.

Have finally got my Christmas letter printed, an awkward job as my pc has neither Word nor printer. At least there is an upgraded version of notepad but sending it as an attachment to Peter for printing also caused problems. Once the letter was done I thought I might as well get on and write all my Christmas cards, not just the ones that are going abroad. Too often I end up sending cards and parcels at the last minute and hoping that they get there in time. When I opened my address book I came across an old Christmas card list and thought I would be super efficient and rewrite the list with all the addresses to save having to look them up each year. I had reached the second to last name, turned to the appropriate page in the address book and out fell last year's list ….. with addresses.

While Peter was out shopping I baked some more peanut and chocolate cookies as Peter was down to the last one in the box. I was very restrained and only ate one cookie, for test purposes of course.  

Sculptures at Rosemoor.

Today has been grey, windy and often wet. Peter went out rowing. There were only five instead of six rowers due to an email mix up and he said it was very hard work. That was after they had cleared the wood including trees that the river had left on the slipway. I stayed home and put together the dried fruit and orange zest for the Christmas cake. I'm using a Mary Berry recipe but I did have to change the quarter pint of brandy (which we've run out of) to whiskey. We don't drink spirits and the bottles we've been given over the years only get used at Christmas or if a medicinal hot toddy is needed. The fruit needs to be left for three days to soak up the booze and orange and then I can get baking.

The metal hog didn't move but the two cranes bobbed gently up and down in the breeze. The three layers of the flower below spun around in different directions.

 Photos below taken by Ley Holloway.

There was a shoal of these swaying metal fish, each about 3ft long which in natural light had a rusty finish.

Winter and Christmas Begin.

Although Christmas decorations have been adorning the shops for weeks the 1st of December is quite soon enough to be getting into the 'Christmas spirit'. This afternoon I went to the Rosemoor Gardens  glow event. This was with 50  choir members. One of our members co-ordinated all the people who had RHS cards and could take in a friend for free and for the remaining people the tickets were paid for out of our general funds so that it was free for everyone. Some people, like me came alone as their partners weren't into this sort of thing or don't have a partner and others brought non-choir member partners and of course there are couples who are both members of the choir. 

 

I was a bit nervous about driving up there on my own simply because I haven't driven any distance on my own since the boys were at university. With no satnav or road atlas I had a fairly good idea where I was heading but in the end the direct country road was reassuringly familiar and had good road signs. 20 years ago when I drove out that way with the boys I took the longer route down to Bideford and then turned left after going over the old bridge. Today I gave myself an hour and a half and got there in 40 minutes! I took the time to walk around the outside of the gardens and took some photos while it was still light.

Once we had assembled we had nearly an hour to walk around the gardens and then get a cup of coffee before it got dark and we could appreciate the dramatic lighting of plants and the many sculptures. Quite a few of the sculptures were moving on balancing points or were spinning around in the breeze. (Photos to follow.) We had asked if we could sing while we were there but after an initial yes the answer came back No. I can't think why, it's not as if we were going to be shaking collection boxes but these large organisations can be hide bound by bureaucracy.

All the paths were lit by small white lights and lots of the plants were lit by colour changing or myriad twinkling lights.  

It was dark for my drive home but I knew that for the whole way the road was wide enough for two vehicles to pass safely apart from an olde bridge which is only one and a half cars wide. Arriving back in Barnstaple at 7.00 I stopped at Tesco's (overload of Christmas muzak) where I bought most of the ingredients for the Christmas cake and two pairs of sports leggings which had been reduced twice. I got one pair in the next size up to wear when cycling as I'm determined to get fit enough to cycle further that our first outing.