Barnstaple's Alleys.

Barnstaple is not a pretty historical town but a working commercial centre for North Devon. But once you look past the scruffy slightly run down facades you can see the layout of the medieval streets and alleys and there are architectural reminders of its ancient history.

This is on the wall of a building in Cross st above a baby goods shop.
The 1960s M&S building is an eyesore compared to these lovely old cottages.

The sun shone down on the throngs of shoppers walking along the High st which is pedestrianised during the day.

I went into town to do a few things and collect Romas from the bus station. The rest of the day has been spent organising paperwork. The pile is about 3" high so far but I'm almost ready to start filling in the forms.

It's Friday !

Sights and sounds from this morning.

Word pictures only I'm afraid. Feeding the hens and looking through the trees to my neighbours small lake with the early morning light reflected on the water. Seeing the silhouettes of a group of Canada Geese as they paddled and fed on the lake. The clip clop of horses' hooves as the horses that had been out in the field overnight are walked down the road in their rugs. The happy sound of little Jack next door shouting down the valley. Bright sunlight shining into my eyes as I head east to town. A quick slam on the brakes as a pair of enormous farm geese almost waddle onto the main road at Burridge. Slow down again to ease past a broken down vintage car, black, canvas top down, owner peering into the depths of the engine. Check out the blossom on the garden trees in town. Remember to drop the car in at the garage and explain about funny burning smell from the heater. Colleague appears swathed in bandages and plasters as a humorous response to an explicit book given as a joke birthday present. WORK BEGINS.

The day passes by in a flash, guinea pigs in the morning, polite refusal of a visit from a Deerhound & Lurcher at the same time, (might not have gone well for the guinea pigs). Panic at lunchtime till missing Mother's Day card is found. Planning done in the afternoon. Polite word with parent whose child's head is full of nits. Run to the garage to collect forgotten car, pay £5 for the oil they put in, relief at no other problem discovered. DRIVE HOME.

Stop on the way home to take a few photos.

These are the telegraph poles the buzzards like to sit on. Did photograph one this evening but guess what? It flew away before I could focus any close ups.

I love Devon gateways. They are so full of character.

And the weekend begins.

PS. It's been sunny all day.

Going Batty.

A frosty start to the morning but the rest of the day has been warm and sunny. The children had their afternoon story sitting out on the no-mow in the sunshine. Sadly I don't get to do the end of day story as I always have to listen to children reading. Romas met me at school after his 3 day train journey going up to Lancaster Uni for his interview. He was impressed with the campus, I think the 12 bars were a winning point, but unfortunately the music department was very poorly equipped, no recording facilities, few practice rooms, not even a drum kit, ( they are having a big refurbishment ready for 2012! ) so even if they offer him a place he would not be interested. I am still pleased that he got to see a proper campus as that gives him something to compare North Devon College with.

As I hadn't taken any photos today I went for a stroll up the hill when I got home. Percy was out in the field and is now almost as big as her mother Coral. What caught my eye though was a pair of pipistrelle bats flittering about only 6ft above my head. The above very blurry shot is the best of many that I took.

And oops, they've flown out of shot !

Lambs Come To Visit.

The sun went down in a soft pink sky this evening after another beautiful day. Windows have been open and the children have been out without their sweatshirts. It's hard to believe that only 2 weeks ago there was snow on the ground.
The first of our pet visits today was a boxer dog. It was massive, I'd thought they were medium sized dogs but this one was the size of a horse. Luckily it was gentle and well behaved.

In the afternoon two very young ( 4& 6 days ) lambs came to visit. The children got a chance to stroke and bottle feed the lambs and were far too excited to ask any questions. If we didn't have the fence between the no-mow and the real grass I'm sure the lambs would have been trampled flat. Surprisingly the lambs weren't at all worried by the 60 children with their noses pressed up against the fence. I have to admit that I've been claiming teacher's privileges with these pet visits and had lots of contact with the pets. My finger was certainly well sucked by this little lamb.

No pets tomorrow but guinea pigs on Friday.

Summer in March ?

It has been glorious today. There was not a single cloud to be seen all day and after a frosty start the day has been as good as any we get in the summer. Temperatures up to 17C and set to stay like that till the end of the week. In the town gardens cherry blossom is appearing and a couple of Tulip trees look as if the flowers will appear any day now.

It's been a fun day in school including a 'pet visit' of a lovebird, followed by a visit from a local Aikido sensei who talked about listening and respect and taught the children to yell loudly as a first form of defense. On the down side the tummy bug is going through my kids like a dose of Epsom salts. I had to put up a notice reminding parents not to bring their children back to school for 24hrs after an upset tummy or we'll never get rid of this bug.

The setting sun was bathing the countryside in a golden light as I drove home.

At home I was greeted by the aroma of another barbecue, kebabs tonight, very tasty after I did my sit ups. It's just the two of us at home as Romas has travelled up on the train to stay with Vytas in Leicester before going on to Lancaster tomorrow for a University Open Day and interview. He'll be back home on Thursday. Each part of his journey involves three trains and takes longer than driving but it wouldn't be possible to drive there and back in one day. It will be good for him to visit a university campus as at the moment he is toying with the idea of staying on at North Devon College and doing the first two years of his degree there with the final year at Plymouth Uni, (he's already been offered a place there). But if he does that he'll miss out on university life for those two years and that 'll be an opportunity he can never replace.

Barbecue Time.

The sun has been shining all day. It feels like spring is truly here. It was so warm today that the children were playing outside without their sweatshirts on. Never mind that the forecast is for colder weather, we'll enjoy each day as it happens.

I spotted these fresh new leaves on one of the ornamental trees in the school grounds.

And these daffodils aren't bad either. Every year they get squashed by tiny feet, picked by tiny hands and even run over by thoughtless delivery men yet still they survive to brighten up the next year.

I stopped on the way home to take a picture of this willow tree which has particularly yellow buds giving the whole tree a golden glow.

When I got home I found Peter celebrating the good weather with the first barbecue of the year. He likes a 'real' barbecue, marinated meats and a selection of salads. I didn't say no to a tender pork steak to accompany my couscous. (Actually the last barbecue we had was in December, he cooked outside but we ate indoors.)

Garden Tidying.

More sunshine today. The weather has been so lovely that we've had all the doors and windows open to let the fresh air in.

I've just had a quick stroll around the garden and this robin was sitting at the top of a tree singing his little heart out. I can still hear him as I type this post.

This bank of heathers are growing in pure clay, (ignore the grass, I'll get my junior gardener onto that soon).

After a quiet morning I couldn't bear to 'rest' any more so after writing a few letters to my ex-workplaces that haven't responded to my e-mails,( how rude), I went outside to do some garden tidying with Romas. The lower lawn is very wet so we cleared the land drain and Romas dug out the little ditch that runs around the lawn. I gave myself the easier job of tidying the overgrown paving by the lawn. Romas has already started strimming some of the grass paths and should be able to start mowing soon.