Happy Birthday & Happy Anniversary

Today is Julie's birthday and our 30th wedding anniversay. Thanks to everyone for their cards and best wishes.

TOO BUSY TO POST!

We previously said that we were too busy to post and would update this week later - we have now decided not to update in the usual manner but to add a post with a few words and no pictures as follows:

This past week has seen us both working towards getting ready to move whilst taking a pr-planned trip back to Essex to meet up with immediate family to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and Julie's birthday. The majority of Pete's family were on their holiday's in Turkey and Julie's mum and dad were off to Wales on the Saturday, so most would miss the big day for our anniversary. We therefore decided to make the most of our time in Essex by visiting as many people as we could and seeing our son Matthew before he went off for a short beak to Chicago and our daughter Gemma and her boyfriend Callum. We also spent a really pleasant evening with Julie's brother and his wife who will be coming to Salcombe in July for a pre-planned holiday. A lotof the family will be down that week and we look forward to sharing our new home with them all.

A really good weekend, but a busy one that was going to be and was actually followed by a busy few days moving house.

New House & Rowing Regatta

Another busy week that has seen Julie's mum and dad return home, Pete working in London for a few days and us taking possession of our new home here in Salcombe. Although we've visited the house a number of times Pete never took the liberty of asking to take a photo from the living room window, but has now (see photo at the top of this posting).
The house is great and all that we would want already on it, but the views were a major buying point for us. We had some major shifting to do this weekend and thanks to our friend Brian were able to get the majority of it into the new house. We also realised that we needed to get some basics, like beds, furniture and the other essentials of life and it'll be a week or so until we are settled in with all the comforts of home - thanks Brian.

We Still found a bit of time at the weekend to go down into Salcombe for the rowing regatta and as Julie's new found interest she was really into the event. She also provided cakes for sale at the refreshments stall.

We also visited Woodcot - a house owned by the town that provides accommodation for some of the more senior amongst us. A lovely place with gardens that have spectacular views across to The Bar. Julie provided a small flower arrangement to be sold to raise some funds. Only a shame the open day clashed with the regatta and visitors needed to be shared.

We are now (or soon will be) properly resident in Salcombe and would thanks everyone that has helped us since we arrived either by helping us in some way or just for the friendship they offered.

New House

Today we completed on the purchase of our new house. It may be a week or so until we move in, due to other commitments, but we are now firmly established in Salcombe.

Sea Mist & Sunshine

On Thursday Julie's mum and dad came down to Salcombe by train to visit for a few days. It couldn't have been a better weekend, as the music festival was on and the town was really full and lively. We managed to get to the church to see two young Jazz Orchestras, who were really good.

There was plenty to do and see, but it was also difficult to get around what with Julie's mum's mobility scooter and getting it back up Onslow Road was a daunting prospect if the battery wasn't up to it. It wasn't and we ended up picking a convoluted route up to see if it was any easier and had to push it part of the way with Julie's dad on board.

Pete had to work on Friday and was in Truro all day, but on Saturday Julie went with her mum and dad on the ferry to South Sands where Pete picked them up. There wasn't much to see, as there was a really heavy sea mist and although it cleared a bit whilst we had lunch watcing te boats from the gardens in front of Cliff House the rest of the day was shrouded in mist.

On Sunday we went to Overbecks and the mist had cleared. The National trust site wasn't great fo rthe scooter, but it got Jean around and she was able to experience some of the stunning views.

Obsessed by the Weather?

Strange that we are beginning to place so much emphasis on the weather and the impact it has on us. We really weren't that bothered. We still don't like it too hot, but don't now like the rain - it limits your opportunities. Seems the theme of most of our blogs makes reference to the weather. Is it that, as in conversation, we use the weather to get started? Or is it that since we've moved the need for good weather to maximise our days has become more important?

Since moving out of our house in Dagenham we really haven't had much time to develop a routine; until we got to Salcombe we lived in a converted garage at the end of a friends garden and although a real bonus for us did have it's pitfalls. Since then neither of us knows what's on TV or if we do we're not sure when. Sky plus and the various iPlayers are now a must and we watch mostly recorded TV. Pete always loved his technology and now it's paying dividends.

We are both working now so our days are generally taken up indoors, but for Salcombe, being a seaside resort, the weather is so important to local businesses - without the weather they may not do well. For us the weather being good later in the day extends our day and there is a Salcombe phenomenon that quite often in the late afternoon the weather tends to improve.

Today was one of those days. It was an overcast morning, yet we decided to go off to The Garden House near Tavistock and later to Buckland Abbey, the National Trust Property once owned by Sir Francis Drake. Again the day got better as the day went on, but on our return to Salcombe we were again welcomed by a really hot evening, the sun not setting until at least 9:30 - it was still light until 10:00. Clouds in the sky are something Pete always likes to see, as they add so much to a photograph filling the sky and allowing for the occasional fantastic sunsets.

On our travels we drove along the edge of Dartmoor and were pleased to see a small group of ponies with foals in tow (or they would have been if not asleep). It's a first for us and was really interesting to see how they were totally un-phased by the traffic. We need to get out more and farther afield and Dartmoor is somewhere we plan to visit.

Next week we have Julie's mum and dad down for a visit so fingers crossed the weather is good (here we go again). It would be a shame to come all this way and miss out on the outdoors.