Happy Birhday to Pete

Sorry - no pictures this week. Nothing special to photograph. Perhaps I'll list old images to add some colour!

We really weren’t sure how this week would go. Whilst clearing the pine needles in the garden on Sunday Pete had twisted his ankle and only Monday morning would allow us to know what might happen. We suspected it may have been a break, but on waking Pete was surprised that, although sore, he could at least put his full weight on his ankle and would be able to drive. We had planned for Julie to drive Pete to a meeting in Truro if necessary, but it now meant Ajanta would have the benefit of her going into work.

Work at the Salcombe Deli is winding down for Julie as we head towards the end of the season with only half-term to come where it is expected to be busy. The weather hasn’t been great and the tourists seem to have deserted the town. Half-term is usually the time for second home owners to shut up their houses and take their boats out of the water and store them for the winter. Time will tell if half-term will be the busy week local traders need.

Julie will now find time to do more work at Ajanta, but time will be limited this week due to other plans. Exeter on Wednesday and Thursday evening returning to Essex, as Pete needed to go to London for work on Friday. We planned to be in Essex for the weekend too returning on Sunday, as Julie was going flower hunting with our niece for her wedding.

Wednesday 21st was Pete’s birthday and we spent the day in Exeter, as Pete’s company car was being serviced at the BT workshop there. We spent the day in Exeter mostly looking around the shops and had lunch at La Tasca. The food was ok, but very slow in coming. However, during the meal Pete broke a tooth on nothing particular. No pain, but a real need to see a dentist before it got any worse. Since moving we have not found another dentist and are still registered in Romford so needed to get an appointment ASAP. Luckily one was available on Monday 26^th so an extended weekend would, with hope, be all that is required to sort things out – see next weeks log to find out!

Thursday was a working day for us both and a busy one at that. Having done a full day we drove back to Essex that evening to ensure Pete was able to get into London before 08:30 the next day, arriving at Julie’s parents around 23:30.

Over the weekend we took the time to see the kids and Pete’s brothers and their families. Julie spent Saturday afternoon at Crews Hill with her sister-in-law, niece and one of her bridesmaids looking for wedding flowers and ideas. Seems it was worthwhile as they came back with plenty of ideas and the flowers they picked matched the dress (see next June’s blog for pictures/details). Saturday evening saw us all at Pete’s brother, Roy’s house for a takeaway mix of Chinese, Indian and fish and chips (don’t ask) with the family, Callum came out of hospital earlier than expected and it was great to see him there to and to see how happy he was with the initial benefit from his operation.

Sunday was a day spent sorting out items left at Roy’s house since we moved house last year with a view to getting them back to Devon. Pete also needed to help Gemma, as she lost her car key somehow between the car and her front door. Things got sorted out though, although we had trouble with the logistics of driving people around, as the car was full of garden furniture and a BBQ.

It has been another full and eventful week and we are both finding our work and social commitments very difficult to manage, however, in Dagenham we would never have had the diversity of things to do. We will have to find a happy medium over time, but we are both enjoying the things we do.

Powerboats & Tractors

The weather this week continued to be better than most of the summer. A little colder, but plenty of sunshine through the clouds. Not quite autumn yet, certainly an autumnal feel to it.

Pete's trip back to London was uneventful, thankfully, but it has been a hard week with a few minor issues that have had an impact on his demeanour. Pete decided it was not worth getting too down about it and has just got stuck in to try and get things back on track.

This week has seen Julie working more days to help out at the Deli and again between us we have found ourselves limited to staying in for the evenings.

Julie is still rowing, but as the days get shorter this will come to an end, however, Fit Club has started again and Julie is getting back into that. Pete really needs to consider doing something to help get fit, but at the moment work seems to be taking up a lot of his time and draining his enthusiasm for exercise. He did manage to cut the grass at the front of the house at the weekend, which os no mean feat. The sloes are difficult, but thanks to the loan of Mike's motor mower it was certainly easier. Surprising how many wheelie bins you can fill!

The week has seen a change to the fields and a lot of activity from the farm. Lots of crops being gathered and muck being spread. The view from the house changes daily and the movement of the animals is always interesting and the teamwork between the farmer and his dog is impressive to see.

This weekend saw power boat racing in Salcombe and on Sunday Pete went down to town to take some pictures. It was interesting to see the estuary used as straight racecourse for the boats, but disappointing to see how many people had turned up to support the event. It has been a good weekend for weather and for that reason difficult to understand the low numbers of people in town.

Seems the weather is going to be reasonable for the coming week so perhaps more chance for us to get out for an evening walk.

Burgh Island

It seems the summer is over the tourists have started to leave and the weather has improved - bizarre! Good for the locals of course, but not good for the businesses who again have probably not had the best summer due to the indifference of the weather. Not sure we have a handle on it, but I'm sure we'll start to get feedback on the summer over the coming weeks.

We had expected to be off in Leicestershire for the weekend visiting friends, but also going to the Melbourne Festival, which is an open house event were people show off their artwork. We went last year and really enjoyed it. However, our friend Julie was unwell so we had to cancel, but are looking forward to them visiting us later in the month.

We deiced to make the most of our stay at home and went off to Bigbury-On-Sea. The weather was great and we had a good walk over Burgh Island. The water is so clear and their were plenty of people making use of the water around the island. There was a guy swimming around the island and stopping to rest on the rocks sticking out of the sea and a guy (see photograph) paddling his was round. We like the idea of the canoe and it is something we might consider for next year.

We had lunch in the Pilchard Inn (c. 1336). The tide was on the way out so we didn't have to repeat our paddle through the sea were it had breached the sand bar. We walked back along the beach and watched the windsurfers and kite surfers for a while and Pete took some pictures.

Sunday was a bit of a bitty day for us, but again the weather was good and we managed to get some of the grass cut, thanks to the loan of a motor mower - thanks Mike. We need to cut the grass so we can have it treated by the guy we met at the Kingsbridge show. Time will tell if it is money well spent, but we really do need to get a replacement for our lightweight Flymo now we have a bigger and more sloping garden.

Pete's again of to London for a few days, but Julie now has a period were she is working longer hours at the Deli and what with rowing and her other activities has plenty to keep her occupied. We have made many friends her already and it's hard to walk down the street without meeting somebody so know. this is more so for Julie, as working in the town she sees and hears so much more than Pete, being stuck in his office when at home. We have friends that are finding life hard at this time and we really feel for them, but it also makes us feel how lucky we are to have what we have.

The Kingsbridge Show

Another working week has gone by that sees us becoming more and more settled in our new home, in Salcombe and more generally in Devon. The weather has again been indifferent and the coming of the Kingsbridge Show must surely have been the signal for a bad weekend.

The weekend was one of two halves. As expected the Saturday of the show was dull and overcast and there was even a few showers - nothing much, but enough to put a dampener on things. We did use one of the showers as an excuse to shelter under an exhibitors tent and found that the guy's company may have a solution for our lawn. The needles from the Monterrey pines will be an ongoing problem, but getting the lawn in some sort of order will probably help.

The show itself was what you'd expect, but there was a real bias towards country pursuits and a lot of exhibitors selling farm machinery. New Holland tractors were on display an we wondered if Julie's brother Gary might have contact with the dealers, working for the mother company as he does. The horse and jumping events were really well supported and some of the livestock was spectacular. How the guys trust themselves to lead a few tons of prime beef around by the nose is something to see - if it wanted to it could easily bolt and nobody could stop it. There were a couple of escapees and a bit of friskiness from other animals, but it all adds to the fun.

On the Sunday a different day altogether and shortly after lunch Pete's cousin, Chris turned up with his wife Cora and son Quin. They live in South Molton and drove down to spend the day with us, which was really good. It was great to see them and gave us all an excuse to walk around the town, stopping for lunch at North Sands (obviously at the Winking Prawn). They had never been to Salcombe before and were really impressed.

Another working week a head with Pete off to London for a couple of days so next weeks blog will probably again be about our weekend.

Cabin Cruisers & Square Riggers

The weather this week again has been indifferent and a planned trip on friends Nola and Brian's boat, Threshold, was always in jeopardy. However, on Saturday the weather was really good, with plenty of sun breaking through the rolling clouds.

Nola and Brian live on their boat during the summer months when they let out their house and the rest of the year they run the house as a B&B.

It was busy on Normandy pontoon at 11:00 on Saturday and we had to board Threshold from another boat moored there. We had a pleasant cruise up to The Bar and then turned round and made our way back into The Bag. During our cruise we passed by Woodcot, a house given to the town and now used as homes for older people in Salcombe and where our friend Jane has an apartment.

Following our cruise we moored up and spent the rest of day chatting, drinking and eating. The only interlude was when Hannah, our friends three-legged rescue dog, needed to go for a walk and was taken ashore by Nola and Brian in their inflatable. We had a great day and thank Nola and Brian for their generosity.

The next day was again a day of contrasting weather from the day before. We took Rufus for a walk in the afternoon and ended up in Salcombe. Through the mist we could see the square rigger pictured moored up opposite Cliff House with the crew up on the rigging stowing the sails.

As we said before Salcombe is always changing and it is always interesting to see the different ships and boats that come into the harbour.

Normality Returns

We are finding it hard to maintain this Blog to our usual posting standard, as we are now back in the land of reality. We have both been working the weather has been indifferent and the opportunity to get out and take photographs really didn't materialise. Pete really need to sit and think about how he might fill the blog if we don't get out to take (m)any photos.

One thing is obvious and that is Salcombe is always changing. The tides, the light, the weather and the people and events all make the sights of Salcombe change and it is this that Pete will try to capture as the years go round. From our house we look at at fields and on a daily basis the animals therein are moved by the farmer and his dog to make best use of the land. More than that the fields are being worked and the landscape changes as the fields are ploughed and re-planted and again this is something that Pete will try to capture in the Blog.

This Blog started out as diary for family and friends to keep up with what we are up to, but now it has become more of a personal diary for us both to see where we have been, what we have done and who might have visited. It should also be a reflection of the year in Salcombe.