Birthday Surprise

This week has been a working week for Pete and a non-working week for Julie. She is self-employed and this week there was nothing for her to do, which was good and a welcome change. Whilst Pete worked in his home office (no travel this week) Julie did the normal household stuff that she sometimes finds it hard to get round to. She also found some time to work on her niece's wedding and bridesmaid dresses.

Rowing has finished for a bit, as some gigs have been transported to the Isles of Scilley for a competition, which has meant only the racing crews are training and Julie and the other casual rowers have to make way for them. She is still doing her keep fit (again this Tuesday night) and this week managed a walk with friend Sue and her dog Rufus. Sue and Mark are busy again, as the Salcombe Deli has been open for a few weeks now and we really must try to find some time for Rufus to get him out more when Mark and Sue are at there busiest.

Friday night saw us walk into town again, although this week we had fish and chips before we went. Again it was a lovely evening, but due to meeting and chatting with people we know the return leg of the walk up the lane (Beadon Road) was in the semi-dark, as the sun had set and we were relying on the ambient light of dusk. The lane is in a bit of a mess these days and very uneven, so can be a little risky on the ankles in the dark. Still interesting to see the changes
in the countryside around us and more interesting to see the bats are again flying.

As we almost reached home we bumped into our neighbour Tom who was off collecting money in the local pubs in support if his London marathon run next weekend. Tom is running in aid of Shelter and has been growing his hair in readiness for a sponsored shaving, where it will be left with a red Mohican - brave man. We wish him good luck.

Whilst standing chatting to Tom another friend, Peter Lee turned up and we invited him back home so that Pete could help him with a minor technical problem with an SD card - two hours later it was done.

On Saturday morning Julie went off to a workshop arranged by her flower club and whilst she was away Pete finished off a piece of work, as he will be off on Monday when we go to see Gemma for her birthday. On Saturday afternoon we will be making our way to Brighton for a surprise meeting with Gemma on Sunday arranged by her boyfriend Callum. On the way we decided to go via Charmouth and Lyme Regis. The seas at Charmouth was really calm and sitting in the sun it could have been a summers day. By the time we got to Lyme Regis it was mostly closed, but still good to walk around and have a look in the gallery windows.

Unfortunately Callum chose the weekend of the first Brighton marathon for the weekend of their trip and we had to book a hotel in Hicksted, as all the hotels we tried in Brighton were full. We got to the hotel around 10:30 and after a good nights sleep left for what we thought might be a daunting trip into Brighton. On leaving the hotel and getting onto the A23 we were immediately stuck in traffic, which didn't look good at around 10 miles from Brighton. However, it was only the tail end of a boot sale queue just up the road and we were soon on our way to Brighton.

We got into the town fairly easily considering the marathon and walked through the lanes making our way to the meeting with Gemma and Callum at the pier. She was so surprised to see Julie and it was a great for us to be able to surprise her. We spent a really lovely day in Brighton - the weather was great and the place was really lively thanks to the marathon.

Easter Goeth

On Easter Monday we tidied the garden and made a start on cleaning the patio. A long hard days work, but very rewarding when you see the outcome. Still more to do, but that's for another weekend.

After a days work on Tuesday Pete drove up to Essex in the evening for a couple of days in London attending meetings. Wednesday was an opportunity for Pete to meet up with colleagues for a curry and a few beers in the City after work. He returned late on Thursday night after a day of meetings in the City again ready for another days work on Friday.

Pete was able to get to see his brother Paul and his family before he left Essex on Thursday - the purpose of the visit was also to allow Pete to borrow a telescope. What with the clear skies and lack of light pollution Pete was really looking forward to doing a bit of star-gazing during the summer (progress reports to follow).

On Friday evening we walked into Salcombe and bought fish and chips from the van in Island Street. we sat and ate them on a bench and walked back into town for an ice cream. We walked back up Onslow Road and stopped in the church gardens and took in the view. The church bells were ringing, the sun was setting and twilight descending and it was a really peaceful and almost idyllic place to be.

On Saturday we had to prepare for dinner with friends Donna and Marcus and went shopping for the steak at Aune Valley. The Beef Wellington came out really well and the meat was fabulous. We had a good evening, although Marcus had a stinking cold.

Sunday was a day to catch-up with all the paper work and other chores.

Easter Cometh

On Tuesday Pete was off to Swindon for a meeting and overnight hotel stay to allow for a site visit in Reading and a dash into London from there on the train before driving home from Reading on Wednesday evening.

Gemma was only down for a few days and having arrived on Sunday she would be going home on Wednesday. Despite this it was great for Pete to be able to see her on Monday and catch up in the evening. She brought an old school friend, Kirby and her son Jack down with her. It was good to see Kirby again, although she was at Matt's party back in late February it was nice to meet her son Jack for the first time. He's only two and some of the sites of the sea and sand were a bit too much for him.

Julie entertained Gemma, Kirby and Jack in Pete's absence for the time they were down and it's only a shame the warm weather of Easter weekend couldn't have arrived just a little sooner. By the time Pete got home on Wednesday they were gone and we again had the house to ourselves.

On Good Friday the weather looked like being good so we volunteered ourselves t take friends Mark and Sue's dog Rufus for a walk up into Callaton Wood. Mark and Sue were dog-sitting Rosie (Sue's sister's dog) so we took them both for a walk. It was a lovely walk and as Julie has just got her iPhone we took some pictures on our walk and posted them on Facebook while still in the middle of the countryside - the wonder of modern technology.

We were aware that there was a power cut overnight on Thursday and the Electricity Company had to disconnect the power whilst they made the repairs late on Good Friday afternoon. We were unaffected by the problem, although close neighbours were so we decided to get an Indian take-away and invited neighbours Martin and Clara in for the evening.

On Saturday we took ourselves off to Kingsbridge to the Devon Farmers shop to buy the stuff we needed to clean up the patio at the back of the house. The slabs are covered in algae and are very slippery in the wet. The wall at the end f the house is also going a little green and also needs to be cleaned.

On Sunday we went off to the moors for a walk around Chagford with friends Ken and Lin. Chagford is a picturesque little village on the edge of Dartmoor. We then went on to Fingle bridge, near the National Trust's Castle Drogo. We had a circular walk along the valley for a couple of hours where we saw the salmon ladder - it has i-built boxes to trap water that allow the salmon to climb the weir. We then walked back to Fingle Bridge and had a drink at the pub. The weather was intermittent when we arrived, but by the time we got back it had brightened considerably and was really warm at times in the sun. We returned home and had dinner with Ken and Lin at our house.

Cinema & Family Visits

This was a busy week for us. Pete's travel plans changed so he was at home all week, which is always a good thing.

On Wednesday we went to the Plymouth Vue cinema to see Avatar in 3D with a group of friends. The eight of us had all sat watching the trailers in 3D in expectation of the film and after only a few minutes the film was stopped and a representative of Vue came out to say the projector bulb had blown. As the bulb was very hot it would take a while to change, so we had to sit and wait, however, we were all issued with an open complimentary ticket for any other time. The film started about 20-25 minutes later and was very good, both as a story and technically - some really good uses of 3D.

After the film we all stopped of at an Indian in Modbury. Being a Wednesday out of season the place was dead, but to be fair to them the food was good and we all had a nice time.

Early Friday evening Julie's brother Gary and his wife Jeanette arrived for the weekend. It's always good to see them and great that they came down to see us. Julie is doing some work on their daughter's wedding (adjusting the dresses and doing the flowers) so they will be down again in a few weeks with the bride to be and her bridesmaid.

On Saturday we went across to East Portlemouth on the ferry and in the afternoon went to Hope Cove. The weather was really good - not quite sunbathing standard, but warm non-the-less. At Hope Cove the sea was battering the sea wall and although a little windy on-shore it was still really pleasant.

Saturday evening saw us attending an exhibition at the Mayne Gallery in Kingsbridge. We have an original we bought there last year and a couple of limited edition prints we had them frame for us, so are always interested in seeing new works, however, the new works didn't really take our interest, but they do still have a lot of pictures we liked. We followed the exhibition with a tapas meal at the Old Bakery. A very tasty and reasonably priced meal that we all enjoyed.

On Sunday we went to Hall Sands and walked up to Start Point along the SW Coastal Path. Hall Sands has been somewhere Pete has wanted to visit for a while so it was good to finally get there. We never really had a plan, but we all had our boots and hiked up to Start Point. It was muddy and slippery, there was low cloud and mist and despite all that we had a good time, although never realised it was as far or such a climb. When we got to the lighthouse it was closed. The fog at times was bad enough for the light to be on and the foghorn to be sounding, but fortunately not when we were next to it!

On Sunday afternoon Gary and Jeanette went home only to be replaced by our daughter Gemma and her friend Kirby with her son Jack. Another busy week in the run up to Easter.

This week has seen a return to normality. Pete working in London for three days and Julie continuing with work and social activities. We now have Matt's PS3 and his DVD collection so another reason not to watch live TV. We don't find much time for it and watching what you want, when you want seems an altogether better way to proceed.

On Thursday evening one of Pete's ex-colleagues came round, as he was in Devon for a couple of days passing through in their way to Cornwall to visit an aunt. We took Alan and Lynda to the Victoria In where we had a really good evening and a really good meal. Didn't get to see landlady Liz and wish her well for her wedding this weekend - shame the weather was so poor. Still I trust everything went well for her and her SOH and now husband Tim.

On Friday we had another evening out at the Royal Oak in Marlborough. Julie had been working that day and didn't get back until late so we met at the RO and had an evening with Jane for whom Julie does some work.

Saturday saw us having a lazy day catching up on stuff and in the evening we went out yet again, this time to the Salcombe Coffee Company with friends Martin & Clara and Pete & Beth. Another good meal followed by more good conversation and coffee at Pete & Beth's.

Sunday was a day to do those things around the house that we haven't got to do during the rest of the week and they are mounting up. Still it'll soon be Easter and a chance to get some of the jobs done.

Fond Farewell & Life Goes On

This week saw our son Matthew leave the UK for a period of time in Australia. He has a one year visa, but if he does some regional work (farming or mining?) he could stay for two. As you may have read he has left his job, said goodbye to most of his friends and family and is leaving for Oz on Tuesday 9th March from Heathrow. He is flying via China, where he will have a six day stop over in the hope of seeing some of Beijing and the Great Wall. We wish him well, but will miss him and hope this blog goes some way to keeping him up to date with what's happening here in the UK. He has his own blog and Facebook too, so we should be able to keep up with him too.

Monday was spent tying up some lose ends with Matt and in the evening we went for our last supper to the Heath Pie and Mash Shop in Dagenham. Since going there with his nan when he was very young he has developed a real love of it and it was his wish that we all went there for a farewell meal. In the day we went to the cemetery to put some flowers on Pete's mum and dad's grave, as Matt wanted to go there before he left.

On Tuesday we took Matt to Heathrow. His sister came too and although we were all sad to see him go Matt was the more emotional. Still he has gone now and although we were happy to see him go off on his adventure we will probably miss him more and more as the months go by - still, a good opportunity/reason for a holiday in Oz.

Pete had to be in Essex for Wednesday so we returned home late that night. The rest of the week was spent at home and for a change we had some really spring-like weather. On Saturday Pete went for a walk to Snapes Point with Brian and Hannah his three-legged bearded collie, while Julie rowed with Nola. That evening we went out for a meal with Nola and Brian and enjoyed the singing of the combined Devon choirs (run by Nola's choir mistress) at the Seven Stars Hotel in Totnes.

On Sunday Pete had to travel back to Essex for work in the evening, but in the day we went to the RNLI open day at Bowringsleigh House. The last few times we've been the gardens have been alive with flowers, however, this year due to the cold winter everything was late and there was very little to see. It was a lovely day though and nice place to be in the sunshine for a few hours.

You can see Matt's pictures and follows his exploits on facebook or his Blog from the link on this page in the side panel.