My January Week in Devon
I drove down to Bovey on Sunday 13th - leaving after church and bellringing, and arriving about 3 pm. It was great to be there again and I relished the thought of a few days on my own doing my own thing. The house was absolutely boiling inside, with the radiators all pumping out heat, even though the thermostat was set at 10 degrees - which was the equivalent of the outside temperature that day. I couldn't make it click at any setting - although once I had turned the heating off for a while and then turned it on again in the evening it seemed to work ok for the rest of the week (typical).
The first thing I did was to install the new bedside cabinets I had bought - they looked great. I even lined the drawers - and it was a good opportunity to sort the drawers out too.
Then I put the new bedding on which Jayne had given me for my birthday in 2017! It was pretty and lovely and soft to the touch
Suki loved the new bedding so much she wouldn't get up the next morning!
The NEFF engineer turned up nice and early on the Tuesday and seemed very competent. He had all the equipment and was knowledgeable about how the microwave worked and possible causes of the failure. He replaced two parts and got it working again - they would have cost me over £300 but luckily NEFF had agreed to waive the charge. However I still had to pay the £99 call out fee - which was galling given that I considered it to be within the 2 year warranty but at least it was now working.
The weather was good enough to get up on the moor several times during the week - cold and clear with sunshine and blue skies. I was pleased to find a couple of good spots where we might scatter or bury Mary's ashes, and where in any event I would like mine buried! It was on the path from the small car park across to Black Hill, which is one of my favourites. It only usually attracts walkers and dog owners, not coachloads of tourists! There are a couple of large stones which could mark the spot, and which are unlikely to ever move, and I would be able to lay flowers or just say hi when I was walking past. Both stones are on the col before ascending Black Hill and have wonderful views looking out over Yarner Wood, across Bovey and on to the sea at Teignmouth.
The first one is the bigger of the two - and looks more impressive - but I am not sure the view is as good.
The second one is smaller, but is on the far side of the col just as the path begins to ascend again and I think the view is much better.
Both are accessible by Mike if the ground is hard enough, and with some extra pushing, and we can make a final decision on the day. I think I would like mine to be at the smaller stone.
The view from the summit of Black Hill was good that day too
I went ringing on Monday evening, and had a pint at the pub afterwards, and I met Jackie for a coffee on Wednesday morning at Cafe 360 where we spent a happy two hours catching up.
I offered to do the driving for handbells on Thursday, but having picked up Joyce and then Ann we were stopped at a police roadblock at the Lustleigh turn. The road ahead was apparently blocked because of an accident. I didn't know the back roads, and in any case I wouldn't have wanted to drive them in the dark, so we just went home again. It was a shame to miss my one monthly opportunity but nice to have an unexpected night in watching TV with Suki asleep on the sofa!
I did a bit of cleaning during the week, and sprayed weedkiller around the paths, drive and terraces. Hopefully if I do this each month it will keep on top of them - I am not going to have Tom this year although hope to have Lee over once a month to help with the garden.
We had a good attempt at the handbell peal of Cassiobury and were in the last part before it finally fell apart. It was the first time I had been to Sue Sparling's house. It was a bit unnerving to think that Glint was downstairs (he is staying with them at the moment as he is now working in Exeter - and is going out with Jenny!), and could hear us, but they all went out to a ringing practice so hopefully it wasn't for too long. We also failed to ring the spliced Royal QP again -although this time I was much more secure as I had been practising the whole QP on Abel for over a week, not to mention the fact that I had recently rung a peal of Lincolnshire.
All too soon it was over - I had to go back on the Friday because of the Youth Club Reunion on Saturday. Stuart the plumber came over at 9 am and serviced the boiler - he had a look at the thermostat but couldn't work out what, if anything, was wrong with it, so I just left the heating on timed in case it stuck again.
The first thing I did was to install the new bedside cabinets I had bought - they looked great. I even lined the drawers - and it was a good opportunity to sort the drawers out too.
Then I put the new bedding on which Jayne had given me for my birthday in 2017! It was pretty and lovely and soft to the touch
Suki loved the new bedding so much she wouldn't get up the next morning!
The NEFF engineer turned up nice and early on the Tuesday and seemed very competent. He had all the equipment and was knowledgeable about how the microwave worked and possible causes of the failure. He replaced two parts and got it working again - they would have cost me over £300 but luckily NEFF had agreed to waive the charge. However I still had to pay the £99 call out fee - which was galling given that I considered it to be within the 2 year warranty but at least it was now working.
The weather was good enough to get up on the moor several times during the week - cold and clear with sunshine and blue skies. I was pleased to find a couple of good spots where we might scatter or bury Mary's ashes, and where in any event I would like mine buried! It was on the path from the small car park across to Black Hill, which is one of my favourites. It only usually attracts walkers and dog owners, not coachloads of tourists! There are a couple of large stones which could mark the spot, and which are unlikely to ever move, and I would be able to lay flowers or just say hi when I was walking past. Both stones are on the col before ascending Black Hill and have wonderful views looking out over Yarner Wood, across Bovey and on to the sea at Teignmouth.
The first one is the bigger of the two - and looks more impressive - but I am not sure the view is as good.
The second one is smaller, but is on the far side of the col just as the path begins to ascend again and I think the view is much better.
Both are accessible by Mike if the ground is hard enough, and with some extra pushing, and we can make a final decision on the day. I think I would like mine to be at the smaller stone.
The view from the summit of Black Hill was good that day too
I went ringing on Monday evening, and had a pint at the pub afterwards, and I met Jackie for a coffee on Wednesday morning at Cafe 360 where we spent a happy two hours catching up.
I offered to do the driving for handbells on Thursday, but having picked up Joyce and then Ann we were stopped at a police roadblock at the Lustleigh turn. The road ahead was apparently blocked because of an accident. I didn't know the back roads, and in any case I wouldn't have wanted to drive them in the dark, so we just went home again. It was a shame to miss my one monthly opportunity but nice to have an unexpected night in watching TV with Suki asleep on the sofa!
I did a bit of cleaning during the week, and sprayed weedkiller around the paths, drive and terraces. Hopefully if I do this each month it will keep on top of them - I am not going to have Tom this year although hope to have Lee over once a month to help with the garden.
We had a good attempt at the handbell peal of Cassiobury and were in the last part before it finally fell apart. It was the first time I had been to Sue Sparling's house. It was a bit unnerving to think that Glint was downstairs (he is staying with them at the moment as he is now working in Exeter - and is going out with Jenny!), and could hear us, but they all went out to a ringing practice so hopefully it wasn't for too long. We also failed to ring the spliced Royal QP again -although this time I was much more secure as I had been practising the whole QP on Abel for over a week, not to mention the fact that I had recently rung a peal of Lincolnshire.
All too soon it was over - I had to go back on the Friday because of the Youth Club Reunion on Saturday. Stuart the plumber came over at 9 am and serviced the boiler - he had a look at the thermostat but couldn't work out what, if anything, was wrong with it, so I just left the heating on timed in case it stuck again.
