May - Intrepid / Devon
On 11th May Mike went off on Intrepid for a fortnight, and Suki and I went down to Devon! We both set off around 9 am - I had a long journey as the M4 was closed at Oxford and it took over four hours. They had great weather on Intrepid, as I did in Devon, and apparently the ringing was good too.
Intrepid itinerary. Intrepid QPs.
Oxford - OUSGG Centenary Dinner - in the middle weekend of the fortnight Mike and I travelled to Oxford for the OUSGG celebration dinner. I drove from Devon - it took just under 3 hours - arriving at The Osney Arms where we were booked in for the night at 4 pm. The owners were out shopping but returned shortly afterwards, and the guy parked my car for me on the tarmac in front of the guest house. I checked in and then walked up to the station, which was only a short walk away, to meet Mike off the train. There was an excellent wet room at the guest house and we were both able to get a shower and changed before our taxi arrived at 6.40 pm (only £5 each way to get to Somerville College for the dinner). The dinner itself was great. There were a few people whom I vaguely recognised, but who knew Mike and came up to speak to him, and I was pleasantly surprised to find Ian Schofield there too, who hadn't been on the list. I had 3 glasses of prosecco before the meal but there was only a small amount of wine with the starter and mains so overall it was about right. We had salmon for starter, then guinea fowl with a garlic sauce and then G&T cheesecake. All delicious and quite filling - I couldn't even manage a Somerville College chocolate with my coffee, never mind a huge piece of the chocolate cake which came round later. We were mixed around after the mains course so that we talked to different people, and everyone we spoke to was pleasant and interesting. There was a quiz and a group photo by which time it was 10.30 and time to think about leaving. The taxi was outside when we got there at 11 and we were back and in bed before 11.30. It was a really good evening. We had a very relaxed start the following morning, aiming for 9 am breakfast. This was somewhat bizarre in that everyone sat round the one table in a small dining room where there were various bits and pieces on offer together with a coffee machine. No smells of cooking were detected - but eventually the owner breezed in and offered poached eggs which he produced in a small kitchen next door. I made us some toast and the eggs were lovely - but it was a bit odd and neither the Germans nor the Americans indulged. Mind you, the Americans did try the marmite - they had never seen it before! We went our separate ways again at 9.45 am and I was back in Bovey by 12.30 after a really good journey.
Walking - I decided to do some new walks on this trip, putting my NT card to good use at times - see separate post.
Visit to Emma - I finished off the sampler and we went over to Dittisha to visit Emma and the children on her birthday.
It was a very hot day, and we went for a walk from Little Dartmouth car park first - the views out to sea and along the coast were absolutely beautiful but it was very hot for Suki and we did a reasonably short circuit rather than go all the way to Dartmouth.
The baby was asleep all the time we were there! We chatted over a cup of tea and a cake and gave Emma some things from other friends in London - it made a nice birthday for her.
Handbells - Tim decided to have a month off arranging handbells and it was nice to only have one fixture each week. I rang a peal of St Clements Bob Major with David and we finally got our peal of Cornwall with Tim. There were only 6 of us at Moreton the first week - Ann was away, Joyce was unwell, so Jimpy left his car in the drive and I did the driving.
Retail therapy! Jayne and I went to Marks at The Willows and I finally found some floaty trousers to go with my favourite trouser suit, and ended up getting a white pair and a black pair too online the next day! Also bought a new nightie, some undies and a long pink cardigan in M&S, and some bras in Sainsburys. Then another day Jayne, Jackie and I went to IKEA in Exeter, after a walk in Parke with Suki. It was a long but interesting and enjoyable walk round - I didn't buy anything but got several ideas for things, and was particularly interested in a nice sofa bed. We had coffee when we got there. and a nice (cheap) lunch of fish and chips after doing the first floor. I had clocked up 12000 steps by the time we got back to Bovey!
Blinds - I broke a hook getting a slat down to measure it, and thought (foolishly) that I would be able to replace it. So after our visit to Marks and Sainsburys we went to Abbey Blinds and Torbay Blinds which were nearby. No such luck - they are not made anymore. The new style hooks won't fit on the old rails that are currently up at the windows, and we also discovered that the new style hangers are different too. By the time I was looking at ordering rails and all the fittings as well as the slats it seemed it was cheaper to buy new blinds - and get them measured and fitted by the shop!
The rest of the time was mainly spent cross stitching - I had determined to have a proper holiday having worked so hard on stuff before I came down. I even ventured out on to a sun bed for a short tanning session on several days when the weather was good enough.
Intrepid itinerary. Intrepid QPs.
Oxford - OUSGG Centenary Dinner - in the middle weekend of the fortnight Mike and I travelled to Oxford for the OUSGG celebration dinner. I drove from Devon - it took just under 3 hours - arriving at The Osney Arms where we were booked in for the night at 4 pm. The owners were out shopping but returned shortly afterwards, and the guy parked my car for me on the tarmac in front of the guest house. I checked in and then walked up to the station, which was only a short walk away, to meet Mike off the train. There was an excellent wet room at the guest house and we were both able to get a shower and changed before our taxi arrived at 6.40 pm (only £5 each way to get to Somerville College for the dinner). The dinner itself was great. There were a few people whom I vaguely recognised, but who knew Mike and came up to speak to him, and I was pleasantly surprised to find Ian Schofield there too, who hadn't been on the list. I had 3 glasses of prosecco before the meal but there was only a small amount of wine with the starter and mains so overall it was about right. We had salmon for starter, then guinea fowl with a garlic sauce and then G&T cheesecake. All delicious and quite filling - I couldn't even manage a Somerville College chocolate with my coffee, never mind a huge piece of the chocolate cake which came round later. We were mixed around after the mains course so that we talked to different people, and everyone we spoke to was pleasant and interesting. There was a quiz and a group photo by which time it was 10.30 and time to think about leaving. The taxi was outside when we got there at 11 and we were back and in bed before 11.30. It was a really good evening. We had a very relaxed start the following morning, aiming for 9 am breakfast. This was somewhat bizarre in that everyone sat round the one table in a small dining room where there were various bits and pieces on offer together with a coffee machine. No smells of cooking were detected - but eventually the owner breezed in and offered poached eggs which he produced in a small kitchen next door. I made us some toast and the eggs were lovely - but it was a bit odd and neither the Germans nor the Americans indulged. Mind you, the Americans did try the marmite - they had never seen it before! We went our separate ways again at 9.45 am and I was back in Bovey by 12.30 after a really good journey.
Walking - I decided to do some new walks on this trip, putting my NT card to good use at times - see separate post.
Visit to Emma - I finished off the sampler and we went over to Dittisha to visit Emma and the children on her birthday.
It was a very hot day, and we went for a walk from Little Dartmouth car park first - the views out to sea and along the coast were absolutely beautiful but it was very hot for Suki and we did a reasonably short circuit rather than go all the way to Dartmouth.
The baby was asleep all the time we were there! We chatted over a cup of tea and a cake and gave Emma some things from other friends in London - it made a nice birthday for her.
Handbells - Tim decided to have a month off arranging handbells and it was nice to only have one fixture each week. I rang a peal of St Clements Bob Major with David and we finally got our peal of Cornwall with Tim. There were only 6 of us at Moreton the first week - Ann was away, Joyce was unwell, so Jimpy left his car in the drive and I did the driving.
Retail therapy! Jayne and I went to Marks at The Willows and I finally found some floaty trousers to go with my favourite trouser suit, and ended up getting a white pair and a black pair too online the next day! Also bought a new nightie, some undies and a long pink cardigan in M&S, and some bras in Sainsburys. Then another day Jayne, Jackie and I went to IKEA in Exeter, after a walk in Parke with Suki. It was a long but interesting and enjoyable walk round - I didn't buy anything but got several ideas for things, and was particularly interested in a nice sofa bed. We had coffee when we got there. and a nice (cheap) lunch of fish and chips after doing the first floor. I had clocked up 12000 steps by the time we got back to Bovey!
Blinds - I broke a hook getting a slat down to measure it, and thought (foolishly) that I would be able to replace it. So after our visit to Marks and Sainsburys we went to Abbey Blinds and Torbay Blinds which were nearby. No such luck - they are not made anymore. The new style hooks won't fit on the old rails that are currently up at the windows, and we also discovered that the new style hangers are different too. By the time I was looking at ordering rails and all the fittings as well as the slats it seemed it was cheaper to buy new blinds - and get them measured and fitted by the shop!
The rest of the time was mainly spent cross stitching - I had determined to have a proper holiday having worked so hard on stuff before I came down. I even ventured out on to a sun bed for a short tanning session on several days when the weather was good enough.
