Sad times............. but a few happy ones too.

I have had an unexpected hiatus in blogging. Last weekend, my daughter and her partner parted ways and naturally my daughter is so, so upset. Obviously we have been supporting her, not only emotionally, but crunching numbers to make sure she can afford to stay in her rented house in the future. Private rental is very expensive here and we would love her to be able to get one foot on the property ladder.

Sleep was not easy to come by last weekend. Numbers and percentages were whizzing about in my head prior to eventually dropping off and the moment I woke up they were there again! But we think we may have found a way she can get there (with some financial help from us) and this will give her something to look forward to. 

One of my good friends, who lives a few doors up from me, lost her Dad last weekend. He had been ill for a while, but that doesn’t make it any easier does it. I know it didn’t when I lost my Dad. I popped up with some flowers and we had a nice long chat over a cuppa. But, as is often the case in families, there was a birth too. My friend became a grandma/nanny for the first time, five days after her dad passed away. This little baby boy will bring much happiness at a time when it really needed.

It hasn’t been all doom and gloom here, though. I met up with my best friend, as we do once a week and took her out for lunch for her birthday. We had opted for a walk around the house and gardens at Killerton house. We go there regularly, as we’re both National Trust members and Killerton is close by. So it was coffee and a scone first in the cafe there and on to the house. I had already seen the current exhibition with my Mum, earlier in the year, but you always miss something, don’t you. We then walked around the gardens only. There is a huge amount of parkland/woods to explore to, which we have on many occasion with my friend’s dog. But given that we were having lunch later in the restaurant, we decided a walk in the rambling garden and not get muddy! The weather wasn’t on our side, but we stayed nice and dry in our hooded raincoats. But what the rain did do, was bring out the colours of some of the trees.....

and on such a gloomy day, the berries, Acers and cyclamens were brightening the place up no end.....

the old playhouse appears to have had a new thatch too!....

Our meal in the restaurant was wonderful. We both chose the same thing, the Ploughman’s. The amount of cheese and ham was amazing with home baked bread, homemade chutney and piccalilli.

On Tuesday evening, hubby, daughter and I took part in the Blue Cross Pub quiz. It was held at the Fisherman’s Cott, a lovely pub right on the banks of the river Exe. If you’re ever in the Bickleigh/Tiverton area of Devon, it’s in a lovely situation and the food is delicious! We weren’t successful in our quest to win the quiz, but the 5 of us in our team had a good time, which was what our daughter needed. As is usual with quizzes, you learn bits of random information. Who knew an Armadillo could reach speeds of 30mph when escaping from a predator! Or that an elephant had 60000 muscles in its trunk! I’m still getting my head round that one. There was a large raffle too and we all did very well. This is my winnings.......not bad, eh!

We all bought quite a few tickets as it was for such a good cause.

The rest of the week has been quite ordinary, thank goodness! Housework, gym, Blue Cross etc. We’re seeing a lot more of our daughter, which is only natural and I’m glad. I don’t want her to feel lonely. She has a lovely bunch of supportive friends who are rallying round too.

This morning we all drove to have a quick look at some affordable housing and saw one plot which was very nice. Unfortunately the housing association company who has this property is only open Monday to Friday, which seems a bit weird, but my daughter will give them a ring on Monday. This afternoon I went to watch Exeter City and we won, so I went home a happy girl!

So that’s me done, sorry for the lengthy post! Until next time, cheerio for now, Ann x