Libraries......and a bit of a slip up!

I didn’t realise until I got chatting to the library assistant, a few days ago, that the running of the libraries in Devon have been handed over to Libraries Unlimited. This is their ethos,

‘Libraries Unlimited believes in the unlimited potential of library services across the UK to make a positive difference to people’s lives and communities through the shared love of reading and access to a wide array of information and facilities. Starting with our operation in Devon, we are taking a new approach – re-imagining library services and adopting a new social enterprise structure that allows us to innovate to support our social goals. Across all the areas in which we operate, we aim to bring ideas, imagination, information and knowledge to people’s lives and communities, providing inspiring spaces and supporting learning through a variety of resources, support and events.’

Because it is a charity, each library thinks of ways to encourage all ages back into libraries and also raise money for improvements and events, held within the library. When I was there, they were just heading towards the end of a book sale which had run for a while. I picked up a few thriller/detective books for hubby and my daughter, who is a real bookworm!

 One of the things planned next is handmade Christmas decorations and cards etc. for sale. So I said I would try and make some cards for it. I have stacks of bits of Christmas card kits I’ve accumulated. So, along with a few gems etc., I’ve made these......

I had plans on making some more last night. However, while I was out in the garden yesterday morning, feeding our ever hungry birds, I slipped on our wooden sleepers that had gone very green in the recent rain. Desperately trying to stay upright, I must have looked like one of the cartoon characters, where your legs are going nineteen to the dozen and you go nowhere! Eventually I lost my battle and slipped on to my bottom, not before breaking my fall with my hand. I’ve now got sprained wrist and jarred elbow and shoulder! I took myself to the NHS walk-in to confirm the injury.

So cardmaking was out yesterday evening, but hopefully I can resume tomorrow evening. Looking forward to a wander around Exmouth tomorrow with my friend. There’s a rather nice cafe we dive into first, with some delicious cakes. Hubby has to go abroad with work for a week tomorrow and my son is visiting a friend in Berlin for a few days too, so it’s just me and Karma. I have full access to the remote control, haha!

Thanks for popping by, cheerio for now, Ann x

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

Craft show, cats and random stuff

Gosh, where did the last 8 days go? They’ve flown by! (For me anyway!)

Last Thursday was the big craft show at Westpoint, Exeter. Normally my friend and I would go together, but as she was on holiday, I went on my own. The stalls I was mainly interested in were the cardmaking and wool stalls. However there are always a couple of exhibits. This years were embroidery and whilst I don’t do embroidery, I really appreciate the hard work and skill in making these fantastic works of work.  Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photos of the exhibits which was a shame. I browsed the wool stalls, but didn’t buy anything, as I have enough wool to stock my own stall! Fabric stalls draw me in too, and I’m prone to buying fabric, but I don’t even sew! It’s always on my list to try. My favourite cardmaking stall, Card-io, was there again and I bought several stamp sets. This stall had loads of fantastic sample cards made up and didn’t  mind you taking photos for inspiration when you get home. So here are a few of their samples that I will try and aspire to at some point.........

Friday was Blue Cross day and I baked them a Victoria sandwich, which went down well. I spent time with this little deaf old lady.....

She was brought in as a stray, but turns out she was chipped. While I was sitting with her, one of the Blue Cross girls came in to say her owners had come forward and this little lady was 21! She was such an affectionate puss.

Saturday, my son and I went out for breakfast (hubby works most weekends) and then to watch Exeter City. But we lost, so the less said about the game the better! In the evening, I watched Strictly. I didn’t watch it last year for some reason, always have before. But it hasn’t got the same attraction for me now, is it a bit ’samey’ now, or is it just me?

Sunday and Monday, I caught up with washing, ironing etc. as well as a dental check up, as the weather gradually deteriorated and had skittles in the evening.

Yesterday, despite the frequent cloudbursts, I wandered around Topsham for a birthday present for my friend and then picked up my milk at the zero waste shop there. Later in the afternoon, as I was doing more ironing, I noticed this little chap looking for a snack.....

Sorry about the quality of the photo, the weather was awful and I was hiding behind the dining room curtain, so he didn’t see me! He nearly got blown off the fence at one point. Weirdly he was more interested in the sunflower hearts than the peanuts. Earlier in the day, hubby said there was a ‘different’ bird on the fence. It was a Sparrowhawk. Well,  he was unlucky, as all the Sparrows were watching him from a neighbouring Buddleia tree.

Today has been gloriously sunny and warm. I’ve been wearing a summer dress all day! After a docs appointment and food shopping, I’ve managed to do a bit of gardening. New membrane and bark has been put under the bird feeder for the winter. I do this twice a year. I cut back the lavenders in the front garden, as they’re no longer flowering. However, the perennial wallflowers are still in bloom and this chap was amongst several that were still bobbing from one flower to the other......

I also cut back the Nepeta (cat mint) and Karma felt the need to roll in the aftermath!....

I’m meeting up with my friend tomorrow. She’s been on holiday for 2 weeks, so we’ll have plenty to chat about. It’s her birthday at the weekend, so I’ve made this hand stamped poppy card, coloured using Pro Markers for her.....

So that’s what I’ve been up to this last week. Thanks for popping by, cheerio for now, Ann x

A little break in North Devon part 2.....Clovelly

A couple of things were included with our stay at the hotel. A free cream tea, bottle of wine etc. and also a ‘day out’ voucher. We opted for a visit to the village of Clovelly. I’ve often thought about visiting it, however it is a bit of a drive from where we’re live and you have to pay to visit it. That is because it is a privately owned village and has been run by the same family since 1738. (We had hotel vouchers for the £7.50 per person fee.)

Another strange thing is that there are no vehicles allowed through the village. A few local vehicle skirt around the village and stay at the bottom, but that is it. You park at the top, in a large car park, pay your dues and make your descent down through the village. And it is a steep cobbled descent! It’s not a walk for anyone with mobility problems. The view from the top is beautiful....

Part of the way down, in a little garden, someone had made a wonderful bug residence!...

A lovely view of the old rooftops....

The author Charles Kingsley lived here for a short time, but loved it so much, he returned many times...

We continued our walk down the cobbles. There were some quirky doorways...

The only way to get supplies from top to bottom, is by pull-along sleds! A lot of the cottages had them outside. And then it got windier and steeper as we got nearer to the harbour...

.

Eventually we were at the bottom. Clovelly has quite a small harbour. The fishing boats are smaller ones. Lots of crab baskets stacked up, ready to use. The ladders going down the harbour wall to the water are new looking, but still made of wood....

We sat on the harbour walls with two very cold drinks, the sun was beating down and took in the view....

One can only imagine what it is like to live in Clovelly, as it is so very different. We could have gone back to the car park by trekking up the hill again. However hubby’s back was feeling the effects of such a steep descent and my knee was just starting to niggle, so we cheated and caught the Land Rover back up, going around the village. 

So I’ve ticked Clovelly off my list of places to visit. It’s not somewhere you’d go back to again and again, but I’m definitely glad I’ve been. 

We had a lovely time away. I’ve fallen in love with the hotel and its location. We don’t have big holidays abroad, so I’m saving my pennies like mad to return, perhaps in November or December for a night or two (they do some special offers in off peak times) and I do love the beach in the winter. 

In the here and now, it’s washing, ironing, going back to the gym and eating sensibly again. Until next time, cheerio for now, Ann x

A little break in North Devon

Hello everyone!

Last week hubby and I had a little holiday (3 nights). A few months ago, I had a little windfall. I gave our son and daughter some of it. My daughter put it towards her holiday this year. My son has squirrelled his away, as he is thinking of going travelling at some point. So it was our turn for a treat, particularly as hubby’s back was so painful during our holiday in Cornwall in June. So I booked a room at the Saunton Sands Hotel in North Devon. It’s a beautiful white Art Deco hotel built in 1933 (during WW2, it was painted green, to stop it being used as a marker for the bombers)

We left Tuesday morning and stopped off at Woolacombe for a coffee (turned out to be a cream tea!) and a wander. The weather was glorious, more like midsummer. There were loads of people taking advantage of the weather, on the beach......

Then it was back on to the coastal road to Saunton Sands. I had booked a room with a sea view, but also a balcony, hoping that it might be fine enough to sit out......

 Little did I imagine, when I booked, that we would be having such gorgeous weather. So we spent the time, sitting out on the terraces, walking along the beach ( we didn’t walk the full 3 1/2 miles) and lounging and reading by the pool, which was incredibly warm.  Each morning, around 7.30, I sat out on the balcony with my coffee, watching the sunrise...

and watching the dogs being walked on the beach and felt incredibly relaxed.

The first and last evening, we ate at the hotel and the middle evening, we walked down to a more casual, sister restaurant by the beach. All the food was delicious. We saw some beautiful sunsets.....

Thursday morning, we took a trip to Clovelly, but that will be a post in itself. I’ll leave you with some phots of our time away. Cheerio for now, Ann x

Birthday celebrations

The earlier part of last week was spent doing plenty of food shopping, laundry and other household chores. My pile of ironing had grown again, not because I have been a bit lax, but a lot of my summer clothes I had washed and thought, ‘they’ll need to be vacuum bagged and put up in the loft soon.’ However, the weather is still very warm here in the South West, so I’ve sorted through them. I’ve kept back some summer dresses which I’ll continue wearing (with a cardi, if necessary) and put the rest in the loft pile. So there was a bit more ironing to do than I had originally thought. Still, I steamed through it (pardon the pun!) and am now smugly up to date.

While shopping in the supermarket, I picked up these Gladioli......

Such a gorgeous colour and only £1.70! It makes you wonder what they pay the growers for them, doesn’t it?

I did go to the hairdressers, via the Range, like you do. I had a little mooch around the craft section. I picked up a couple bits and pieces, but I’m going to the Creative Craft Show at the end of September, so I didn’t want to buy too much.

Wednesday, it was my daughter’s 23rd birthday. Until she was 5, her birthday date had little significance (apart from to our family of course) But on her 5th birthday, I left home in the car to pick her up from her reception class, the radio blurted out that a plane had flown into the twin towers. I pulled over and immediately rang my mum, who was at my house, to put sky news on. We made sure our little girl still had a happy birthday, but the adults couldn’t believe what had happened.
This year we celebrated her birthday with a meal at Chiquitos, where we wore sombreros (for a short time!) We had a lovely evening, with lots of laughter but a some point in the day, we all remember what happened when she was 5.

I’m still bringing in tomatoes from the garden........

I’m hoping the larger ones will redden up. The mini plum ones have, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Blue Cross baking for Friday was just a toffee loaf cake with salted caramel drizzled over it, nothing spectacular but it went down well. I had the pleasure of being with this gorgeous mum this week. The rest of her litter were having a snooze in their pen, but she opted to lounge on a blanket just by the pen and cuddle one of her daughters as she fed.....

Today I have been to Exeter City and watched them draw with Leyton Orient. It was very warm sitting in the stand. Hubby left early this morning and won’t be home until late tomorrow evening. He has to work away most weekends. So I have full control of the remote. So Midsomer Murders it is then!

Hoping for another fine day tomorrow, a visit to the gym and then I want to start trimming back more lavender in the front garden. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, folks. Cheerio for now, Ann x

A quieter week

After last weeks gallivanting, this week has been far quieter. I’ve been catching up on the housework and the ironing pile has been reduced from an Everest type mountain to more of a Devonshire tor.

I saw Waitrose had a lot of half price products. This coincided with my having a couple of ‘spend £40 and have £8 off’ vouchers. So I spent an evening making a long list of the products I would use and the following day, whizzed around, tallying up as I went along. Once I got to just over £40, a folded shopping bag went the trolley as divider and the second part of the list was done. By doing two transactions, I could use both coupons and save myself £16, so quite pleased with that!
I’m not loyal to any supermarket. I tend to use whoever has sent me the best money off coupons, or has the best deals. Apart from Asda (where I would have to go to Taunton or Newton Abbot), Tesco/Lidl/ Morrison’s are a short drive away and Sainsbury’s/Aldi are walking distance.

I’m still bringing in the tomatoes..........

these mini plum ones are so tasty. My beefsteak tomatoes are still deciding whether to redden up. I might have to bring some of them in and put them in the window sill.

I was waiting for a windy day to pull up the first of my carrots. My brother-in-law said it would keep the carrot fly at bay. I haven’t grown these particular carrots before, so was interested to see what I would produce. I only pulled three, as there was only hubby and I to cook for. I was pretty pleased, they were enormous and very tasty...

We’ll have some more with a roast tomorrow :)

This came up in the Facebook memories, taken last year.....

I didn’t grow any this year for some reason and have to say I’ve missed not having sunflowers in my garden. So next year, I’ll make sure I do!

Yesterday’s baking for the Blue Cross was Apple and Cinnamon Scones.....

The recipe (one I found on google) was for 9 large scones, but I cut out 18 small ones and just amended the cooking time. Blackberry jelly accompanied the scones.  I didn’t think they were overly ’applely’, you had to grate one Granny Smith apple, but everyone said they were very nice, so that’s all that matters.

This morning my son and I had breakfast in town before he started work at 11.30. He had the big breakfast to start his working day off well. I’m normally very good and just have scrambled or poached eggs, but I was very naughty in this instance and had American pancakes with smoked bacon and maple syrup...delicious!  Extra time at the gym tomorrow, haha!

So thats me done! I’m off to prep the chilli con carne for tonight and then put my feet up for a hour to watch The Ashes. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, cheerio for now, Ann x