A few bits and pieces

Goood evening! Just some photos of the past few weeks. Nothing extremely exciting, but a few little walks etc.


A surprise mask sent in the post to me from a friend. She sent it anonymously, so I put my Miss Marple head on!

A summer wreath for our front door.

A walk with Bumble (and my daughter!) in a newly discovered field of very long grass at times! There was a mown walkway for walkers. I absolutely love the bouncy Bumble photo.

No, I haven’t been to Rome. But my son spent 4 days there last week. This would normally be packed!

We visited a friend (socially distanced of course). This beautiful hydrangea was in his front garden.

A couple of cards have been made for a neighbour’s little boy’s 1st birthday and my cousin’s daughter’s 11th.

I’ve been planning my meals two weeks at a time.

A dog walk with my friend and her dog, Bruce at Parke, a National Trust place in Bovey Tracey, Devon. A lovely place for dogs to explore and splash in the river. A very well organised, safe outdoor cafe to have a coffee and chocolate brownie too!

Hubby had a very long working day yesterday (morning, afternoon and evening) so to escape the house for a bit, we jumped in the car and a quick drive found us at Stover Country Park. We walked around the lake and sat at one of the many benches dotted around, to eat our packed lunch, perfect. A quick scoot back home and his working day resumed.

Today’s meal was Mackerel with Gremolata (Italian term for a dressing) I love the pattern of the Mackerel skin. I don’t cook fish very often, but was very happy with this!

No baking photos, as I‘ve only baked scones and tea loaves recently. Hopefully, I’ll do something more exciting this coming week. I’m going down to Plymouth to see my mum for the first time since lockdown next week, it’s her birthday and we’re going for a picnic (weather permitting!)

 Hope you have a lovely weekend, cheerio for now, Ann x

Struggling

I’m struggling, struggling to write here and  struggling with anxiety. Weirdly, when we were in proper lockdown, at the beginning of all this, I was ok. But gradually, as things have relaxed, I have been getting more anxious (I’ve had anxiety in the past, so know how to deal with it).

We are very lucky down here in Devon, that figures were low and the majority of people adhered to what we should do. But as things have relaxed, some people are not so careful and it being summertime, there’s far more people here too. Apart from one trip into town to go to a couple of independent clothing shops (just me and the owners in there), I still don’t go to any shops other than the farm shop, a fortnightly trip to Tesco for toiletries and cleaning stuff etc. and the occasional trip to the garden centre, where they are still being very strict.

On top of that my son and his girlfriend flew to Rome today. Now I know their figures are much better than ours and they’re much stricter, but that doesn’t stop me worrying. That’s the nature of anxiety.

I’m ok going for dog walks with either my daughter or my friend and generally being in the open air. There’s so much talk recently about how bad the second wave is going to be (if it happens). So I’m going to try and not watch so much news.

I haven’t been down to see my mum in Plymouth yet , now we’re allowed. But I’m still quite apprehensive about visiting her, even though she’s been out and about a bit.

So, I think for the time being, while I’m dealing with my anxiety and try to get my blood pressure down ( I’m not on meds, but will be if it doesn’t go down a bit! Another worry!), I’m going to just post photos with a word or two accompanying them. I’ll also get round to reading other people’s blogs too.

So, I’m counting down the days until my son comes home on Saturday. I’ll then be counting the 14 days after that, just in case. I’m taking time to try and relax, doing more crafting and going to bed at a decent time. I eat healthily anyway and also exercise regularly, which is good. It’s just a case of trying not to worry about things I can’t control and learning to chill again.

Sorry this is a bit of a dismal post, but thank you for sticking with it! I’ll have a look at my recent photos and post them soon. Cheerio for now, Ann x

A post at last!

Good morning and a long overdue post! Several times I’ve started and scrapped what I was going to say. Why? I really don’t know. I suppose I just felt it wasn’t interesting enough. It’s still a weird time, some more restrictions lifted, but I’m not in any rush to go to anywhere busy. So it’s been a very quite a quiet Devonshire life in the main.

So, back to the business of letting you lovely people know what I have actually been up to this past 18 (!) days. Well, the day after my last post, it was Bumble’s 5th birthday! A day, back in November, that we didn’t think she’d ever see! Obviously her cancer is still there, but she is well in herself and is truly having the best life. Our daughter had the day off, so Hubby and I went over to see the birthday girl in her garden. The heavens opened a couple of times, but that didn’t stop Bumble enjoying her birthday pupcakes!........

She also had a delivery of handmade dog biscuits..........

The day after, my son and I met my daughter and Bumble at Budleigh beach for a walk. It’s a pebble beach and shelves down to the sea, which is a challenge going down and back up again (and this was after doing Joe Wicks in the morning too!) My poor legs! The sea was a bit choppy due to the weather, so there were some waves breaking into the shore, rather than the normal lapping. Bumble, on a longline, jumped in after pebbles and thoroughly enjoyed herself.......

Once, back up the mountain of pebbles, we had a well deserved coffee, until the black clouds rolled in with a massive cloudburst! A quick sprint into our respective cars, with our coffees.

Father’s Day was a quiet day. A day of reflection for me, as I lost my Dad in Dec 2016. The weather was lovely here, so our daughter and Bumble came over to enjoy the sun. Hubby had his presents, we sat and chatted. Bumble had her own chair to sit on (I know, it’s in a bit of a state, but perfect for her paws!) .......

I’ve met my friend and her dog for walks each week. We opt for Haldon Forest or Exmouth beach. Both are quiet early in the mornings. Our Exmouth walk was a bit murky, but warm.......

Some very strange rock formations have been unearthed, where there used to be sand....

 The rain held off and the beachside takeaway cafe was open for a very good cup of coffee after our walk and some gravy bones for Bruce, her dog.

We’ve had torrential rain!.......

which led to more baking. In this case chocolate and banana bread.......

I have actually ventured into town. Well, the far end which is very quiet. I normally see a podiatrist every 12 weeks and was due to see her 2 days after lockdown. They are now open again, with lots of precautionary measures in place. I was required to wear a mask, so tried my hand at making my own. I had some material, looked up various patterns and hey presto. Don’t look at the stitching too closely, I don’t have a machine, so it’s hand stitched. My daughter was so impressed, she requested one too!.....

We had a lovely surprise last week. A dear friend of ours, who has gone through a cancer battle, in the last 12 months, gave us this gorgeous vase as a thank you for our support. He picked up that I love Highland cows......

So I’ve had a week of flowers too. Hubby felt obliged, haha, to buy me some for our new vase. There was enough to put in a small vase in the window too. I cut my first peony and my son gave me some flowers this Wednesday to cheer me up ( it was my Dad’s birthday) ........

And just a last couple of pics. Early the other morning, whilst walking up the garden to feed the birds, I noticed the sun on the dew on my Lady’s Mantle plants. The photos don’t do it justice really. The tiny droplets glistened like diamonds!....

The remainder of the time has been spent gardening, household chores etc.
So that’s it! Hope you are enjoying the sunny weather, if you like the heat, or are managing to keep cool, if you don’t. Have a lovely weekend, cheerio for now, Ann x

A few firsts.......

.....since the slight relaxation of lockdown.

On Tuesday, I met up with my friend for a walk in Haldon Forest. It was nice and quiet, with plenty of room for social distancing. She had with her, Bruce, her dog and also her son’s dog, so I had a dog for the morning! It was so lovely to see my friend and have a right old natter, while the dogs had a huge explore, disappearing into the undergrowth. (Ironically, the last time we met up, was also at Haldon Forest, the day before lockdown was implemented. We were already socially distancing from each other.) We saw very few people at all on our walk, but we had met up quite early so the dogs wouldn’t get too hot. For some reason I omitted to take any photos! We were too busy chatting and  catching up on all our news (it’s never the same by texting someone, is it?) We’ve decided to move our catch up day to a Tuesday, so we’re going for another walk tomorrow.

Saturday night, we ( our household) made our way to our daughter’s house ( or rather garden!), my son’s girlfriend did the same, as did my daughter’s ex (they’ve always got on, is he still an ex? Who knows) Anyway, the six of us were all together for a barbecue. It’s a good job she has a large garden, so we could spread out. We had a great time, even though it rained! But it was so lovely to be all in the same place. The only one who wasn’t too keen was Bumble, she doesn’t like to be wet, so she sidled up to me, as she was wrapped up warm in a towel, then a blanket.......

The other days have been filled with the weekly visit to the farm shop, routine of housework, catching up with family on the phone and a bit of crafting. My brother’s birthday was at the weekend and being a keen cricketer, I made him this card.........

Today I spent the morning in the garden, planting up my pumpkin, cucumber, peppers and more tomatoes! The weather held up until later this afternoon, when we had more rain. So that’s it really, a quiet-ish week with a couple of heart warming moments.

I haven’t got much planned for the rest of the week, that is very exciting. Although my son has Thursday off, so he has suggested he and I go for a walk somewhere. Unfortunately the forecast is appalling (at the moment) for Thursday, but we will go out, even if we just go for a nice drive somewhere.

Hope you all have a lovely week, thanks for popping by, cheerio for now, Ann x

A bit of this, a bit of that...

Hello everyone, well, it’s been a fairly uneventful week for me here in Devon. The weather has been glorious, so the washing has been drying on the line in what seems minutes!

I did pop up to one of the garden centres, stocked up on more bird food (they’re eating me out of house and home at the moment!) and I also bought some more plants for the back garden. I had some bare patches to fill up. The first patch was on the left hand side of my garden. Even thought they’re planted up now, it still looks quite sparse. But one they fill out a bit, it will be better. I’m hoping the foxglove will self seed over the years and that the french lavender plant that was lurking in a pot on the patio, will pick itself up and flourish. Unfortunately, there is no other place for the hideous composter, however next year I’m thinking I’ll put a bit of trellis around it for the summer and grow sweet peas up. I’ll still have access to it from the side. So, that said this is what it looks like now, all are popular with bees.......

The wildflower patch for the bees etc. is going a bit wild but the bees and butterflies love it.......

In between the two raised beds, I bought some more pinks to join the one that was already there. There is a perennial wallflower which has appeared this year, love it when nature gives you freebies! It’s all very pink and purple, but the bees love them. There will be a smattering of other colours when the Gazanias in front of the raised bed come into flower......

The larger raised bed will be planted up with leeks this weekend. I’ve also got parsnip seeds to sow. They’re a bit late, but do have a long growing season, so should be ok. I’m also going to stick in a couple of dahlia tubers.

I also bought a new planter to put next to the front door. I bought it in honour of Bumble, my daughter’s dog, who is still going on strong, despite her illness. I’ve filled it with white geraniums......

There has been no baking done this week. I know, I can’t quite believe it! But that will change this weekend. I’ll make just a few scones and then something else, not sure what yet though. One thing I’m weirdly quite excited about, is my herbs and spices collection! Up until now, all the little jars have been put in a storage tray in my larder cupboard and have become more and more cluttered. So I  bought several of these zip bags that look like Kilner jars and decanted all my herbs/spices. Now they all fit in the storage tray, including new ones which were standing on the work top.........

Yesterday, I drove up to the Blue Cross to drop off a huge bag of old fleece blankets and throws. I checked with my daughter first, that I could do this. But it was a very weird feeling driving up there and waiting to be let into the car park, to drop the bag off. I don’t know when we’ll be allowed to volunteer again. But I have a horrible feeling they are going to be inundated once fully open, with pets people can no longer afford, older puppies which were bought during lockdown and turned out to be more work than anticipated and of course kitten season!  Time will only tell.

Anyway, enough of doom and gloom. The sun is out and I’m hoping to have a bit of time in my deckchair either reading or knitting some more neo natal blankets and clothes. So I hope you all have a lovely restful weekend, thanks for popping by, cheerio for now, Ann x