Cooler Again.

The repair work continues, the kitchen wall only needs a final skim and the hall is ready to start being plastered. Only one problem, Fred has done something strange when replacing the board under the stairs and made a sort of ledge which I really don't like. As it is straight in line of sight as you walk through the door I'm going to have to ask him to redo that bit so that it is the same as it was before. Apart from that everything is going well.
Out in the scree garden the grasses are beginning to flower making everything look delicate and full of movement. It was so lovely to be able to take 10 mins sitting peacefully out in the garden before checking the last few reports. Hopefully that is the last of them because they have taken such a long time to do.


Elwen has just returned home after being missing for a few days. We weren't too worried, guessing that she had gone off in a huff over Speedy's introduction to the cat menage. She's being extra friendly and has been rewarded with some tinned cat food (bought specially for Speedy) instead of the big cats' usual dried food. The weather is starting to get colder again which might also have brought her home. Perhaps it was simply that for the first week I booted the other cats out of the conservatory where they usually sleep at night so that I could keep Speedy in until he got used to his new home.

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Swimming Lesson.

It has been another changeable day, sunny and hot one minute and cold torrential rain the next. Perhaps our temperate climate is turning into a monsoon climate.

Speedy has been leaping all over the place finding golf balls and his tail to play with but his fun came to an end when he bounced into the middle of the pond and had to swim to the bank.

Laughing merrily I chased a dripping cat into the house, wiped the worst off with an old towel and left him to dry off under the coffee table. I don't think he'll be making the same mistake again.

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Friday's Post.

Last night's blogging was interrupted by a power cut, it was only brief but as a precaution the pcs were unplugged for the rest of the evening. Friday was looking good, a whole morning in the staffroom sorting out final inputting onto our on-line pupil tracker followed by a relaxed afternoon in class, handwriting followed by Golden Time. Instead it turned into a frantic nightmare. Half-way through the morning I found out that I had missed out large sections on the tracker so that was more work piling up. Then at 11.30 we were told that our end of year data needed to be on the tracker NOW. Got that done before rushing into town at lunchtime as I had to go to the bank. Had just settled into class with the children when a series of messages came about missing data. I thought that maybe in my rush I had forgotten to press the save button but then I got suspicious. When I checked the tracker using my log-in the data was all there but for some reason the office couldn't pick it up on their log in-so I had to write it all down for them. For something that is supposed to make life easier the on-line tracker is generating hours of work.

Life in the countryside is also quite frantic at the moment. In our current dry spell the contractors are out cutting and transporting silage. Someone must have come out of a field too sharply and snapped this telegraph pole right off.  It's a mile away from home and not our phone line so I don't think it had anything to do with last night's power cut.

The distant hills are the cliffs on the North Devon coast.
It had been another sunny day ending in a beautiful evening so my evening stroll in the garden turned into a walk up the hill and then along the road to Ashelford Corner. It was simply too nice to sit at home.

For anyone living in the UK The Co-op (once Somerfields) continues to be the best place to buy reduced price food. While the other big supermarkets take off 20p or 50p at the Co-op they regularly reduce perishables by 50-75% at round 5.00. Yesterday I bought cherries, blueberries, pears, chicken breast fillets, lamb's liver, yoghurt, lime cheese cakes and coronation chicken all for 25% of the usual price and some of them had been on special offer in the first place. We get to eat really nice food at a reasonable price and our freezer is once again filled to the brim for when the youngsters come to visit. My al fresco breakfast this morning was oats & sunflower seeds with blueberries and yoghurt.

I let the kitty out for a run in the garden last night which he loved, whizzing round the place excitedly. He may end up being called Speedy unless we think of something better. He has been spending the day in the conservatory and yesterday when I returned home there had been a bit of mayhem inflicted on my puzzle with some pieces even looking chewed! Never mind, it was soon fixed and now I put the trays over the vulnerable sections.

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Settling In.

Lots of bright sunny spells today, warm in the sun but rather chilly when the clouds took over. The children were fairly quiet today after such an active time at the beach yesterday. In the afternoon it was the second of our shuffle-up days when my class went over to the junior school and I had next year's class for a relaxed afternoon of choosing activities and a bit of painting with watercolours. I will be teaching those children 1 or 2 afternoons each week (depending if it is week 1 or week 2), so it was good to have a chance to get to know them.

The new cat is still very scared of the other cats who keep looking at him through the windows which sets him off into a panic. At the moment I am only letting Squeaky, who is the lowest ranking of our cats, stay in the house with him. There has been some growling and tail lashing and a few slashes with the claws as they approach each other but that is to be expected. I am now typing one-handed because one small loudly purring cat is curled up in my lap.

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Beach Day.

Although yesterday was the hottest day of the year (33C) in the south-east it was cooler here with rain in the afternoon and a little thunder in the evening. (Hence no Internet as everything was unplugged.) There were reports of strange tidal surges all around the south west including up some rivers. This is being put down to a mini tsunami caused not by an earthquake but by an undersea landslide off the continental shelf.

Today we were back to sunny weather, perfect for our whole school trip to the beach. It was sunny but with a cooling breeze and we had a wonderful time. All except for a very unpleasant couple who own/rent the line of beach huts. We had put all our stuff down not close to but in front of these huts. First the man and then his partner came and very rudely demanded that we move away from the huts as we were costing them business. I tried to explain that we hadn't wanted to go much further down the beach as we had to walk back to the car park for the toilets, which children always need, we couldn't have gone in the other direction because the cliffs and rocks were a safety hazard and that we would be going down onto the wet sand for all sorts of activities anyway. They were rude to the parents, to me and then to the head teacher while only having 2 beach huts occupied as there were very few other people on the beach and it is a public beach over which they had no juristriction. We did move along so that we weren't directly in front of the huts but I think that some of the parents will be writing to the local paper about how local school children were rudely ordered off that part of the beach. We took plenty of activities for the children to do but they had the most fun simply building sandcastles and jumping off sand dunes. This time we even went into the water, only to paddle but it was still fun.

And this is from yesterday, the latest addition to our menagerie. As yet unnamed cat, was taken in as a stray by a work mate of Pete's but needed a new home. Peter overcame his usual (or supposed) aversion to cats and asked me if I wanted him as an early birthday present. Ever the softie I sad yes and he arrived here yesterday. He's young, very friendly with people but scared of cats (& hens). He's booked in at the vets on Thursday that is if he is old enough so my 'present' is going to cost me money but I don't mind.

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Poor Little Duck.

Late yesterday evening there was a commotion coming from the conservatory. When I went to investigate there was that fat cat Patch with a poor duck clutched in his jaws. He had carried it in through a small high window and only reluctantly (aided by a good shaking) let go of the terrified call duck. I threw Patch out, with a good telling off and went back to check on the duck. There was blood on it from a neck wound so I gave it some bread and water and left it in a box for the night. This morning it was looking quite lively so I took it out to the stream where it could make its way back to the lake and rejoin the other 9 call ducks that live there. Hopefully it will make a full recovery . There are quite a few mallard and wild geese on the lake now as well. I know there are many people who dislike cats because they kill small creatures but that is one good reason to have cats when you live in the country. Our cats keep the mice and other small creatures out of the house and many is the dead rat I've found in the front yard. And yes, I'm a cat person and simply like their company.

The weather has turned cold again. It was trying to snow this evening but I've taken a chance and not driven back up the hill. Worst comes to the worst Peter can give me a lift in the morning.

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Bonus Post.

Had to post a picture of my 'home-made' tree which I rather like though I could do with a chunkier star on the top. It is making the sitting room smell really nice, no need for pine scented candles or room sprays.
And just for fun some typical views of my kitchen Rayburn festooned with drying clothes & shoes. The cats have been taking it in turns to occupy the warmer oven and the boots were there to be made a bit more flexible by the heat.

Elwen doesn't usually get a chance to occupy this prize position and is making the most of it.

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Rain All Day.

Despite, or perhaps because of the unceasing rain it has been quite a relaxed day. It had been arranged that half of each Year 2 class would walk up to Rock Park for a Schools' Remembrance Day ceremony at the war memorial. They were going to place a poppy wreath there that they had made themselves. There is a marine base at Chivenor and we have a number of children whose fathers are on active services so it is especially relevant. Yesterday (Armistice Day) the children took part in the 2 minute silence at 11.00 while we were at the swimming pool. One little girl told me her Daddy cried because a friend of his had been killed. How do you cope with that? Anyway, it was decided not to take the children out in the rain for nearly 2 hours so we had longer to get on with the writing task I had planned for the children to do. My class are very creative and once they had written their instructions for making a Diva they were only too happy to do their own creative activities. They get through the sellotape at a rate of knots and I have limited their access to the chenille pipe-cleaners to 2 per day per child or all my stock would soon be gone. Their main passion is for paper folding and they come up with all sorts of ingenious ideas. A group of boys have been developing fantastical bomber craft along with a detailed airfield. Some of the girls have been working on a ghost map with things hiding behind flaps. Not exactly on the curriculum but who cares? We also fitted in our first complete run through of the Christmas Play as it is only 3 !!! weeks until they have to perform the play to their parents. I foresee a lot of rehearsing in the next few weeks. While we were in the hall I could see some of the youngest children (4yrs) out in the pouring rain on the bikes and scooters in the waterproof all-in-one outfits that the school has for such days.The rain stopped me from taking any outdoor pictures so here is one of our 4 cats, Smudge. He's the lowest ranking cat of the group and the most vocal. He spends most of the evening wailing at me in an attempt to hurry up the evening feeding time. He's also a very clever cat and can open most cupboards. We used to have to barricade our old fridge as he worked out how to open that as well. He even could pull down the handle of the porch door to open it. He's on the blog today because if you care to drop into Sarah's sweet family blog Catching The Magic at www.Chezlee.co.nz you will see that he was definitely in New Zealand last Wednesday.

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Traffic Jam.

Very bright but rather cold today. As I drove home the the sun was disappearing from the valleys but still lighting up the hill tops. Coming round the corner into our valley I had to stop for a while because a group of riders were leading their horses back to the stables. Sarah usually gets her rides to dismount as the road is so steep and the horses could easily slip on the tarmac. The nosy foals, Ben and Doris always have to see what's going on.
At home I noticed that Smudge had wet looking legs and smelt strongly of kerosene. He must have got into something at the stables next door. So into a sink of warm soapy water he went, apart from the smell kerosene is probably not very good for the skin or being licked. Luckily none of my cats ever make too much fuss about being washed and apart from the occasional wail Smudge stood there quite calmly. When Big Cat (no longer with us) first started living wild he spent a fortnight living on/by the carcass of a sheep and and was sticky and disgustingly stinky when he returned. He tolerated a wash and a rinse in the bath.

Finally my lovely orchid which I bought simply for its beauty which is now part of my 'India' display. It's good to have beautiful things to look at.

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Exploring Cat.

I was busying in the kitchen this morning when one of the set of chopping boards that stands next to the microwave seemed to move. 'Strange' I thought so I moved the boards away to discover Elwen perched on top of the microwave. I have no idea what she thought she was going to find there.

And out she comes.

Another full day in school. Somehow I'm managing to fit in lots of creative activities, well, you have to make Easter cards so in the absence of any other instructions that's what we did (after the usual numeracy and phonics sessions). The classroom is now adorned with some weird and wonderful chicks with googly eyes and folded paper legs. Some of them look quite scary.

(Later- like after midnight), just got home from a meal at a smart Chinese restaurant with 11 friends from work as Marion is retiring after 24 years as a teaching assistant.

This was the well behaved look before the evening got started.

Once everyone had tucked into lots of delicious food and a certain amount of wine, things got a little noisier as we all began to unwind from the stresses of work. In fact there was plenty of laughter & ribald humour, the group that had had arrived on the bus missed the last bus home, no problem as several of us didn't drink and had cars, and we were almost the last group to leave the restaurant. Even Peter benefited as I overcame my British inhibitions and asked for a doggie bag to take home. Doggie bags are almost unheard of in the UK, firstly because restaurant meal portions are usually of a manageable size and also because most Brits would find it highly embarrassing to ask for the 'left-overs'. I'm a bit of a rebel and less inhibited than most, also Peter had said in a plaintive voice when I dropped into his study to say that I was off out, 'They do doggie bags at the Han Court'. So now he has something tasty for tomorrow when I will have to be very strict with my diet to make up for tonight's extravagance.

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Daft Patch.

It was rather grey this morning and for once I crept back into bed after feeding the hens. By the time I drove to work blue patches of sky were beginning to appear and at school the children were playing outside without their coats on. I took this picture of a silver birch in a supermarket car park after work.

Funny incident this morning. The cats often climb up to our bedroom window and 'ask' to be let in. I'm trying to dissuade them from doing this as they are just as likely to be banging on the window in the middle of the night so generally I try and ignore them. This morning the fattest of the cats, Patch, was out there and as I was already up I opened up the window to let him jump in. The silly cat took a step backwards, straight off the window sill and all I saw were his 2 front paws before he disappeared from sight. I rushed downstairs thinking I might be heading to the vet's for another big bill but he had landed safely and was climbing up the honeysuckle again. Daft cat. We don't have a cat flap as they would be bringing in dead things and leaving them around the house. Only a few weeks ago Patch caught several wood pigeons and left feathers all over the front yard. He probably just leapt on them and squashed them to death.

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Fishing Cat.

Another grey day today with no sign of the sun. All night a Force 6 gale was blowing outside causing the windchimes to ring melodiously. Very peaceful when lying tucked up under a warm duvet.

I looked out of a window to see Patch, the fattest of our cats, walking across the lawn with a trout in his mouth. He had appeared from the stream next to the house so we presume that is where he caught it. He was so wary of anyone coming near to steal his catch that we had to settle for a long distance shot of him happily crunching away under a bush.


When he had finished, and come waddling in with a fat stomach, the boys found he had eaten all of the trout apart from the tail fin.

Some of our guests left today and the youngsters will be off tomorrow. We are planning to go into town to the New Year's celebrations in The Square,( bands and fireworks), but I'm not sure how many will be going as the girls prefer to stay drawing and discussing the plots of the anime comics that they are making.

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Milo And Patch.

Lovely and sunny today, positively hot ! I spent the morning rushing around trying to get the place into shape. Then Romas and I drove to town to collect Linas from the train station and to go up to the college to pick up Romas' results. He has spent 2 years doing a music BTech which is equivalent to 3 A-levels. He got the highest marks, triple distinction, which are equivalent to 3 grade A's at A-level. While I was waiting for him I noticed that the carpentry dept had bags of woodshavings outside so I filled up the car with as much as I could fit in. Once we got home the boys cleaned out the hen house and put down a nice deep bed of shavings for the hens. Our friends arrived and Sam joined in with the general tidying of the chicken's run, chopping down over hanging branches etc. In the meantime Kate and I enjoyed the hot sunshine, I did a little gardening but mostly we chatted. Milo is Sam and Kate's Jack Russell, he has known our cats all his life and Patch just can't resist tormenting him. Patch has no fear, he walks up to Milo, gives him a friendly bop and then usually attacks a leg or ear. Milo lives with a fierce ginger cat twice his size who is one mean critter. Sherlock is not a cat to be stroked and thinks nothing of sinking his teeth into cats, dogs and people.

So being used to Sherlock, Milo knows that he better submit to any confident cat. Patch certainly was enjoying teasing Milo.

Not the most dignified pose from Milo.

Vytas, Kate B and Alex arrived later in the afternoon accompanied by Kate's guinea pig. The guinea pig is hopefully safely locked in their bedroom as Milo and the cats would love a change of diet.

PS. The 3 call ducks have escaped the fox so far.

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Disgusting Elwen.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Flowers, chocolate , a card and a lie in - a lovely way to start the day , and the holiday. Thanks Pete.

Still a little snow left by the road as I drove into town for some relaxing shopping. I bought a few things which all fitted at least 2 of my usual criteria, - bargains, black and sleeveless. Got an excellent furry bodywarmer from BHS reduced from £35 to £10. I keep telling myself I am buying for the future.

Back home after driving through a countryside which has returned to its usual muted winter colours of dusty greens and browns I had a little wander around the garden to see what's new. And this is what I found. Elwen being totally disgusting eating frogspawn.

Yes, definitely eating it. I had wondered why there was a pile of regurgitated frogspawn out in the yard.
Its a quiet evening in for us oldies as Romas is doing a Valentine's Day Massacre gig at the Inn on the Square.

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Squeaky - Kitten Photos.

There was a tiny bit of blue in the sky as I went into work this morning, (this photo is a little dark). Luckily the clouds cleared away and the children didn't have to spend any of their playtimes in the classroom. I taught year 1 in the morning but for the afternoon I was in the reception class alongside the teacher to welcome and support the 3 children that will be joining us next January. They all settled in well as they already have friends in the class from playgroup. 15 of the rest of the new children had their afternoon visit with their new teacher in what will be their classroom though at the moment one of the local playgroups is using it in the mornings while the church hall has its roof repaired. In previous years all 30 of the new children have had their first visits together but when some of them may never have left mum before or even had experience of sharing with other children it can be pandemonium. While the children were having their visit their mums/carers were in the hall having a cup of tea and a general chat about how things are run in the reception classes.

Romas didn't go in to college as he only had one study session and was feeling achey and grot from a cold. Peter also didn't go to work because this week and 3 days next week, he is doing a windows server course on administration, systems and support. It seems very arbitrary as to who gets sent on courses and very often the managers, their proteges and even family members who just happen to work in the department get to go on the courses. As it is the NHS will send you on a course but will not pay for the exam at the end of the course and you just get a certificate of attendance. He is really enjoying the course and also appreciating the lunches which are provided at a local hostelry which does a good carvery.

As I didn't have much in the way of photos I thought I'd travel down Memory Lane and post a couple of photos taken 8 years ago when Squeaky was just a little kitten.

Completely worn out, asleep on her own special cushion.

Exploring the garden.
She squeaked then and she still squeaks now.

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An Afternoon in Town.

This is the entrance to Barnstaple Pannier Market. Today it was antiques day and the market is decked out with flags because it is the first day of The Fair. (I'll give The Fair its own post tomorrow). Friday is 'market day' with fresh produce being sold and there are farmers selling their own produce as well as plant stalls and bigger fruit and veg stalls. Saturdays is more of a general market and on other days there are crafts and I can't remember the rest. There used to be a proper cattle market on Fridays but that declined and shut before the F&M hit the area.

Looking down the High Street.

I was in town today after a visit to the dentist. I don't have a lot of confidence in that practice but I have no choice unless I want to go back to paying for private treatment. Today's visit was to tidy up a filling that he had repaired for me recently. The day had started badly with panic stations as Romas was not quite ready to go up to meet the 8.05 bus. 'It was only half past seven a minute ago'. he wailed as the tv announced it was 8.00. We threw everything in the car and discovered it had a flat battery. So we ran, (sort of) , 1/2 mile up the hill Romas carrying the heavy bags with the cymbal stands and foot pedal while I followed at a more sedate pace with the snare drum and cymbals. Luckily the bus was still there. Then I had a pleasant stroll back down the hill. It was all very peaceful with just the sound of the birds, a dog along in the valley and distant tractors cutting silage. Last year I had dreadful trouble with the landrover's batteries . There was always a battery on standby but they are massive things the size and weight of a concrete block and have to be lifted up into the passenger seat so it wasn't an easy job. I charged up a spare car battery we have only to find it was too big, the micra is such a tiny car. Gave the micra's battery 45 mins charge and luckily that was enough to get it going. Being a worrier I went straight to the parts shop and bought myself a new battery so of course the other one has continued to work perfectly. It may be a different story in the damp of the morning but it won't take long to put in the new one and I think I might 'encourage' Romas to get up a little earlier so we don't have all this stress. Lights and loud music at 6.00 perhaps?

Inside the Pannier Market.


For most of the year the doors on the sides are open.

This shop in the market makes the best fudge EVER. You see it boiling there in a big copper saucepan and the latest batch is usually cooling off on a big marble slab. They make different varieties but the nicest is the vanilla, or the maple and walnut, or the coffee or.... .

Out in the High Street is The Three Tuns Pub, one of many in Barnstaple. It dates back to the early 1400s and is the oldest pub in the oldest borough in England. Inside are original oak beams and floor, probably from the Armada. Records show it was sold in 1408 for £10. It was known as a smugglers' haunt and is famous for the fact that King Charles stayed there in the Civil War. Now look closely at the plaque on the wall, it's no longer a pub but a pizzeria!

I had a good old wander round in town but that will do me for quite a while. At least there weren't too many signs of Christmas. I hate it when Christmas decorations appear almost as soon as the summer holidays finish. At least wait until after Bonfire Night.

Back home I spotted this brightly coloured Great Tit on the bird feeder.

Birthday joined me for some bird watching.

(Don't look at the walls. They're horrible and we didn't do them).

Actually Birthday wasn't interested in the birds. He was just waiting for me to sit down so he could jump on my lap. He is a very cuddly cat especially when he has been away for a few weeks.

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