Where Has The Sun Gone ?

Back to grey skies and a drizzly afternoon so I couldn't even finish off the mowing. I'm not taking any more of the new medication because it is way too strong for me. I went back to sleep after Peter went off to row in a regatta this morning and didn't wake up till midday. That's from 1 tablet taken yesterday evening !

I haven't had too much energy today but I got a spare bedroom ready for Vytas' visit on Thursday and tidied up the conservatory. I'm still thinking about sealing the bare plaster walls in the kitchen so that I can paint them tomorrow evening. I have to go in to work in the morning and Fred will be finishing off the plastering anyway. He's not going to start on the sitting room until August because I've got various people coming to stay /visit next week and I don't want the sitting room to be out of action.
Nothing much else today. Peter enjoyed the regatta at Instow but he said it was rather cold and miserable for the spectators.

Green Man Day.

Look closely and you can see me reflected in this owl's eyes.

Yesterday was St Swithin's Day and as it rained all morning folklore says we will have rain for the next 40 days. And yes it poured with rain this morning. I do hope we aren't in for another wet summer. The rain was especially unwelcome today as it was Green Man Day which is celebrated as a big street festival in Pilton. Peter went down early in the morning to help bring one of the gigs from the boat shed to Pilton High Street and everyone was setting up their stalls in the pouring rain. By the time we got there in the afternoon the rain had died away and it was quite hot in the sunny spells.

Green Man Day is always well attended and I saw many of our school children and their families.

Talking to potential new members for the gig club was thirsty work or so Peter assured me. With 2 pubs in the High Street , one of them having its own brewery there was no shortage of liquid refreshment. I left Peter to continue his arduous task and wandered up the High Street enjoying the atmosphere and listening to the music from the 3 stages.

The owl man was there again with his display of rescued birds of prey so I took the opportunity to take some decent shots of a buzzard. The wild birds, of which there are plenty around here, fly away the minute a camera is pointed in their direction.

The festivities include a procession and many of the weirdly dressed characters could be seen wandering around during the rest of the day.

Here an aquaintance of ours is talking to a couple of pirates.

Before going to the festival I had called in at the Barnstaple dump with some bags of plasterboard and old plaster. I was shocked to find that they now charge £2 a bag to get rid of plasterboard. Because I can't lift too much my bags were about 1/3 of a normal amount and anyway I objected on principle. There always used to be a charge for people ie builders bringing rubble etc in vans but we already pay a local for tax which includes services such as sewage drains which we don't have. So I left the dump and instead bought some heavier duty bin bags. I've now repacked the plaster waste into smaller amounts and will go to the Ilfracombe dump tomorrow and throw it all into the compactor instead. The whole system is ridiculous and will only encourage people to fly tip in quiet country laybys.

Now that Fred has finished plastering I will have to paint the kitchen walls as he only used the pink plaster. 18 years ago our builder used white plaster and we took that as an excuse not to paint the walls as it would have been white paint anyway. But first I need to do the ceiling, having most of the furniture out of the room makes it the perfect time even if I hadn't decided it was time to cover up some old water stains and sort out the crumbling surface in one corner. If only it was just a matter of picking up a brush and slapping on some paint. But first there was the flaking surface to be scraped off, then the whole (large) area to be washed with sugar soap followed by application of filler to the places where the swirly artex coating had fallen off. That's the stage I've got to now. Tomorrow I'll paint the stained places with special stain cover paint and then finally I can paint it all nice fresh white. I like wallpaper in decorating magazines and catalogues but when it comes to my own home which is always full of clutter I prefer plain painted walls, usually white. Before I can paint the kitchen walls I'll have to fill in the many chips and small holes that have resulted from having 3 boys growing up in the house.

Beer Festival.

   

Heavy rain again this morning. In the afternoon I drove Peter into town as he had selflessly volunteered to work behind the bar at the Beer Festival. Hard work but someone has to do it and the free beer might have been an incentive.

                           

I did some shopping before returning home for more time on the jigsaw and a little gardening. Soon it was time to go back to collect Peter and say hello to people I knew (a lot of the gig club were there in their red fleeces and jackets.)

On my home in the afternoon I saw 2 deer in the field, they ran off as soon as they saw me and jumped over the hedge.

No Apocalypse.

It is 1 in the morning, the world is still intact and I've just returned home from walking 11 miles along the Tarka Trail with this happy bunch, and many more women, in aid of our local hospice and the Macmillan cancer charity. It took us 4 hours including a 20 mins stop at Fremmington Quay for hot soup (& toilets) so that wasn't too bad. I have to say the pace was faster than I am used too and I now know that my walking boots are too snug a fit to wear thick socks but it was still a fun experience. Despite the rain which started lashing down for the last half mile and the fact that I broke a tooth on a piece of chocolate! It was a ladies only walk and most people were festooned with plenty of glow sticks and flashing lights or even in fancy dress. Janet, who works with me in my class had thought to decorate herself with some battery powered fairy lights and once it had gone dark she rather resembled a Christmas tree. One of the marshalls did take a photo with me in it as well but it is too blurry to use.
It has been a very busy day for me. As Romas and Vicky are only staying until Monday we had a full day together. First the 3 of us went into Barnstaple to do some shopping mainly in the charity shops. We found 3 pairs of shorts for Romas for less than a new pair even at Primark, I found some t-shirts for work and Vicky also got a fun t-shirt. I even managed to get a saucepan for Linas (as requested) as he is coming up for a doctor's appointment on Monday. Peter spent the morning at an open session of the gig club meeting prospective new members and taking them for short trips in the gigs out in the river. In the afternoon we went over to Arlington Court to look around the house. Normally we do not pay to go in but walk in through one of the public footpaths that cross the grounds but you need a ticket to go into the house and the carriage museum. Vicky works as a volunteer at a National Trust property so has a card that gets her +1 in free so it wasn't too expensive and she was interested to see inside the property. The house had been the property of the Chichester family and was donated to the National Trust in 1949.

It has a large entrance hall with a grand staircase. The house is filled with many model boats and other nautical items.

Different views of the main drawing room which can be divided into 3 rooms by folding screens set into the walls.

To one side is the boudoir with silk lined walls. This is the room that the ladies would retire to after dinner while the gentlemen had their port and cigars.

The next room was filled with half unpacked travel boxes and cases and you are invited to handle the items and look through the photos, sketches, books and other items. It was a very nice idea to have such a hands on opportunity. In other places the notices requesting you not to touch things were very well worded explaining how fragile the items were and how they could easily be damaged if handled.

This was the nursery. The last owner, Rosalie Chichester had a marriage of convenience to a cousin who owned Youlston Park at Shirwell but lived the life of a single lady in Arlington which was her family home.

We just had time to dash up to the carriage museum to see the vast collection of carriages which brought to life the historical novels I sometimes read. We decided that they would probably all have been pretty uncomfortable to ride in. We also saw an enormous Gilded State coach which is currently on exhibition there but the govt has stipulated no photos of that coach.

The stable block which houses the carriage museum as well as the stables occupied by the large horses which are used for carriage rides around the estate driving displays, was the scene of a memorable all day 40th birthday party (of the then head coachman) which we went to about 10 years ago. Peter used to go over to play chess regularly with Michael who lived in a flat above the stables.

A few of the many coaches on display.

The tack room houses the tack for the working horses and had to be my favourite room of the whole place. The small of saddle soap and leather hit you as you walked in and brought back memories of my days working with horses. I'm sure we will be making another visit to Arlington when Romas and Vicky come back to visit later in the summer.

Dinosaur!

That's what Peter said as we drove along the country lanes on our way out for a walk at Mortehoe. I thought he might be pulling my leg but sure enough on the return journey I slowed down in a gateway and there outside some farm buildings was what looked like a large bright green brontosaurus. Our guess is that it is a carnival float. Carnivals are very traditional in the South-West and it is often local hauliers who donate the use of their flat bed lorries to charities or local clubs who are entering a carnival.

A very similar looking American carnival dinosaur.

It has been another sunny day though there was a lot of high wispy cloud so it was great to get out for a walk. We went a little further today, starting off by going through the village and then down to the cliffs by Rockham Bay before swinging back towards our usual route. This involved one set of 'never ending stairs' which was a good test for Peter's ankles and my knee. I need to do some training and walk longer distances as I have signed up to go on the Night Walk with a group from school. This is a ladies only charitable walk (in May) in aid of the local hospice. It is along the Tarka Trail going between Bideford and Barnstaple. You can walk in either direction but we are going to be driven out to Bideford and walk towards home which is good in one way but does mean that we shall be walking with our backs to the sunset. The Tarka Trail runs along the river and estuary and is easy in terms of being level and asphalt or gravel all the way but it is 11 miles so I need to do more stamina work going up and down the cliffs and hills. While we were out walking today we noticed a container ship stationary out in the Bristol Channel. Using our binoculars we were able to see a rescue helicopter from Chivenor hovering overhead. Eventually it got right over the ship and dropped down to below the level of the superstructure, amazing flying skills and then(presumably after picking up a casualty) it headed back to land towards the hospital in Barnstaple. This was not the end of our little events, driving back near Indicott we could see several cars and tractors with big trailers/slurry tanks attached, stopped in the road. Driving up close we saw that one of the tractors had fallen sideways onto the hedge, it must have pulled over to let the other tractor past and hit a soft bit of verge. It was tilted over at about a 45 degree angle but I can't imagine anyone was hurt. Back home I did some work out in the garden sawing off an overhanging branch of a May tree. It's on our boundary so I don't know if it is ours but the vicious thorns threaten to take my eye out when I go up there so I feel fully justified at attacking it with my bow saw. This evening we are having a meal made mainly from the reduced section in Tescos, mushrooms which I've cooked in butter and garlic, a selection of Indian bahjees and some home made parsnip, carrot and potato soup which I've flavoured with turmeric.

Fireworks.

The weather has been lovely again today, I know because I kept walking across a sunny playground on my frequent trips between my classroom (a hut) and the staffroom ( another hut). By the time I get home our valley is in shadow so I'm not tempted to do any work in the garden but get stuck into my school work straight away. We had a staff meeting this evening to share ideas for our next topic - India. I've been doing some mad late night shopping on eBay and may well turn up at school in a shalwar kamiz. That'll be a laugh. Barnstaple has hardly any people from other cultures living here so it will all be new to the children. I think the highest minority ethnic group in this area is probably the Lithuanians and Poles (recent temporary economic migrants) and there are no more than a handful of non-white children in any of the schools. A little different to the boys' school when we lived in London where the balance was the other way. So at least they weren't brought up in a total monoculture at that formative age. As promised a few more shots from Saturday's fireworks. This view is from the Leisure centre/Fairground side of the river looking across to Ladies' Mile and the old town buildings.
And some of the fireworks. I wanted to see what effect I would get with stills rather than simply shooting a little video.

Nothing terribly special but the background makes up for it.

And finally the diet. Even 1 lb lost is a victory at this stage so I'm happy but I really hope I don't have to print off another page to fill in.

Saturday Evening.

We had a really good time down in town yesterday. We didn't go to watch the carnival as it is more for kids and really not Peter's thing but there were unreal sights around as we walked from the car (we parked in Pilton because Peter was worried about parking spaces) to the other side of town. First there was a beautifully restored US army jeep complete with large flag parked on one side of the road while a boy in military uniform sat on the pavement (very unusual for Barnstaple) eating fish & chips. Later we passed an adult Bo Peep resplendent in pink, tennis players swinging rackets and a man with a green face. Crossing the library car park was a witch carrying a large drum. I love these evenings when the whole town is out walking about. Some were returning home after the carnival but most were heading towards the bridge and fun fair beyond. We both saw various people we knew and exchanged a few words but one of my class who I said hello to at the fair looked totally shocked to see his teacher out of school. A lot of people were gathering on the public space that runs alongside the river. From here they would have a good view of the fireworks which would be set off from a defunct factory across the river.
We got ourselves up onto the bridge. The bridge and the main road had been closed to traffic all afternoon but most people preferred to lean on the stone walls of the bridge. It is such a relaxed and friendly time. Everyone is there from family groups with kids waving lighted sticks & granny and grandad to young people parading in their idea of high fashion. It was a beautiful evening , not cold and the clouds making a good backdrop for the fireworks which were excellent. I am a sucker for the bangs and flashes of fireworks and I thought this year's were pretty good, (photos tomorrow or this post will be pages long). I don't know if this happens anywhere else but there is always a delayed boom as the sound bounces off the high town buildings.

Then it was down to the the fair. Once past the sellers of lighted items there is the walk down 'torture alley' as we call it. On either side are stalls selling all food; sweets (candy), chocolate coated apples and marshmallow, crepes, a whole stall of different kinds of liquorice, fresh coffee, hot dogs and burgers, chips, candyfloss, and roast pork to name but some. If I wasn't on a diet and didn't mind paying the high prices I would have settled for chicken & noodles,£5 with prawn crackers £2.

Then you hit the main fair. From the numbers and duplication of rides there must have been at least 2 if not 3 travelling fairs gathered together. I hadn't thought that there would be many young children at the fair in the night but there were plenty around. Being at the fair is a pleasant assault on the senses, the smell of the food, the bright lights, the music so loud that it shakes your body and the general excitement. There were many stalls where you could try your luck, ha ha, at throwing darts, hooking ducks, or aiming at tin cans. The prizes of course being tacky rubbish. Goldfish are still offered as prizes but due to RSPCA pressure they have fish bowls to buy should you win one. But of course the main attraction is the many noisy brightly coloured rides .

We stood for a while and watched some dodgems. I'm sure that when we were younger there weren't any signs pointing which way to go, you simply aimed at as many people as you could. It was fun to watch the roustabouts skipping through the cars, clambering on the fronts and spinning the steering wheels to release people from their traffic jams.

Great photo opportunities and here I went to 1/2 sec exposure to get a feel of the movement.

There were many rides where you could be spun,bounced or suspended upside down 50ft above the ground and generally get your adrenalin flying and your brain rattling but I actually like the old fashioned Merry Go Round. While we were watching I noticed several ladies at least 10 years older than me enjoying riding the colourful horses.

That did it, I paid my £2, cunningly sat next to a child so that it looked as if I was simply accompanying her and had a wonderful time. It was great, rising and falling predictably with the wind blowing through my hair as we spun round to the sound of an old fashioned carousel organ.

Can't wait till next year!

Today not so good, I've had a rotten sinus headache all day but we did manage a short walk at Morte Point before I got stuck into school planning and Peter into his OU work. He's now gone off for a pool competition at the Reform and I'll be winding down with a little browsing and some tv.

Barnstaple Fair.

It's Fair time again, a tradition that goes back many hundreds of years. Originally the fair was a 'hiring' fair and a livestock show spread over 4 days. Nowadays we have a carnival, fun fair and fireworks. The appearance of a white kid glove on a pole emerging from a window of the guild hall signifies that the Fair is officially open. We still have a lot of pomp and circumstance with the presence of the Mayor and other dignitaries having their chance to parade around in their chains of office.
The doorway below the glove is decorated with fresh flowers for the occasion. The fun fair opens in the week and all my children will visit the fair at least once. Today, being Saturday, there is a large carnival which is happening as I type. I have been part of the carnival several times when my boys were part of the sea cadets who always enter the carnival with a tableau on the back of an extremely large lorry. I used to be one of the volunteers who walked along collecting money in a bucket. It is traditional for the spectators to throw money at the carnival lorries as well as depositing coins in the collecting buckets. Peter and I will be going back into town shortly so that we can walk over to the fun fair and watch people enjoying themselves on the rides. Apart from the dodgems we're a bit too fragile to go on the rides and they are horrendously expensive anyway. It is just fun to people watch and of course I'll have my trusty camera and spare battery. When it gets dark there will be a fireworks display which everyone gathers on the bridge to watch. After that families tend to take their tired children home and the fair becomes the haunt of the youngsters.

Butchers' Row, on the left is the side of the Pannier Market and on the right a line of shops which were converted from stables many years ago. In the 19th C these were all fresh meat shops but now there are several bakeries, delicatessens, green grocers and whole-food shops as well as some butchers. Despite not going to bed till 5.00 (silly me) I was in town by 9.00 this morning for a relaxed time browsing the shops. I needed to have some chill out time and it was lovely to meet up with my friend for cappuccinos and cheesecake (raspberry & white chocolate this time), at our favourite patisserie. I tried on trousers, shorts and shoes (shame your feet don't get smaller) but only bought bits and pieces. I liked the fact that I still keep picking up the wrong size clothes and have to come out and get a smaller size.

Day 2 Part 2

..........while I, after a refreshing cuppa, set off to walk along the west coast and look (unsuccessfully) for puffins. The 400ft cliffs are home to many sea birds but despite frequent scanning with my binoculars, the nearest I got to a puffin was a piece of rubbish in the sea that could have been a puffin floating on its back ? (not very likely) and groups of guillemots which are black and white like puffins but without the distinctive orange beak. They are both members of the auk family and a similar-ish shape. Last year's bird survey for the island only recorded 93 birds so they are few and far between. Lundy means puffin island in old Norse and there used to be thousands of puffins on the island. At every turn there was something interesting to see. It was so tempting to explore every little cove but some of them will have to wait until next time.

At Jenny's Cove there are some 100ft high rock formations known as The Cheeses. The crystalline structure of granite causes it to weather and crack into blocks that almost look as if they are the ruins of some ancient structure.

I include this rather odd picture with my foot intruding to give an idea of the scale of things. As mentioned before I do have a fear of heights. However there was something very comforting about the stability of the granite rocks and the fact that I was sitting on a flat surface leaning against a rock behind me drove out all fear. I sat for some time on this 'cheese', legs dangling, while looking for puffins. A little 'Oo-er' when my binoculars took me swooping down vertical surfaces to sea level but no fear. Later I was scrambling down quite steep grassy slopes above the cliffs to get to good vantage points from where I could scan for sea birds.

The central rock formation is the one I was sitting on/in! Behind can be seen Quarter Wall, one of 3 walls built before 1800. Guess the names of the other 2.

As I was hot footing back to the cottage my attention was diverted by this stone wall leading down and out of sight. Being of an enquiring mind (nosy), I had to follow the path, down and round it went becoming a set of steps that led to a ruined building nestling against the cliff.

Below that building were some more steps cut into the rock leading to yet another building with a canon on either side. (I did have a picture on the blog but have just deleted it by accident and can't get it on in the same place.) This is The Battery and the canon were fired when conditions were foggy to warn ships that they were approaching danger. Yet one more fascinating part of the island. It was then a long slog back up to the top and a brisk march back to the cottage. During my walk not only had I seen stupendous scenery and countless birds but I'd also seen many rabbits including black rabbits, Soay sheep, wild goats and wild ponies one of which came up to me for a sniff hoping for a free handout.

Our evening was spent in the Tavern, feasting on roast lamb, (prices were very reasonable). We had been eyeing up the desserts being served to other people in the Tavern so Romas and Vicky were going to share one (portions were generous) but couldn't make up their minds between the bread and butter pudding, a cross between a souffle and a loaf of bread and the chocolate tart so we ended up having both shared between 3 of us. You can put everything on your tab and you settle your bill at the end of your stay. The Tavern does not allow mobile phones or laptops and there is no electronic entertainment or music which is a refreshing change. However as it was the World Cup final an exception had been made and a tv projector set up in a back room for those who wanted to watch the football. Peter went off to watch while Romas, Vicky and I remained in the bar playing scrabble. The gig rowers had all gone early in the morning so there it was much less crowded than the previous night. We were not without entertainment as a girl brought out a fiddle and began playing folk music. She was sitting at a table with some of the island staff who with and without accompaniment began singing sea shanties and folk songs. In the lulls Romas and I contributed some Lithuanian folk songs though we did keep laughing when we couldn't get past the first verse and chorus of most of them. Vicky and Romas did join in with some of the English folk songs though quietly which I thought was a shame as they have good voices. At the end of the evening it was a dark walk back through the fields followed by some ponies and a foal, before rounding off the evening filling in the log book and being caught out by the 12.00 electricity cut off.

And finally, today was Green Man Day in Pilton, a street fair and festival dating back to Edward III. Peter and I went, saw lots of people we knew, listened to bands, bought food and plants and had a very sociable day.

More LLAMA.

Today I'm posting more images of Lynton and the festival. We made the right choice to go yesterday as it started to rain this afternoon and looks set to stay that way.

I thought this vintage mobile cinema was rather interesting. Apparently the government built a fleet of them in the 1960's to promote modern British production techniques. This is the only surviving one and took 2 years to restore after being found in a field minus most of its working parts.

One of the stalls had a great selection of kites and you could even buy the telescopic poles to keep them flying on their own. If I had children and money was no object I would have spent £35 on this wonderful dragon kite.

I took this picture earlier in the day when there weren't so many people about. The sound stage etc is by the tall coloured flags. The tents in the foreground were for massage, counselling and children's art sessions. High up on the cliff can be seen some houses/hotels in Lynmouth's sister town of Lynton. Presumably they are in a prime spot with their views across the Bristol Channel to Wales but I'm not sure if I would want to be so close to the cliff edge or so exposed to winter winds.

Another view of Lynmouth with Lynton above.

The tide had come in as we left and the small harbour was filled with boats bobbing about in the breeze. Fishing is almost non-existent now as an industry and the town's economy is completely tourism based.

This is the water powered cliff railway for those who do not wish to walk up the pleasant but exhausting winding path to the top of the cliff.

Sea ducks? These 3 ducks were waiting patiently on the sea wall for the people sitting on the green bench, just visible in the bottom corner, to feed them chips. Across the road was the village's fish and chip shop which was doing a booming trade with all the festival goers. The nice thing about this festival is the great choice and competitive prices in the festival and the village. If I hadn't been on my diet I would probably have had a fruit smoothie , you could choose to pedal a bike to power the blender, some local ice cream and a plate of nachos covered in melted cheese. Instead I brought my own fresh salads, some ryvytas and a low cal drink.

For more pictures of Lynmouth and information about the Great Flood check out last year's LLAMA post - 14th June.