NEW HOME FOR US AND ...................

For the birds!

Having had so many birds in our last garden because we bordered Occombe Woods we knew we would miss them after moving to Teignmouth.
I hung out the feeders in the Magnolia tree

And filled up the bird house

and we soon realised that we had two pairs of blackbirds, a pair of ringed doves, blue tits , a blackcap and the odd sparrow or two.
So, I dragged Mike to the garden centre and bought some nesting boxes -

Mike did say he would make some which he could do easily but I need them before the 14th, Feb – Valentines Day when it is said that birds get hitched.

Here is one for Robins with an open front -

And one for blue tits or similar sized birds.

Now we wait to see if they are attractive enough to persuade the parents to move in and start a family.
Whoops - I must go and defrost the bird bath – temperatures below freezing again last night and water is as important as food.

A casualty of this freezing weather is my money plant. Left outside by the removal men I only discovered it yesterday.

Doesn’t look too good does it?
I hope I can nurse it back to health – very bad luck if you lose a money plant and I’ve had this for many many years – before I left work I think.
All done, now I ought to turn my attention to feeding the humans! What’s for lunch I hear Mike cry? Umm, homemade vegetable soup should fit the bill. Byee
JJ

New Home – New Me?

Don’t hold your breath. I was hoping that the move to Teignmouth would give us a new lease of life; we had become very complacent and every day was very predictable. We were in a rut – nothing wrong with that if you are happy in it but we both felt that there must be more to life than the every day routine that we were in.

We were certainly kept very busy with the move that’s for sure but, returning from our cruise after Christmas the momentum had slowed. Much needed doing but mostly by the professionals , the new steps, new fence, moving radiators etc. but  Mike will be kept busy finishing off these projects. He is sorted.

What about me? Well, I had a wake up call when I went for a check at the doctors and somehow found the courage to get on the scales. BLOODY HELL! NO! IT CAN’T BE! …………….. Sadly it is. Back to the weight I was over 3 years ago. If I don’t do something now then I will continue to get fatter. Not a great prospect especially with my breathing problems.

What to do JJ? I asked myself. You have lost weight before – you CAN do it again.

First thing is I have re-joined my weight watching / calorie counting programme online. Paid for 6 months – that IS a commitment.

 

All my old information is available and I feel very comfortable with it. Out came my scales from the bottom drawer and a pen and paper strategically placed nearby.

What can I cut down on ? Sadly -  red wine. I really love my glass of wine with my dinner – the trouble is one glass becomes two and I was “enjoying “ half a bottle most nights. Not only bad for my weight but also for my liver.

Secondly – butter. Although we buy Lurpak Spreadable Lighter it still has masses of calories. Bread is the other half of this fattening equation so, if I cut out bread then I will reduce the butter consumption. O.K.

Thirdly and the  most difficult – EXERCISE! That word is a total anathema to me – the only exercise I enjoy is my fingers dancing over my keyboard.  Far too old and unfit to join a gym or a keep fit class – what could be done?

Get a pedometer – perhaps that just might motivate me to actually go out and get some (free) fresh air? I ordered it on Tuesday and it arrived on Thursday. The information from it can be uploaded to my computer and I suppose all sorts of statistics etc. will be shown. Took me ages to get it working ( I think I have) and it is now constantly in my pocket.

I was stunned how many paces you take just around the house but the average of 2500 per day seems almost impossible for me – sitting or laying as I do on my laptop most days.

Anyway, today the weather was good, considerably warmer, no wind and no snow so, off we went for a walk. We drove down to the Sea front and walked the sea wall from Teignmouth to as far as you can below Holcombe at Hole Head. I forgot my camera but I did make sure my pedometer was in my pocket.

The weather was kind, glimpses of sun from time to time and very little wind apart from when a train, heading towards Teignmouth created a strong blast of air as it passed. Confronted by a steep walk up to the main road or turning round – we turned round and headed back. My hips and lower back were beginning to ache but that added to my sense of achievement.

We got back to the car in about an hour and I guess the distance was roughly a mile and a half. Not earth shattering I know but a very long way for me these days.

I thought i would be exhausted but no, I felt fine so after checking on the progress of recovering the capsized fishing boat we went off to Jack’s Patch for a cuppa and a cake. I did say cake – couldn’t resist this wonderful looking pear and chocolate tart and, as Mike said, I deserved it. However, my conscience got the better of me and I passed half of it over to Mike to finish off on top of his slice of coffee cake!

We bought a couple of new bird boxes and some bird food and then home to my chair and my laptop.

Wonder if i will have lost any weight ? Don’t know but I quite enjoyed the walk and the fresh air and provided the weather is kind – I might do it all again tomorrow. Might!

JJ

PS I forgot the most important bit – Today I have done……………………………………………………………8587 STEPS!

PPS- I have had one ( large ) glass of Pinot Noir – Heaven. First for a week.

 

The Fishing Port of Teignmouth

Is our new home. Not far from Torbay, approximately 12 miles ,up the coast we know it quite well. Mike lived here from the age of 12 until we got married in 1965 and of course I visited often.

When we were young our local pub was The Ship which is on the River beach. Many a good night spent in there singing along to Lily the Pink by the Scaffold and Manfred Mann’s The Mighty Quinn. We were married then and lived in a modern terraced house in Chelston Torquay. We rarely stayed overnight so I guess we drove home drunk or sober. How scary is that but it was the norm.

Many of Mike’s friends were fishermen, men who worked hard and played hard. A great bunch of guys in the main.

I was reminded of them last weekend when one of the fishing boats, The Girl Rhona, ran aground on a sandbank by the mouth of the river.Five fishermen on board were rescued unharmed, in a dangerous operation which saw the lifeboat which went to their aid, also damaged. This boat is now manned by sons of the men we knew and everyone in the town is so delighted that they were all rescued. The outcome could have been so different.

The boat is still sitting on the sand bank being pounded every second by the relentless waves. We drove down to the seafront yesterday to look and I took this photo on a very long lens.

Reminded me also of this wonderful hymn -

 

Eternal Father strong to save
Whose arm has bound the restless wave
Who bids the mighty ocean deep
It's own appointed limits keep
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in Peril on the sea

The original hymn was written by William Whiting of Winchester, England, in 1860.

New Steps–New Fence???

Sods Law is it not? The week before we started on the steps we had a ferocious gale and …………………………..

one of the fence panels blew down in the back garden.The neighbours blocked it with a wooden door to prevent their dogs escaping.

As you can see the rest of the fence was in a bad way so the whole lot needed replacing.

Our new neighbours called around as they have three dogs and needed to get this sorted a.s.a.p. We agreed to go halves as a new fence would benefit us both and they said they would get a quote.

Two guys gave a good quote and arrived on Tuesday. The first day they stripped out the old fence, took down some bushes and concreted in new posts.

The next day they put up the horizontal posts and nailed on the panels ( with an old fashioned hammer)  finishing by the end of the day despite it raining all day.

Here is the result -

All the way to the front

Another brilliant job by two experienced guys who have a wonderful work ethic and know exactly what they are doing. .

Well done Saunders and Co from New Road.

JJ

New Home–The changes begin!

This is the front of the house and very attractive it is too. However, the steps up to the front door were very steep – dangerously steep and probably illegal.

Not only did I struggle with my little legs but so did Mike, the postman ( who said he hated them) and most of our visitors.  We had to bite the bullet and get them changed a.s.a.p.

We called in our builder friend Paul who contacted his bricklayer Glen and between us all we redesigned the steps.

All building work seems, ironically, to start with demolition!

The building begins where the bottom of the old steps were.

The new spiral steps taking shape.

How much better is this? Note the pillar – beautifully finished to match the others but Jean spots a problem. Yes, it would be me wouldn’t it!

 

A wrought iron railing is needed to prevent people falling over the edge between the pillar and the wall but …………………

it will be higher than the pillar – O No!

So, the top of the pillar is knocked down and rebuilt straight up to be level with the railing.

Here is the taller pillar and you can now see where the railings will be between the wall and the pillar just on the left – hand side.

Looks a bit tall but will look OK when finished.

A word about Glen – what a worker. He arrived just after 8 most mornings, only stopped for a quick lunch and then continued until about 4. He worked entirely on his own mixing his own  cement and measuring everything as he went along. Due to poor weather the last couple of days he went over budget and over time but he still finished it in 12 days. A brilliant worker and we would recommend him to anyone.

Just need to wait until the walls are dry and then Mike can paint them.

An Evening with Alfie Boe – Me and 2499 other people!

We had waited months for this event to come around and were really excited at the prospect of seeing Alfie live on stage.
He did not disappoint but The Plymouth Pavilions is dire!
Driving into Plymouth we followed the signs to The Pavilions quite easily only to find ourselves right outside with nowhere to park. A small sign advised us to go back to the traffic lights and turn left to find the car park. Why was it not signed before hand to avoid all the congestion out side the venue.
On arriving at the multi story car park ( over Toys R Us) we slowly made our way up the ramp as every car was stopped by the barrier to take a ticket an almost blank ticket ?  We left the car only to see a long line of people at the pay station. We joined the queue which moved very slowly as many people were having difficulty in operating the machine. You put your almost blank ticket in the machine and had to choose how much you wanted to pay and it took some little while for the machine to click from £1 to £3 or £4 . Eventually the ticket  was spat out – “should it be put on display in the car “ – not sticky so probably not. We asked around and the consensus was – NO!
Whilst waiting at the pay station Mike overheard people saying it was free after 10 p.m so he paid £3 as did many others. Whoops.
Right, which way was the walkway? Follow the crowd seemed sensible as  we did not see a sign. Passing through the doors from the car park we found ourselves in a stair well, up or down was the question then. Mike being tall craned his neck and could just see the walkway below us so down we went. From there plain sailing into the Pavilions. Phew! Scruffy looking place and not somewhere you would want relax and enjoy
a drink or a meal before the show.
a The arena appeared to be more or less full – 80% the silver haired brigade and  20% under 50’s. The orchestra took their places on stage – a very large orchestra and then – ON CAME THE MAN.

Every song, every note was superb. He joked with the audience in between songs and appeared very relaxed with his new found fame. A humble man with his feet firmly on the ground.
The interval came all too quickly but it gave everyone a chance to stand up and move about. The seats were beginning to get uncomfortable and the non existent air conditioning meant that we were all melting having arrived in winter clothes. Stupidly!
I enjoyed it all, the orchestra was brilliant and showed a lot of diversity from Classical to Pop to Rock and Jazz. I won’t go into too much detail as there were several surprises – musically.
At one stage everyone took a photo a la Robbie Williams – apparently.

A medley of James Bond tunes showed off Alfie’s voice a treat but the Zed Zeppelin song was just a bit LOUD!
The concert finished with Alfie Singing and playing the drums! WHAT A GUY.
Despite spending ages Googling I have been unable to identify the wonderful orchestra. I might come across it yet………….
So, after a magnificent evening made more interesting by sitting next to a couple who know Alfie and had been to see him backstage, we slowly left the Arena and made our way back to the car.
They told me they were involved with a Charity & by Googling I found them here - http://www.woodenspoon.com/devon
Well worth a mention – where would we be without these selfless people.
We sat in a barely moving queue for about 25 minutes but eventually could see the barrier and the road to freedom. Mike inserted the card – the machine spat it out. He inserted it again and again, the machine spat it out. Off went the engine, I could feel several pairs of eyes boring into the back of my head whilst Mike ( bravely) left the car to seek help. I sat there expecting a shunt or a hammering on the window but no – everyone must have been in a mellow mood. Mike returned having put another £! on the ticket and we were released. No honking of car horns in derision, no one chased us so I guess this probably happens on a regular basis.
It was then just a case of driving home. Easy? No. Mike thought he knew the way but did not know the old route was undergoing road works and we went round in a very large circle, then back on ourselves before we hit the Embankment road. Plus, there is something wrong with our head lights on dip; in the darkness of the motorway it was extremely difficult to see far enough ahead and the heavy drizzle did not improve matters. The car is booked in for a check on Monday.
We arrived home at 11.30 or thereabouts feeling both elated and stressed.
It was worth every second to have seen Alfie live again but we won’t be going back to the Pavilions  – there must be better venues.
JJ

2011 DRAWS TO A CLOSE

December 29th. We awake to grey skies and cold wind in Southampton and make a leisurely light breakfast before heading to  our members only departure lounge just after 8 expecting quite a wait before being called to leave the ship. No! We are told we can leave immediately and make our way to the gangway and descend to the luggage claim area. Hello Jean, says Erica, one of our table mates – so glad to see you. Erica has a memory problem and could not remember her case checkout number so I accompanied her to a member of staff to help her. Whilst I was doing this Mike had found our cases and was very impatient as he waited fro me to go over with the luggage cart. The member of staff called him “nasty” which shocked him & me – but in this instance, correct.

We left Erica in the capable hands of staff and left the terminal expecting a long wait in the cold for our taxi to the car park. However, he was there within a few minutes of our phoning and we were reunited with our car and set off for Poole in Dorset.

Our friends have rented a posh pad in Sandbanks  until they return to Spain in May. One of the most expensive property areas in the country it once was a wildlife haven of sand banks now covered in million pound plus properties. It is a narrow spit of land, water on both sides and is likely to be under water if global warming is to be  believed so why they have built on it the way they have is a mystery to me. Of course, mega money has been attracted to the area which provides employment etc. but the mish mash of buildings is quite ugly. Some gorgeous, others hideous.

BEFORE How I remember Sandbanks from my childhood.

AFTER

 

L&B’s apartment is very modern and has some sea views. It is ideal for a holiday home but would be rather cramped for full time living.

We were made very welcome, taken for lunch in a very crowded pub in the New Forest which just proves I guess how very popular the area is – especially compared with Torbay. The village was called Burley and quite pretty in the drizzle.

We sat at a table near to a comforting log fire. The one on the left in this picture.

 

 

We were rather astonished when 8 people with very hairy large dogs came in and walked right through the pub.

Who in their right mind would bring 8 smelly dogs into a pub at lunch time? They were quickly ejected and were later seen outside in a covered area – looking cross!

We shared our different starters ( like Tapas); Mike enjoyed his first decent pint and we returned to the apartment for a cuppa.

Early evening we walked to their local, Cafe Shore , not a pub but a modern restaurant with a separate bar area. Very swish but very noisy as there was a wedding party in there. Then it was home for our eagerly awaited dinner and B surprised us with BBQ ribs A LA Alan in Spain. Gorgeous they were to. We enjoyed a video of Calpe in Summer which we have never seen. Very busy and the beaches packed with mostly Spanish people. We also saw C & A’s new house which looks very inviting – hint hint.

We had an early night and we parted company next day – us homeward bound and L & B off to family in London for New Year.

To be reunited on 10th January.