By mid morning Tuesday we had glorious sunshine here in Devon so eldest Daughter and I went over to Teignmouth for a walk along the seafront and then down on the beach.  We are about 2 miles from the beach and I love it.  It obviously gets busy in the summer with holidaymakers but that doesn't bother us - we can always find a back road to park in and space on the beach to set up our camp. After lunch, as you can see, S put up a list of most of the blogs I follow, and then we sat in the garden reading. 

 

This morning S got up early and was out of the house just after 6 to meet a friend over in Torquay to go paddle boarding and see the sunrise.

After picking up L from school we went up to the park so she could have a play with her friends. When we got home Hubby had mowed the lawn and was putting together an arch I had ordered for the garden.  I had also bought a climbing rose in memory of my Mum called Dawn Patrol which we will train up over it.  It's the perfect spot for an arch as we have a few little steps up to the lawn.

S is cooking dinner tonight and indeed did last night, so I am fortunate to be given a break.  I will just have to clean up afterwards.

Tomorrow is going to be a sad day as we have an appointment at the vets for him to assess Suzie. I think, in all honesty, he will recommend putting her to sleep as her quality of life is lessening by the day.  We have had a good talk with the girls about it and we are all agreed it is the kindest thing to do but there will be a lot of tears.  We shall bring her home and bury her in the garden next to her brother.

Last day of school for the girls tomorrow and then a couple of weeks to relax and recharge.

 We had a lovely evening on Saturday belatedly celebrating S's 21st Birthday.  The bubbles flowed, we had a lovely chinese take away and we all enjoyed watching 'The Dig' on Netflix. Sunday was spent quietly pottering, we all really missed that hour in bed!

Today, after jobs were done, S and I went over to Meadfoot beach at Torquay and sat in the sunshine enjoying a take away coffee.  It really has been a lovely day, weather wise, and just sat looking out to sea made us think it won't be long till we're at the beach most weekends with the paddleboard.  I absolutely love living by the sea.

In sadder news I don't think our beloved cat Suzie will be with us much longer.  One of  her hips is not great, she stopped grooming herself a couple of months ago so, even though we brush her regularly, her coat is tufty, she's not eating much and then the last few days she has been incontinent.  It's very sad - she will be 20 on Thursday which is an amazing age for a cat - but she's struggling so I think we will have to have a discussion with the girls about what is best.

I'm onto another new book which so far I'm really enjoying - my big pile of library books is very slowly reducing!

 Happy Birthday Mum

Today would have been my lovely Mums 74th Birthday except, that sadly, she passed away from cancer last May.  I have found losing a parent incredibly hard to deal with and think about her every day.  She was diagnosed with cancer (myeloma) when she was 65 and even though she was always told it was treatable but not curable, I think' as the years ticked by' I just pushed that piece of information to the back of my mind. She never complained and apart from a couple of occasions she never looked ill.  My grandparents - her parents - both lived until they were 94 and so I feel cheated really of another 20 years with her.  I last saw her in person at the very beginning of March last year when she and my Dad came down and stayed a couple of nights to celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary.  It was a lovely visit with a nice walk along Teignmouth seafront and a coffee out and then a family meal at our village Hotel on the evening of their anniversary.  She was told by her consultant in October 2019 that the treatment she was on was no longer working.  She tried two other drugs but sadly neither had any effect on the cancer and then she was told there was nothing more that could be done. Four weeks later she was gone.

                                     

Onto happier news and this morning Daughter S arrived home for her Easter break from university.  We have been for a family walk this afternoon and tonight we are belatedly celebrating her 21st Birthday with a chinese take away and champagne.  We are then going to watch 'The Dig' on netflix. It is lovely to all be together again and I shall savour every minute of her being here.

So tonight I shall be raising my glass to S and also my Mum, a bittersweet day.

 Yesterday was a bit of a day of chores - the house needed a good clean and I had ironing falling out of the basket so once I got back from walking L to school I just cracked on with it all.  I also dug out the meagre Easter decorations I have which I have arranged in our snug window.  The snug is off our kitchen and is actually intended as a breakfast room but it is not really big enough so instead we have a sofa in there and a small portable TV on the wall.  I spend a lot of time there reading and just enjoying quiet time.  The Easter jars were made about three years ago at one of the free children's craft workshops that Hobbycraft used to run pre covid.  I do hope that these resume in the not too distant future.  Not the best of photos - too much reflection.

After school, as it was sunny, we went to the park with one of L's friends, and her Mum, who I haven't had a good catch up with since before Christmas so a good time was had by all. Dinner was a sausage hotpot which D insisted on calling  grotty pot whilst I was cooking it and moaning and then cleared her plate! Honestly, children....

Today, Hubby and I went into town and had the treat of a coffee and bacon roll from Greggs.  Unfortunately, we had had a bit of early morning mizzle so benches were wet so we had to sit in the car with it but it was still a nice treat. When we got home Hubby shut himself in the dining room to get on with work calls and paperwork. I then had the excitement of a call from a woman in the village I know, who has recently set up as a childminder, asking if I would be interested in helping her out a couple of days a week from May.  I have said yes so now will have to dust off all my certificates for the qualifications I have. It will be a nice change to work with a small number of children as opposed to in a setting with 19 plus!. I have known the woman a number of years as we have children similar ages, and I like her, so I think it will work out well.

I'm on to a new book today by an author I really like so I don't think it will take me long to read.

Friday already tomorrow - it's scary how, even though we are not really doing much, how quickly the weeks are flicking by.

 Yesterday, once I got back from walking L to school I gave our en suite bathroom a deep clean and moved all my toiletries back in.  It is now completely finished and ready to be used. Hubby has done a really good job and I'm really pleased with how it looks.

  After that I made a roasted tomato and vegetable sauce to be used as the base of our dinner that night which was spinach and ricotta stuffed pasta.  The hardest thing about this dish is sourcing the giant pasta shells! Obviously, Aldi where I do my weekly shop, don't stock them and surprisingly neither do Asda so it involves a special trip to Sainsburys.  This dish is from the Good Housekeeping Christmas collection, is really tasty, and everyone in the house likes it.  This recipe booklet is very good and I made a good half a dozen recipes from it over the Christmas period.

This morning D finished school at 11.00 so I picked her up and we went into town.  We both had clothing to return to Asda - it is such a pain not being able to try things on - and I had yet more library books to collect! We got drinks from Greggs and sat in a nice seating area we have in the town and watched the world go by.

We will finally see eldest Daughter S this weekend as she breaks up from University for the Easter break. We have not seen her since the very beginning of January so we are all really looking forward to seeing her.  There will be birthday presents for her to open from her birthday at the beginning of the month and champagne to be drunk for a belated celebration! The schools here seem to be finishing a week later than elsewhere in the country so her sisters don't break up until the 1st April but in a way that's not a bad thing as we can have a few days spending some quality time together.  I am so grateful that Universities are allowing students home for the Easter break otherwise it would have been May before we could see her.

Hubby has been feeling a bit under the weather today from having his covid vaccination and K has had a bit of an unsettled tummy so dinner tonight was a comforting fish pie with green vegetables.

I am still reading' Away with the Penguins' but have also been reading Kate Humbles  'A Year of Living Simply' alongside it which I finished whilst dinner was cooking. A simple enjoyable read.

Well that's it for now. We shall watch Unforgotten on catch up and then I think it will be an early night and hopefully everyone will be feeling back to normal tomorrow.

 Saturday/Sunday

Yesterday morning was spent washing uniform, ironing uniform and generally getting ready for the week ahead.  In the afternoon K was meeting a friend in town for an hour or so, so we dropped her off and made our way to Decoy Country Park.  This is a lovely open space with various different walks around the lakes and a large playground.  There is also a little cafe selling drinks, ice creams etc.  We had a lovely walk around the lake and got an ice cream but didn't venture into the park as it was absolutely heaving with children.

                           

In the evening we watched the final of The Voice.  The four finalists were all very good and the winner really did deserve to win.

Today, we went into town first thing to get a new bath mat, towels and bin for our en-suite as all the last bits that needed doing have been done, and it is ready to use. 

After lunch we walked right up to the top of our village with D who is still delivering leaflets for our village shop.  She is very nearly finished thank goodness, as it has been a lot of walking and our village is hilly, but she was glad of the chance to earn some money.  It's not easy for youngsters at the moment to get part time jobs.  She already does a paper round, as does K, and has a small cleaning job.  Before lockdown she helped out in our hairdressers as and when they needed her and did some babysitting but that has been off the cards this last year.

When we got back I spent an hour in the garden, brushing the patio and planting some summer bulbs.  Now I have a roast in the oven and we are eagerly awaiting watching Line of Duty later.

 Well yesterday was a long day. We dropped L off at school and then made the two hour journey up to Wiltshire, where we both come from, for P's funeral.  I'm glad we went and paid our respects and said goodbye.  We then called in and said hello to my Dad and Hubby's Mum, neither of whom we have seen since Christmas eve, so that was really nice.   We got home just before five, exhausted more I think from the emotional side of things.  The last time we were at that crematorium was for my Mum's funeral last year and before that for Hubby's Dad a couple of years before that.

I finished my day by having a couple of glasses of wine and watching Grace on catch up from the other night.  I really enjoyed it and hope they make more.

Today was overcast and more chilly than the last few days but I was still out in the garden early pegging out washing. I had library books to collect and return so that was a trip into town first thing and I called into Asda for a couple of things that I couldn't get in Aldi Monday night.

I came home and emptied out the utility room and steam cleaned the floors as poor Suzie is having a bit of incontinence in her old age. Although I have put a litter tray down for her it is all a bit hit or miss, literally.  This morning Hubby opened the door to a big puddle! In all honesty I don't think she will be with us much longer - as Daughter L put it this morning - she is fading. We will keep her life as comfortable as possible but she is approaching 20 and so I think we have to prepare ourselves.

This afternoon I met friend J for a walk and a coffee which was good.  She has seven children, so with my four we had plenty to catch up on!

Dinner tonight was a slimming world recipe which I have done before and the girls all enjoy.  It is a beef  stroganoff pasta bake and is easy to make so Daughter D made it mostly without help.  She is the least keen of the girls to cook but I am trying to ensure that Fridays she at least helps to cook dinner so she will be capable of cooking simple meals if she goes on to university.

Finally I am now reading this book, which I know a lot of bloggers I follow have read and so far I am enjoying it.  Tonight it will be Gogglebox and a glass of wine or two.

 The last couple of days have been lovely and sunny down here in Devon.  Tuesday, after dropping L at school I met another Mum G, and we walked up to our park for a coffee and a catch up.  Her Daughter C has been friends  with K since pre-school and they go to the same school.  Her Daughter J is in the same class as L although she is a year 6 and L is a year 5.  Being a village school there are two year groups per class.  We had a good old chat about our families and a lovely coffee all sat in the sunshine.

When I got home I had the mad idea, whilst cleaning the kitchen, to also empty, clean and sort all the cupboards so that took the rest of the morning.

K decorated her cakes in her guides meeting - the theme being spring.

Wednesday I did a pile of ironing and sorted our clothes for a funeral that Hubby and I are going to..  It will be a four hour round trip so a tiring as well as emotional day for us.  P was the Mother of one of Hubby's best friends who died in a car crash when he was just 21 years old.  Hubby and a couple other of his friends have stayed in touch with P and F all these years and they have both been very good to us and our girls.  She was a lovely woman who will be very much missed.

In the afternoon we had our new vinyl laid in our en suite bathroom.  The door just needs a couple of coats of paint and then the room will be finished.  It is looking much better.  Next Hubby will be decorating our bedroom which is pretty grim.  When we bought this house it had been rented out for twenty years and not a penny spent on it in all that time so it's been a project.  We are about two thirds done at the moment.

This was dinner tonight, pasta with peppers, garlic, mushrooms and asparagus. By chance I had cream and mushrooms that needed using up and I had picked us some reduced asparagus in Aldi on Monday night, so it was meant to be. It was delicious and definately one to have again.

 Well I woke up on Mothers Day feeling absolutely awful.  I had come down with a blinding headache Saturday evening which I went to bed with and I spent the whole night alternating between shivering and sweating.  I managed to open my presents and cards which were lovely, I was thoroughly spoilt by my girls, but then I just had to crawl back into bed.  These are apparently common side effects of the vaccination.  Hubby took the girls out for a couple of hours and I managed to go back to sleep and thankfully when I woke up the headache had gone and I felt a lot better.  We had been planning a long walk in the afternoon but that has been postponed to next weekend and instead we just walked around our village.  I slept really well last night and now feel completely back to normal.

Today, although slightly chilly, was sunny so I walked around the village after dropping L at school then came home and got two loads of washing out on the line to dry.  Next up I made a batch of plain cupcakes for K's guide meeting tomorrow night as they are having a cake decorating competition.  D has a job delivering flyers for our village shop so after school me and L (on her scooter) went with her to get some more roads crossed off her list.  We are seeing houses we never knew existed! 

For dinner tonight I made homemade pizzas which we had with some sweet potato fries and salad. Very tasty. I've been to Aldi this evening so we are all stocked up with food for another week - now it's time to settle down and relax with my book.

 Saturday

First of all, just for Vix, here are some pictures of our elderly cat Suzie.  She is coming up to 20 years old and is just starting to look her age.  We have had her from a kitten together with her brother Tigger who passed away 8 years ago.  Their Mother was a wild cat, that some friends of ours took in, but both Tigger and Suzie have always been nice natured.  Suzie sleeps a lot these days and doesn't venture further than our back garden.  She is very loved and fussed over by the girls and it will be a very sad day when she is no longer with us.

The big thing today was that this afternoon I had my first Covid vaccination.  I had to go to Dawlish Hospital which is about 6 miles away.  I was more worried about finding where I was going etc than the actual vaccination but it was all very well organised and over and done with quickly.  I am group 9 so thought it would be at least  April time before I heard anything but suddenly had a phone call from my surgery Thursday morning giving me my appointment.  Hopefully, I won't suffer any side effects.  I am someone who shies away from anything medical, never visit the Doctors or take any medicines, but we love to travel so I had to be brave!

The girls are all busy with their own activities so I'm going to sneak off and read a bit more of my book.

  Friday

Well today has been drier than the last couple of days so after walking L to school I went around the village doing various errands.  First of all there is a woman who has a table of books for sale outside her house, for a donation for a local charity, so I left two bags of books in her porch.  We have a new free food larder box in the village for people to donate unwanted food which other people might use.  I had a bag of rice flour that I bought recently but no longer needed so I put that in the box.  I then collected a prescription from the chemist and then called at the shop for some sour dough pitta breads.  These are made by our local Hotel and the girls like to use them as pizza bases so that will be their lunch tomorrow.  I was also hoping to get some daffodils as they've had some lovely ones this last week or so but they had sold out.

D had to be dropped at school for 11 so as I had an urge for a decent coffee we called into our local Morrisons garage on the way back and got a couple of cappucino from their Costa machine.  We drove a short way to a viewing point layby  and sat and drank our coffee looking out over the estuary.  It was lovely.

Well tomorrow I have my covid vaccination.  I had a phone call yesterday morning, which took me by surprise, as I am in group 9 so thought it would be next month before it would be my turn.

Have a good weekend.

 Happy 56th Birthday M

Today is Hubby's birthday and our third family birthday in 6 days! Even though there is a big difference in ages it is still quite stressful sorting everyone's presents and cards. Again we  waited until K got in from school before presents and cards were opened.  He had a bottle of port, bottles of lager, curry kits, spicy sauces (bit of a theme here) and a new fleece.  The girls are eating on their own tonight and then we are getting an Indian take away. We are great lovers of a curry but usually make our own - its hard to believe it but this will be our first Indian takeaway! We shall then have a glass of wine or two and finish watching Ben Fogle in Chernobyl which we started the other night.

This is the birthday cake Hubby chose!

I'm still ploughing through all my library books.  I've just finished 'A Winters Dream' which I enjoyed and have read other books by the same author. Now I've just started 'Bad Blood' by Mark Sennen.  I've read the first book in this series - a good crime read but I need to concentrate to keep up with all the characters!  

 

 Happy 13th Birthday K

Today is Daughter K's 13th birthday, another teenager in the house!  There wasn't time to do presents before she left to catch her school bus so we did them when she got in this afternoon, with big sister S joining us on facetime.  She had lots of craft bits and a trolley to store it all in as well as a couple of books and some clothing. We also enjoyed a slice of Jaspur birthday cake.  Tonight we are having the treat of fish and chips so a night off cooking for me.

K was my biggest baby at 8lb 6oz and was due on Hubby's birthday, the 11th.  I was big early on in the pregnancy and always felt uncomfortable then a few days before my due date it was realised that she was breech.  I was booked in for a section, which I requested to be the 10th so they would have different birthdays.  They then had a go at turning her which wasn't pleasant and had no affect except a couple of days later I went into labour. It was a busy day, with D going to a birthday party, and although I had niggles all day I think I was just so focused on my booked section I missed the signs until that evening, whilst watching Midsomer Murders, my waters burst.  I have never moved so quickly in all my life! We  had to get some friends to come and stay with S and D and then shot off to the hospital.  How I didn't give birth in the car I will never know!  I arrived at the hospital at about 11.40 ready to push, but was advised to continue with the section, so had to be prepped and sign the consent forms.  She was born at 4 minutes past midnight.  Hubby was in shock all the way through it!

 Another Sunny Day

Today was the last sunny day forecast before a few wet days so I walked L to school and then carried on around the village taking a longer route home.  I am determined to shift some of these lockdown pounds before the Summer! D only had school till 11.15 so I whizzed over and picked her up and then, as it is K's birthday tomorrow and she will also be back to school, we decided to walk up to our park and have the treat of coffee and cake.  It really was lovely, sitting in the sunshine, looking out over towards the estuary. You can just see our mobile coffee van in the corner of the car park - it is actually a converted horsebox.

K is currently on zoom taking part in her guides meeting and they are making face masks - I envisage some mucky tidying up for me later!. Well we shall watch Unforgotten tonight and then once K has gone to bed we  will be blowing up balloons and putting up birthday banners.

 The Last Couple of Days

Well yesterday was cold but sunny so washing was out on the line again including the girls coats they wear to school as they had got a bit mucky from all our trips to the park. Next everyone sorted school bags while I polished shoes and got out uniform.  People were feeling a bit nervous last night but actually when they got home today they had had a good day, so that's a relief. Hubby did a bit of tidying in the garden yesterday and planted some summer bulbs he had ordered online so hopefully we will have a lot of colour in a few months time.  We also skyped Hubby's Aunt and Uncle who live in France for a catch up. We are hoping that we may be able to visit them once school finishes for the summer holidays as its two years since we last saw them.  They live down near Dijon so a fair old drive for us but they have a lovely house with big gardens and are near some nice towns and a big lake where you can paddle board etc.  We are off to Holland towards the end of August for 12 nights - third time lucky! We were originally meant to go last Easter then we moved it to October half term now its August and it actually looks like its going to happen.

Today, I walked L to school and as it was nice and sunny did a longer route home calling at the post office to forward on some birthday cards that had arrived here for Daughter S.

 Daughter K doesn't go back to school till Wednesday so she is relishing having her Mum to herself for a couple of days.  We went into our local town as I had library books to collect and return and then we went into Asda to get birthday cakes for K and Hubby.

Finally, dinner tonight was cheese wheels.  These appear on the school dinner menu and are now something we have when it needs to be cheap and quick. You make up mashed potato and leave to get cold, then spread it over a sheet of puff pastry and cover it with grated cheese. Roll it up, cut into slices and bake until golden.  We usually have it with cauliflower cheese and baked beans.

I think that's it for today.

 Another Sunny Day

How lovely to wake up to another sunny, if slightly cold day.  The washing was out first thing - sad person that I am, I absolutely love seeing washing drying on the line outside.  Next was washing and hoovering out my car which was absolutely filthy.  After lunch me and the girls went for our usual walk around the village stopping off at the park.  Our mobile drinks van was there today so I had the treat of a cappuccino and the girls had a hot chocolate each.  It was lovely sat in the sunshine while they played and scootered.  It was quite busy with families and dog walkers but its a vast space so easy to keep your distance.

When we got back I tackled a pile of ironing whilst K and L made some red velvet cupcakes.  They both love baking so for Christmas I made them each up a little baking gift bag containing icing, sprinkles, cutters, mixes etc which they have been working through during this lockdown.

This is mine and Hubby's curry tonight, Jamie Oliver's butter chicken. It is very good, a bit of a kick but more fragrant than spicy.  We started our Saturday curry nights many years ago.  I'd just had eldest Daughter S and we had been relocated to Cornwall by the Bank Hubby was working for.  We had no family nearby to help out so suddenly every Saturday night was a night in! We would wait until she was asleep and then cook ourselves a nice curry and have a couple of glasses of wine and here we are 21 years later still doing it.  The only difference is that while at one time all children were in bed when we ate, now they are just in the other room!

Well its The Voice tonight - the girls choice more than mine - but I usually read my book and listen with one ear!

Have a good evening all.

 Happy 21st Birthday S!

Today is my eldest Daughters 21st birthday - where on earth have all those years gone.  It feels like only yesterday we brought her home from hospital in her little red car seat! Sadly, due to lockdown, we are unable to spend the day with her but we have facetimed her twice - first thing for card and present opening and then early afternoon to sing Happy Birthday while she blew out the candles on her cake.  I had a couple of presents sent to her direct and ordered some flowers from Next to be delivered and then everything else we shall keep here for when she is allowed to visit. She has been out for a walk and a coffee with her friend that she lives with, also a student midwife, and later they are getting a chinese take away and taking part in a zoom quiz. Not the ideal way to celebrate but doing the best you can at the moment.  She is going to have a barbecue party at home in the summer with all her friends.

This is a picture of my morning coffee.  Two years ago, when we last went to France, I bought a Dolce Gusto coffee machine at a bargain price.  It really has been the best thing I have bought and has been a godsend over the last year in lockdown.  At around 11 on weekday mornings Daughter L will announce it is elevenses and either her or Daughter K will go and make me a cappuccino! My Mother-in-Law is brilliant at Christmas shopping.  We each get a big gift bag full of lovely goodies - not expensive as she lives off a state pension - but really thoughtful gifts and one of mine last year was a coffee set.  It had three different jars of sprinkles in it together with a metal stencil.  I was absolutely over the moon with it.

    

We have been into our local town this afternoon for a few groceries that I couldn't get in my weekly Aldi shop and managed to pick up a piece of vinyl for our en suite, so a good day.

Lastly, a picture of the pudding K made for us all tonight, a meringue nest with cream and fruit.

Tonight will be gogglebox and a glass of fizz.

 Well we are back to wearing coats on our daily walks as the sunshine has abruptly disappeared. Yesterday we were the only ones at our park, but we did see another family we know on our walk towards home so that was nice to have a catch up with another adult. Today my morning was taken up with a couple of phone calls as well as home schooling. I phoned my Dad to check he was ok and have a catch up.  I worry about how lonely he must be since  Mum passed away especially with lockdown.  I shall be glad when we can visit again and take him out for a coffee or a meal. I then spoke to the Daughter of an elderly family friend of ours who sadly passed away last week.  I have never spoken to or met S before as she had a difficult relationship with her parents, but we had a pleasant chat about the funeral arrangements and how her Dad was managing as he suffers from dementia.

I was hoping to post some more photos of our park when we went for our walk, but nobody remembered their phones. Then I thought I would take a photo of our dinner as Daughter K wanted to try out a new Jamie Oliver recipe we saw on his latest series but I only remembered when we had eaten it! Instead you will have to make do with the photo from his book.  It was salmon tacos and was absolutely delicious and very simple.  Definately one to have again. We have watched all his current series and enjoyed the programmes he filmed himself in the first lockdown.

I managed to finish another book last night - The Chalet, which was good and tonight I shall start A Winters Dream. 

Tomorrow we are having a trip into our local town for a few groceries that I cannot get in my weekly Aldi shop and Hubby has very nearly finished refurbishing our en suite so if anywhere is open we need an offcut of vinyl flooring.

Well I think that is it for today.

 I start a blog and then two weeks go past without a post.  What can I say - even in a lockdown situation my days seem to drift by quickly in a cloud of sameness.  We have really enjoyed the sun these last few days. We have been for longer walks, opened windows, dried washing outside for the first time in ages and mowed the lawn. It feels great to think that warmer longer days are on the way and gradually restrictions will be eased. 

I am on my last full week of home schooling. D has to go into school tomorrow morning for her first lateral flow test before she starts back next Monday. L will start back at primary school also next Monday but K will not start back until next Wednesday as they are having a staggered start so that they can cope with all the testing.  It will be strange to have them all back at school again after another three months of having them home.  Although generally a difficult last twelve months it has also been a special time for me to be able to spend so much time quietly as a family enjoying simple things together. I'm sure there will be tears as the girls settle back into their school routine but they need to be back with their friends and face to face teaching.

This afternoon we walked up to our bigger park area which apart from one dog walker was deserted.  I sat on a bench in the sunshine and enjoyed the lovely view out over the estuary.  I love the village I live in.  It is pretty with excellent facilities.  We have a shop, chemist/post office, two pubs, a hotel and a vineyard all of which we try to support.  When we moved two years ago we did briefly look at houses in our nearby town, Newton Abbot, but when it came down to it none of us felt we could leave the village.  Its a friendly place to live with lots going on so instead we moved from the rural outskirts down into the centre so that we could walk everywhere and make more use of what it has to offer.

I have also been busy over the last couple of weeks sorting presents for three lockdown birthdays - S is 21 on Friday, K is 13 next Wednesday and Hubby has his birthday next Thursday. Sadly we wont be able to see S for her special birthday due to lockdown and will have to make do with face time to sing happy birthday to her and watch her blow out her candles! K was very disappointed to find that she starts back to school on her birthday - she leaves the house just after 7.30 to catch her school bus - so will wait and open her presents when she gets home. I imagine it will be a fish and chips takeaway for dinner.

I am still busy working through my library books whenever I have a spare minute and once the girls are back at school I shall still make sure I go for a long daily walk as I have a few lockdown pounds to shift before the summer.

Well hopefully it wont be so long between posts again. Take care.