FEBRUARY 27th 2018
Back in 2012 we had a bit of a windfall - one of the winning numbers for the London Olympics Lottery Raffle Prize turned out to be
our number. The outcome was that we finally had a chance to buy our own property and to get out of Walthamstow, N.E. London, in exchange for a prospective new home in Devon.
Problem: Finding said home.
Solution: Apply to go on
Escape to the Country and let someone else do the leg-work!
The result was a couple of days with a BBC TV film crew in North Devon, and we bought the first house they showed us.
This one, in fact.
We moved in on the day it snowed heavily on 18th January 2013, and absolutely love it here.
Quite a few things have changed in the years between. Kathy married Adam, for instance, and we built an extension apartment for them.
We moved in with two cats, a dog and two horses. We now still have two cats (although Sybil has gone semi-feral) ...
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Our old boy Rum
sadly left us in March 2013 |
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| Mab |
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| Sybil |
...
two dogs
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| Baz |
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| Eddie |
hens, ducks and geese (and Ron still has his racing pigeons)
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| Christmas Goose |
a donkey called Wonky Donk and
four Exmoor ponies
three big show jumpers
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| Lexie (Shinglehall Casino) |
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| Wexford Pippa |
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| Saffie - La Rafaelle |
with one more one the way, Saffie is in foal, due to be born in late March, early April
With all this additional excitement through the years, I invited the BBC TV
Escape to the Country team back for their spin-off series
I Escaped to the Country.
So on the 27th February 2018 we played host to the lovely Alistair Appleton and crew for the day.
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| Baz wasn't very impressed |
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| Although he adored Alistair |
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Mr Mischief, of course,
wanted to know if anything was edible... |
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| Donkey, however did not want to join in |
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| ... until Alistair walked away |
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I think he was scared because the boom-microphone
looked a bit like donkey fur |
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| Phew, it's hard work this being on TV lark! |
No idea, yet, when the show will be broadcast ... but watch this space (or better still, sign up for my
newsletter HERE and you'll get the date as soon as I know!)
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Oh, what fun! I've just read back the few posts I've missed, and come to this! How lovely. My husband has often said that fulfilling a dream the way your family did is the best possible way of spending such a windfall.
ReplyDeleteYour husband is absolutely right! So many people assumed we would buy a new posh car, go on an expensive holiday... whatever for? WE don't want a big posh car, and we are on holiday 24/7 here in Devon - scenery wise!
DeleteThanks for dropping by!
I am a librarian in the USA and watch Escape to the Country and the later series when I can get them.what a wonderful home!
ReplyDeleteThank you! You might like my cozy mystery series (A Mirror Murder etc) based on my years as a library assistant back in the 1970s!
Delete