13th March

Bit miffed that our Down The Hill Neighbours must have had a delivery of something in a huge lorry a few days ago because the corner of our drive, which adjoins the lane, has been messed up.

Not that I mind - this is the country and in narrow lanes the banks occasionally get squashed, but some of the primroses got damaged and there are now scrape-marks all along the bank on both sides.

OK, it happens, but I'm gruntled (i.e. not exactly dis-gruntled) because I strongly got the feeling, when first we moved in, that the neighbours were not too happy about our horse-box going up and down the lane - because of the damage it might cause.
Hmm, Ron is a very good driver, unlike whoever this guy was!

You can see here how close even more plants came to being squashed flat
I've put the stones where the greatest damage was made
to alert future drivers to keep clear.



March 9th

Woken up by a pheasant in the garden this morning. He's a nice fat one.... make a lovely casserole.... :-)

Don't think I mentioned the fun and games of a couple weekends ago.
In the evening the lights were flickering a little, but I didn't think a lot of it. Next morning I went into my study and there was a peculiar smell of scorching plastic and a fizzing noise coming from the electric meter/fuse box.....

Not Good!

I shouted for Ron, grabbed the stool so I could reach the electrics, and turned everything off.
Smell and fizzing was definitely coming from the electric wiring!

Thank goodness the previous owners had written down a list of emergency numbers: I called the electric company who said they would be with us in a couple of hours. Which surprised me as, being a Sunday I thought we would be without electric until Monday at least.

What was annoying, figuring that as this is an old house we didn't want the surprise (or cost) of having to re-wire soon after moving in, I paid to have an electrician check the wiring. He gave it all a thumbs up. So why was the wiring fizzing and obviously scorching something - on the verge of causing a fire?
I was, to say the least, disgruntled.

The emergency electricians arrived after about an hour and found the problem straight away.
The wiring inside the meter hadn't been connected properly and had therefore worked loose (probably because of all the thumping of removal men shifting furniture up and down the stairs).
And of course, as this fault was inside the inaccessible sealed meter the electrician I'd paid to check the wiring would not have been able to access this.

It does make me wonder what would have happened had I not come into my study that morning - on the other hand, I don't want to wonder, because the answer is something along the line of a serious fire!

So our Guardian House Angel was looking after us that morning.
Thank you Ma'am or Sir.








6th March

Had a man here to advise us on putting in a menage (fenced, surfaced area for schooling horses) Looks like the top of Bottom Field will be the best place to site it - there'll be a lot of digging out to make a flat area though.
Still, it will add value to the property and give Kathy somewhere safe to exercise the horses
Lexie is STILL frightened of the sheep - although I have a suspicion she is using it as an excuse now.
The farrier is due tomorrow - really nice guy. Very good farrier (for those who don't know - a farrier is a horseshoe fitter. Like a blacksmith, but only shoes horses!)

I have made a personal promise to myself. I must start losing some weight, and here in Devon I have no excuse not to exercise. The steep hill in the lane should be enough to shed lbs in days! *laugh*

Anyway, my promise is to walk up the lane every day - and I mean walk, not amble! Yesterday I got as far as the gate in Middle Field (half way up the hill) but was puffing like a steam engine. Today I reached the same spot without having to slow down to get my breath. I'll do this every day until I can reach that point without needing oxygen :-) then repeat the process by going a little further.

You never know, by the end of the year I might be able to walk the entire 1 mile distance into the village!

We are also going to join High Bullen Country Club http://www.highbullen.co.uk/ so I can take advantage of their swimming pool and do my rather good impression of a whale!

I also went down to the bottom of Bottom Field to pick a few more of the daffodils. Yet another disagreement with another set of brambles (see yesterday's diary entry) The wretched things were strangling the daffs!

I will be taking more photos soon - but I managed to drop my camera the other day (onto the tiled kitchen floor - of course!) It promptly broke. So I have a new camera. Just have to work out how to use it.

Why do they have to make simple things like a simple idiot-proof camera so bl**dy difficult to use!





5th March

Ron and I have been on Horse Duty over the weekend as Kathy went up to London to help her Other Half pack and move (he is now safely ensconced in his new home - their own 'wing' of the house)
Welcome to 'Windfall Farm' Adam!

I found it exhausting mucking out three horses for three days - even the Exmoor pony seems to produce a lot of poo overnight!

Yesterday (Monday) I went to fill their water buckets in the field - and had a bit of a tussle with the bramble bushes.

Rather than relate the sorry tale here I have posted it on my main blog - Tuesday Talk.

Click HERE to read.


On Owls...

28th  February
Heard the tawny owls again - two of them calling "t...wit" - "t..woo" to each other across our orchard. Kathy and I went out with the torch and found one of them in the tree behind the garage.



Annoyingly, because of my eyes being so frustratingly poor, I didn't see him - he flew off before we could get close enough.
Still, it is nice to know they are there.

We went on up the garden to feed the horses and say goodnight - and heard the distinctive "eek" call of the Barn Owl - leaning on the gate to the field we hoped to see it, but no luck, it seemed likely that it was hunting on the far side of our woods. 




Again, nice to know it is there though!


Hmm, must take a photo of the gate without the snow!

see also an update of 1st October - Wise Old Birds