Settling Into Devon Life...

So here we are in rural North Devon just a stones throw from some stunning beaches nestled in the beautiful countryside surrounded by fields and livestock....we have to pinch ourselves quite often as we truly are living our dream, we made it happen. It's been a very emotional journey in many ways but we feel settled here and as we promised ourselves we are already living life to the full and enjoying every minute of every day.  

We first looked at this cottage about year ago but walked away as it just needed so much work but it just kept tugging on our heart strings and in the end we went for it and it feels just perfect.  Yes it needs a hell of a lot of TLC but once it's done I am sure we will sit back with a very, very large glass of wine and say it was well worth it..... and it's a project to keep our minds occupied.   

One of the first jobs was to make the gateway wider as it was a little tight to say the least even for my van, let alone the motorhome which we needed to get onto the front lawn so we can live in it while the building work is being done.  The large hedge was the first thing to go so armed with my chainsaw and pick axe it was a day of hard graft.....ironic really as while I was swinging the pick axe and digging the roots out I couldn't help thinking that it would have taken just one large scoop with the bucket of my digger and it would have been job done!!

To be honest it wasn't that bad but my arms did feel a bit achy the next day, as did Julie's as she dragged the bush to the bottom of the garden and had a huge bonfire....she's a fire bug when it comes to a good old bonfire.

Much better.....

Julie was like something possessed and cut this hedge back too..

Happy as larry ! 

We are replacing the single gate with 2 smaller gates but making it wider and then I will re-build the stone pillar once the builders have finished getting their lorries in.

Job done...

We noticed that one of the lovely old Devon stone walls was completely covered with ivy and had collapsed next to the lane so we cleared it all off and I re-built it.....

Not bad for my first attempt at dry stone walling....

We've already had a few visitors and had a day trip to Clovelly, it was very quaint with it's little old houses and steep cobbled street, can't believe the residents have to lug their shopping down to their houses on wooden sleighs (there's one propped up against the wall in the left of the picture)....ours would be loaded up with so much wine I am sure it would run away with us and end up in the harbour at the bottom!!

Andy, Paul & I had a few days out surfing and supping while Julie, Twiggy & Claire allegedly had a cuppa tea in Paul & Twiggy's motorhome.....I didn't know that tea came in a glass bottle with a cork!!

The weather has been quite pleasant although a bit nippy at times and it's starting to feel very spring like.  The fields surrounding us are full of little lambs, it's funny watching them leaping about all over the place....mind you they are noisy little buggers and some mornings wake us up.....along with the cackling pheasants that seem to be living in the garden.

View from our bedroom windows

Soooo cute...

Although we have our planning permission we haven't got a builder on board as we are just waiting for final quotes and plans so while we are thrashing out the final details we have been busy clearing out the garden making way for the new patio etc.  The old lady that lived here loved the garden and we have an array of beautiful plants and shrubs, she must have spent thousands so we carefully dug some of them up and have successfully transplanted them to other areas or into pots ready for re-planting at a later date. 

We cut a large conifer tree down that was right next to the house and also some over hanging branches from another large tree, it has made such a difference having a good clear out and looks so much tidier already and allows more sunlight to get to the house.

Another excuse for a bonfire.....

We have almost stripped the house out inside ready for the building work....it's been great to get my hands dirty.  Mind you we'd like to meet the bright spark that invented wallpaper and said that it's OK to just wallpaper over wallpaper, over wallpaper.....oh and then paint it too!!

The house has some lovely old original features but sadly they have been spoilt with modern wallpaper, layers of paint and hard board so we are stripping it back which we think will be amazing.

We went to our storage unit on the hunt for some tools and some summer clothes.....easier said than done searching for what we wanted but we got there in the end!!

So you might all think that we are living a life of leisure but we have a lot of work to do but of course we do have the benefit of downing tools whenever we like and taking a few hours out to enjoy the stunning beaches and the amazing countryside walks we have on our doorstep...

What a great view the cows have of Saunton Sands

We stumbled across this place on one of our walks....Saunton Court

An evening stroll along Saunton....we had the place to ourselves

So that just about sums up our new life so far and like we said we are loving every minute. Julie's mum & dad, Dave & Brenda are our next visitors in a few weeks and we can't wait to see them, hopefully they will see we've made some progress here at the house already even before the major work begins.

J&J

xx

Fun, Rum & The Royals...

Hi All,

Well we are now back in Blightly after a fantastic 7 weeks in Meribel, we had a fantastic time and although the weather was quite unseasonal at times the conditions were absolutely perfect and out of a possible 47 days on the piste (yes I said piste, just in case you thought I meant something else!) we had 38 days out on the slopes so 80% of the time which was fantastic but very exhausting with long distance days at times  but we absolutely love it.  We love two elements on planet earth, the mountains and the sea, they are just amazing and sometimes you just find yourself in awe of nature's beauty.

It's funny as up until now we were out and out snowboarders but now we have our own skis we hate to admit it but we are actually torn between the two but seem to prefer our skis to our snowboards but it depends on the conditions as when it's deep powder then the snowboards are our weapon of choice - it's great to have the best of both worlds but skiing without doubt is far more civilised, we must be showing our age!

Some days the weather was quite brutal with high winds and heavy snow.  Down at resort level it could be fine but the moment you headed up higher it was just crazy.  This particular day day we got off a lift and were nearly blown off our feet it was blowing a gale with horizontal snow and zero visibility so it was quite a challenge but later in the day the snow stopped so we headed below the wind and made the most of the fluffy powder and better visibility .

On the way back down, checkout the frozen beard!

An hour later blessed with sunshine & fluffy powder

Julie after a cartwheel then trying to get up in the deep powder!

One of our fellow seasonnaires who wet first met back in 2014 and makes the annual pilgrimage to Meribel is Ernie who believe it or not is 76 and has the privilege of getting his season lift pass for free.  On his last day he joined us, Pete & Deb,  he is an inspiration to us all.  He brought up the rear of the group all day to make sure we were all present and correct and gave Julie a helping hand every now an then, we had a great day out and he thanked us for making his last day so memorable.  We stopped to take a photo and decided to put one leg up but it was hilarious as me, Pete & Julie were falling all over the place but not Ernie, he just lifted his ski without a second thought!!

Take one.........!

Take two after we got our balance!

It's really nice having a little community and banter at the campsite with us Ernie, Ron & Chris and Pete & Deb.  We have a lot of laughs along the way, not to mention the case of the missing towels, knicker gate with a lady washing her smalls where she shouldn't and Pete hanging our washing up plug in a tree after we left it behind!  This year we met another couple - Phil & Elizabeth who we affectionately nicknamed the Windsors after they told us their names were just like the Queen & Prince Philip!!!  We read in the paper this week that Prince William & Kate were also in Courcheval last week so Phil & Elizabeth weren't the only Royalty in town!!

They are taking some time out from the UK along with their very cute dog Bridget Jones (by the way she's a Lhasa Apso not a Corgi!) and touring Europe in their Winnebago which they have named the "Beast" as it's absolutely huge.  One dull day we all had a trip out in the Beast as they needed to fill up with LPG so we all jumped in and headed off down the mountain, it was a great day out and I am sure it turned a few heads as we pulled up in the car park at Aldi!!

One evening Liz hosted a great dinner party for us in the Beast "Come Wine With Me" and we certainly did.  We had a brilliant night with great food & great company and Bridget had a great time too with Bailey who you may remember is Pete & Deb's dog.  Julie had quite a hangover the next day but fair play to her as she was up and out early and after a few hours in the fresh mountain air managed to shake it off but I am not sure she appreciated the lift that stopped on route that left us suspended mid air and was swinging from side to side & up & down!

The Beast

We had some fabulous days out led by ski nazi Pete and enjoyed more on piste picnics and a beer or two along the way and of course the obligatory hip flask filled with rum....for medicinal purposes only of course!

The week before we left Phil's dad arrived for a week, it was quite bizarre really as like my late Dad his name was Gordon and he is also into vintage motorcycles and lives on the Isle of Man.  On our last day we had a great day out and Gordon who hasn't skied for 20+ years loved every minute and managed to stay in one piece, just, I am sure the medicinal rum did the trick!  It was an amazing day and to finish off the day and our season we all had a lovely meal at Le Martagon.  I was chatting to Gordon during the meal and he said that he'd had a "magic" day which again was quite bizarre as it was one of Dad's favourite sayings.  We all hope to meet up again next season.

Meanwhile Bailey was still enjoying himself with lots of walks and having fun in the mountains.

We arrived home last week as Julie has some hospital appointments back in Kent so we headed to Dave & Brenda's where we are staying for a few days before heading down to Devon.  On Sunday it was Mother's Day so Julie & her sister Karan hatched a bit of a plan to surprise Brenda.  It was a great surprise for Brenda when Karan, Damon, Devon & Lillie  appeared in the kitchen while Brenda was peeling the spuds!! Now she knows why I asked for extra spuds!!  We all had a great day and a lovely roast dinner.   Devon brought his hover board and scooter and Lillie had her scooter complete with pink tassles so like big kids we had some fun.  

Devon showing us how it's done

Julie, Karan & Lillie

Happy Mother's Day Brenda

And to end the day Cousin Sue, Paul, Jodie & Lucy also turned up which was another surprise for Brenda

Our planning permission and building regulations have all now been approved so we will be heading down to Devon and hope to get cracking on the house very soon so watch this space.

Over & out for now.

J&J

xx