CREAM TEA!

Nothing can stop us having a cream tea on our weekend walk not even the pouring rain...well maybe next time it will, cream in the rain isn't the best and the rain drops were splashing our tea out of the cup!! But we had it, looked like a couple of nutters but nothing new there eh

FINALLY A CAMERA

I have been waiting for a VERY long time, years in fact to get a decent camera and we finally got it this week its an Olympus EM5, I am trying to get the time to read the manual before I get some time to use it, the idea being that I understand it enough to tae shots of our work???!!! OMG it is so complicated but I am sure I will get the hang of it. I love it, just got to figure it out now! Oh and Steve bought me a mini gorilla stand for it, its a tripod with really bendy legs, it can hang or go anywhere....Need a case now!

SUMMERHOUSE

We had a brief interlude and had some time to put some shelves in the summerhouse etc, it looks really cute in there now, Pete looks the part in his rocking chair with tool box and lucky at his feet, he just needs a drink now!....It will be so great when we get to use this, It is a little quieter now but we are still working long hours, but seemingly fitting in some bits of time, although we do have to go extra fast the other times!

PUPPIES!

Ah, that had you worried didnt it...not ours, but Abby who clips the dogs her Shitzu , poppy had puppies last week, they look a little like guinea pigs right now, but really cute, I tried to take a picture but Poppy stuck her tongue out! two black and white one brown and one tri coloured, I have been told I DO NOT WANT ONE!

BEEN BUSY

After software issues after software issues, and about 130 hours of sorting it, life has been hectic! The office has been down and my head has been overloaded, but we are getting there now just very behind....We have a really busy week this week, with the bathroom and kitchen being taken out of Buttercup cottage, the people left at 9am and I had it all out by 12! mum and dad popped over for what they thought a brief visit, but I had them roped in on dropping steve and shadow while I go others sorted.....sorry!!, so waiting on a plumber and electrician to disconnect me and then I can paint where the new kitchen is going as it is arriving early just to make sure I am on my toes, its also Vat return time, and the wardrobes that we have been waiting for are being installed on the top floor today and tomorrow, which means I have to clear both those rooms to get the wood in to build them. The dogs have had their haircuts this week oh and to just make sure it is super busy, Laura popped home from uni for a couple of days as we needed to get a full length black dress for her concert to perform her flute in, I worked all sunday so I could take monday morning off, zoomed to truro and trawled the shops, by that I mean we ran in each one and asked if they did full length black dresses and waited for the reply and quickly moved on. Finally found the only one in the town in a very expensive shop (would be wouldnt it!) but couldnt afford not to get it as they are few and far between. It looked great but was a little long, so I rang a dress maker from the shop and flew back to her place to get the dress fitted and made her feel sorry for us that we really needed it NOW...she really kindly agreed to do it that night for laura to take back the next day, oh we picked up a pair of high shoes on the way through too,..I missed my calling in life, I should have been a helicopter...oh no the kids think I am one....result!

MONDAYS!

My day was as calm and collected as ever, I thought I would just share it with you, as it will probably be much like yours I guess, if its not can you let me know where I am going wrong! It started at 6am with a rude wake up call from my alarm, which has the most hideous ring tone, which is only surpassed by the patter of tiny feet, 16 of them to be precise, two cats and two mice, running around our house like lunatics, so barely awake, we set about rescuing the mice and falling back into bed with a much needed cuppa, as I am supposed to get up gently and calmly in the morning to protect the sugar rush and dizziness, so got that right...NOT...so after having a quick cuppa we got up properly at 6.40am to feed the animals, packed lunch for Steve and Pete, washing in, drying out, cats fed, emails De brief and made sure server is ok for days work, then to breakfast at 7.15am...yeah we can do all that in 35 mins, you have to be on your toes but it can be done!... sat down to breakfast and Geoff our 72 year old friend/helper that comes for a few hours a week to help me with the garden arrives at 7.40am in time for his briefing and a cuppa before he starts. Pete changed and collect all the drawings for a meeting in Saunton left at 8am. I then started with Geoff, sorted the dogs out, just about to go through the days work with tim in the office and our guests reported brown water in the tap.... so panic starts, rang south west water who were about as helpful as a chocolate teapot and told me to run the tap until it cleared...bearing in mind we are on a water meter and she said it could take hours and ring back after a couple of hours if not cleared and promptly asked if there was anything else she could help me with...at which point I swallowed the unkind words my brain was yelling at me to say and smiled sweetly.....cough cough... Then after we saw the tap was running clear the water was ok to make the little baby staying with us his much deserved bottles....

I then went through the work with Tim, whilst sorting Steve out for a late start at college as he was doing a few jobs for me before hand, then our guests reported a broken loo seat, so ran from house to Travis to get another one, ringing Andy on the way to see if he could change it for me when he got here as Pete is away today....forgot to get train ticket so went back out to get the train ticket for college, got back, got Andy to sort loo seat, made Geoff a cuppa, rendezvous with Tim to update on work...and forgot to get Geoff's money so back out in truck to bank to get money, meanwhile Steve ran over in jobs and needed a lift to the station,,, got back straight out again to the station...emailed a urgent list for a job to client, forgot dog food.....ahhh back to baileys to get dog and cat food and a chicken for tea tonight, forgetting that we actually had a meeting tonight and couldn't cook so had to go out again for pasties to leave for steve for tea....its now 1pm,,,, you with me so far... so went through more drawings with Tim before Pete got back to try to get ahead of work, as I was clearly of no use in the office today!!!!....Then just completed that was thinking of lunch but NO...mum rang and said uncle Chris and Shamus (a cousin from new zealand) that I have never met was about to turn up in 20 ins..... I was having a nightmare, my hair looked like it was scared of my head, I was covered in muck, my house hadn't been cleaned and prepared for such a guest and he was coming in 20 mins, so rushed up to the house, chucked everything lying about in drawers and holes, I don't think i will be finding them anytime soon,.... they arrived a little early, I had to present myself in a calm and collected way... I did look down and had odd flip flops on, so careful and discretely slipped them off, so not to appear to crazy woman.... had a nice chat and look around at my calm life.... they left at 3 as I had a meeting to get to..... I was about to shower when the client turned up at the office, I was still in a mess, and Andy was fixing the office floor so I had to bring them up to the house, by which time Pete was here to take over... By this time both my flip flops had disappeared so I was shoe less walking over the gravel, they said oohh doesnt that hurt, and with my best voice said oh no its ok I am used to it, (whilst bearing and gritting my teeth as the points of the gravel stuck well into my feet!!). They left at 4.40 and we still had 1140 pages of a document to read before 6pm meeting...NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.... quickly changed outer clothes and stuck hair to head in a bid to look at least sort of normal.. Steve rang, he needed collecting from the station and feeding before the meeting...Just about to go out of the door when our guests, (who are really lovely ) said they love it here and can they book for next year, which we would love....so whilst trying to appear all calm, it got the better of me and I had to admit, I was under a little pressure, I had lost my phone and potentially my marbles to day and really needed to get Steve from the station and feed him before the meeting which we hadn't prepared for, so slipped on my two unmatching shoes and left for the station and I will see them tomorrow when my life has regained some calmness???!!... Got Steve, found phone, text back Laura, fed Pete and Steve and jumped in car to meeting, which was filled with words, that made my brain scramble. I felt like I was in a weird kind of place where all around me were talking in riddles, so a quick talk to myself regained composure,, and I think we just about pulled it off...I thought I would just update you before I have a much needed bath... How was your day???

DINNER!

As you are all aware we have neighbours...so we thought we had better invite them for a bite to eat to say welcome....Well last night was the night... we cleaned the cottages walked the dogs and then I prepared the meal, while Pete did the delectable poo collection!!!... Then just as the rush of the day was about to slow down and we could have a cuppa! Pete decided to fix the loo, bearing in mind our guests were arriving in an hour!... So he set about fixing the downstairs cloak loo, and dropped the fixings down the concealed hole in the loo!!!! what a nightmare, no way back now, we frantically searched the garage for more fixings but we had to give up, ...so quickly washed our hands etc, no time for a shower or anything, what a fiasco!.. Then as we appeared as cool and calm as we could to our new neighbours, a mouse rudely interrupted proceedings, we tried to catch it but the mouse leaped over my hand and across our guests feet, so as Pete and I are diving around the floor trying to catch the mouse with the tea towel, our new neighbours must have thought what on earth have they let them selves in for... but its always like this it is always a nightmare here, either cats or  Pete , one of then always causing some grief!

RELAXED, DOESNT SUIT PETE!!

I think Pete has relaxed a little too much and his muscles seem to have forgotten what they are for already...only one day!, so I think its back to work like usual for him, he has a day off and then when we get home he came tomy rescue and threw a spider out for me and pulled his chest muscle!!!....dont ask... it was the funniest thing ever... he couldnt laugh as it hurt, but I couldnt stop....sorry Pete... Hes ok again now!

DAY OFF!

Very very rarely do we have any time off, but this week Steve is away with the Army, doing all sorts of things, night exercises on rations, fitness assessments, tests, etc etc, he will be shattered when he gets home. SO we thought it would be nice to have a day or two off, we work in the morning, then again later at night but we have the middle bit of the day off. We took the dogs in the truck to Mawgan Porth, Constantine, Treyarnon amongst others and had lunch at Watergate bay cafe on the beach, calamari and gurnard! We were thinking of popping in to see Pete's mum but unfortunately our day off was nearly thwarted once again as Pete has a really bad cold... so we though she wouldn't thank us, if we took it over to her! Gem is a real beach babe and gets so excited in the sand, Lucky moves so quick its hard to catch her on camera, and Shadow doesn't know if its Xmas or Easter!! All the dogs were smiling and Pete, even with his cold! Sorry about the hundreds of pictures but couldn't select them!.... The waves were great and now Pete wants a half day lesson in surfing , he might take it up, I said I would be happy to use my new camera (which was a hint!) to photograph the surf and make sausage fry ups on the beach, or I would join him in a dry suit, but cold isn't my strong point as I have really bad circulation, and would probably shrivel up!!!

NEW PADDOCK FOR THE PONIES

We are finally in our own fields, it didn't take long really, but anything more than 5mins or yesterday seems like forever to me!! Patience of a saint I have!, but we are glad to not be imposing on our new neighbours. We have our field now separated into winter and summer small paddocks so hopefully storm wont get poorly, We spent a weekend putting up the fence and gates and water system, looks really cute now, although only having a very small amount of land now we are quite protective over it and not happy when the badger tries to move in!! At least now our guests can relax and sit outside with a chilled glass of wine and watch the ponies and goats... We love the peace here, its a great place to be..

THANKYOU ...

Thankyou Keith and Myrna and Jim and Caroline for our very kind gifts that you gave us, The heart from Caroline and Jim and the infinity candle form Keith and Myrna, we love having you all stay with us, it wouldnt be the same without you, see you soon and thank you..  XXX Obviously we have them up ...found a home straight away and lit the candle...You wouldnt expect any other would you!!

THEY RELAX.. WE WORK!

I have never known cats to get so relaxed as ours, they have gone out even less since we moved into the mill, just lounge about everywhere and shout occasionally for food... What a great life! I think I surprised Scrappy , she wasnt impressed that the flash awoke her from her fish dangling sofa with servants!

ACE IDEA!

Its probably old hat to most of you, but I saw this neat idea for a picnic lunch in a magazine, so I took a picture of it to show Pete how it should look when I attempt it and its nothing like this!!! Its a loaf of bread.. a round one with the middle dug out a bit and filled with goodies ..then the lid put on again so when you cut It for your picnic it comes out like this....allegedly!!!

DOUBLE !

A double yolk we don't get many of these, I am not sure I have had one here??I found it as I was separating the yolks from the whites to make a custard  and steam pudding, never made one before and the fact that the  tea towel was tied around the pudding and being boiled was  a little disconcerting!!! I was so excited to find the yolk that the next egg I separated I put the wrong bit in the wrong side, so I had to start again anyhow!!!! Any way better go and see how its doing!

SHADOW HAS BEEN WATCHING TOP DOG MODEL!!!

Shadow has been practising her poses ever since she saw Top Dog Model with Stacey Solomon, obviously we dont watch it but you know what these dogs are like, minds of there own... ha ha

Well Shadow has got it down to a fine art at present, even though she has her tail in my cake in one shot and her backside in my strawberry plants in the other, oh and squashing all my flowers in the other, but I guess you cant get it all right eh Shads!

A BIT OF A WEEK

Last week was one of those weeks, I think my phone went at least every half minute and my plans changed around the same kind of time frame!... Steve was supposed to be going Dartmoor training on Friday until Sunday and we had planned to have a much needed 5 minutes where we actually saw each other, and not just fleeting glances or the back of one of us as we walk the dogs with leads out stretched or in my case scrapping Shadow off the floor as she thinks its play time..... So all was planned (this is the second time now!) what could go wrong.....nothing eh... After a hectic Monday of hospital appointments and public meetings and then Tuesday was thwarted by other last minute appointments... Steve went to watch Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night, he had a letter which arrived that day and I was itching to see what was in it, but I was good  and waited...(unlike my mum when she needs to see something..the woman that taught me to steam envelopes from an early age!!). Steve was catching a particular train and Pete left to get him form the station about 10.30, then Steve rang and said the train windscreen was broken so it had been held up, could only happen to us...., so I jumped in the truck, dressing gown flapping in the wind as I sped to the station to let him know... (good job Keith, Myrna, Caroline and Jim were here this week any one else would have thought us nuts.. at least they know we are!! )to tell Pete as he hasn't got the hang of a mobile yet, drives me nuts...he uses mine ok to text and phone, but cant quite bring himself to take custody of one!!! ... So long story short, Steve got home, opened the envelope and there before us was a letter which wasn't optional that Steve would be leaving Monday Morning next to spend a week with the army for fitness tests/interviews/24 hour exercise/ etc etc as part of his Army selection, which nowadays very very extensive, they are extremely picky now.......OMG this was a bit of a shock and it was in Oxford and North Yorkshire, he had a train to catch 7.28am on Monday morning ... I didn't sleep, I had kit lists running around my brain, packing schedules constant OMG that was quick....so with that thought and conscious I had to get Steve to bed to get up 6am for college Wednesday I didn't go through my list with him then..... So no sleep got up Wednesday got Steve to the college train, and settled down to draw up lists and work, which is what i need to be doing!.. Then the army ring and say can I nip down to collect the train tickets, which is redruth, so hardly a nip!!!...so plans change again, so I thought I would tie it in with a meeting and work later.... Then mum rang she had fallen in the isles of scilly on holiday and hurt her ribs so was trying to get a early flight, so I offered to collect her at some point from the airport to get her home and make sure she had heat and food until the morning... So on the way to the army I saw Steve at the bus stop after college and shouted across the main dual carriage way "does he want a lift?" I whizzed over to get him, he thought I was taking him straight home, but I had to take him to get the tickets in redruth... are you with me so far???? Then I get to redruth having already done my meeting, get the tickets and then mum rings and says her flight is landing at 3....Steve had homework to do so really needed to get back, so I stepped on it back to truro, just managed to get him on the train home 1.5mins to spare!Then whizzed to penzance shopping on the way to get a nice meal fro them when they get home from their holiday... got mum, got her back and settled then home to do the list which I haven't started!.. And so the week went on.... so up shot is we didn't get a nice five minutes after all... but maybe when Steves up with the army, maybe that is our moment!! I missed out the bit of sorting the tree fellers and clients etc etc but it really is too much to recount...I guess its all in a normal day for us here, as Justin next door asked..."is it always like this for you?" to which my reply is simply YES!