What I did with my time

My internet problems appear to have been resolved - it was difficult to type that with all my fingers crossed! So what have I been doing for six weeks instead of reading all my favourite blogs and writing the occasional post? I am pleased to say that I am way ahead of myself with Christmas makes. I have three large boxes full of jams and chutneys, I made three capes for the grandchildren, a warm woolly jacket for Benjamin, a tiny lacy jumper for the new baby (coming soon!), several scarves and mittens for great nieces and nephews. And I read many more books than usual. Perhaps I should write and thank BT for all the time I saved.

Here are a few of the goodies:

I had planned to make a Little Red Riding Hood cape but when I saw this lovely sparkly Christmas fabric in the store I decided to make  reversible capes. I hope the children will find them very versatile. The two girls will have red and cream and Benjamin will have a more wizardly green.

They are hanging beside my desk and I keep turning to look at them in amazement that I have three finished items and October isn't over yet.

I bought the wool for this sweater from a local farm that rears rare breed sheep. It is beautifully soft and warm. Then, on a much cheaper note, I found these giant balls of Aran wool in the nearby town. I think everyone will be having scarves and gloves for Christmas. (I put the paperback alongside to give an idea of the size of the skeins. Each weighs 400g)

I'm off again tomorrow for a few days but this time it will be on a visit to Adelephant and the children and not because I can't get online. See you soon.

My super fast broadband

Why didn't they leave it alone? It was slow but it was steady. Over the last six weeks or so, we have had hours, days and even 2 full weeks without internet connection. But can we get any information from BT? Ring the helpline and you find yourself in a queue with a recorded message telling you they are unusually busy (not that unusual!) and you should try again later. You could, the pleasant voice tells you, find the help you need by clicking on to their website. I know...... yelling at a recorded message that you haven't got internet access and that's why you are calling does no good but it can't really be resisted. By the fourth day of trying to get through the yelling gets louder and more colourful.

Eventually, during one of the brief periods when the broadband came back to life, I had an email from BT explaining that we have now been upgraded to superfast broadband and that, after a period of ten days when we might experience some loss of connection, the new system would stabilise and our broadband experience would be wonderful.

We had no connection today between 10.00am and 11.00pm. I'm writing this hurriedly before going to sleepor getting cut off again. I was supposed to be writing a post about food for Blog Action Day tomorrow but I may not get it posted. Lots of other people around the world will be writing about food  so I hope you will all be reading what they have to say, even if I can't.

Ho hum!

Holiday at home

 I have had such problems with my internet connection for the past few weeks that I haven't managed to post anything. I have lost several attempts but managed to salvage this. The wonderful weather we had at the end of September is now a distant memory but we really did have a brief Indian summer. We have been promisd that all our broadband cables have been upgraded and that we will be having a much better service from now on - let's see if it works!

I could have called this post "My staycation" but there are certain neologisms that don't make it past my vocabulary filter. I had almost decided that "summer" was about to find a place at the other end of said filter, among the obsolete words and phrases, when the sun began to shine and a heatwave hit us for a whole week!

We had a  guest who was making her first visit to Devon and she was as welcome as the sunshine because she made us see our area through fresh eyes. We realised that we  had become blasé about the beautiful places around us and it was invigorating to explore them with such an enthusiastic companion.

Here are some of the places we went to during the glorious week at the end of September. I have to confess it was a whistle stop tour of the area but we did manage to show Ann most of the North Devon beaches. As well as a brief tour of Exmoor National Park. We covered the coast from Lynmouth to Appledore, with many walks, coffee stops, lunches and afternoon teas on the way.

Click on the map to enlarge.

Tuesday
 We spent the afternoon viewing our nearest  beaches, Saunton Sands and Croyde Bay.

Saunton Sands

Croyde Bay

 With very few holiday makers around, we had quiet roads and even quieter beaches. Bliss!


Wednesday
 We headed to the other side of the bay (called Barnstaple Bay by those of us who live on this side and Bideford Bay by those who live on the other!). We had morning coffee on Fremington Quay
before driving on through Instow to Appledore.

Appledore, looking across to Instow

 Then on to Westward Ho! to sit on the promenade eating seaside chips.

Westward Ho!

 Thursday 
A morning exploring Exmoor, getting covered in mud as  we tramped across a boggy field to climb to a viewing point. It was worth the mess because we had panoramic views of  Exmoor all around us,  Dartmoor in the distance on one side and Bodmin Moor on the other.

Exmoor

Then on to one of the most beautiful places on Exmoor. Watersmeet is the place where the East Lyn River meets Hoar Oak Water in one of the deepest river gorges in Britain. It is part of the South West Coastal Path owned and managed by the National Trust.

Watersmeet

Watersmeet

It was very difficult to tear ourselves away from this lovely, peaceful place but we had more places to show our visitor and off we went to Lynmouth and Lynton and the Valley of the Rocks.

Well, I am going to have to try to finish this account tomorrow. It is taking so long to upload photos that I have run out of time. BT assured us that the new system will stabilise in about 10 days, that was 5 days ago so perhaps .................