A day of hunkering down.

May13th

 Rain and wind, from 2 am onwards MB was buffeted, and we had a very annoying howling sound coming from somewhere. I thought it was the skylight, it does that occasionally if we are facing directly into the wind, Ian got up to check, nop not from there, Ear to windows and even into the bathroom until he tracked down the noise coming from the door, ah...it wasn't closed properly!  Ian was the last in due to changing the cassette after the full light came on. It was quite late in the evening, so I suppose he can be let off.  Anyway it took an age for us to drop off again, the wind seemed to be getting stronger and honestly, the things that go through one's mind when there is nothing to occupy it.  'Will the van be blown over?'  was all I kept thinking about. This airfield is so very open and exposed, and as the gusts were hitting MB side on, felt justified in my thoughts. 

Still the rain lashed MB as we stirred, and opening the blinds, it was to see those poor sheep with no shelter all with their backs into the wind.

  We will be returning early to Langley Mill, probably in a couple of days time, not just because the weather all this week is set to be abysmal, but several things need addressing with MB before we head North for the epic 2-month getaway in June and last night was the final straw when Ian went to get a few tools out from under the bed so he could have another look at the sergeant unit, and the hinge holding the struts in place broke!  So things that need sorting.

• Bed (obviously)
• Solar panel charger for the starter battery not working
  
• Occasional problems with starting MB
• Microwave
• Try to straighten the skirt where Ian hit the mound of earth.
• Fix the fresh water pipe underneath (it got dragged off when Ian went over a boulder and is now held on with tape)

Today has been a wash-out, nothing much to do in this atrocious weather, so a paid site was found with a washing machine. The afternoon was spent doing 'not a lot', we were on electric, so all down to TV catch up. Tomorrow Ian's brother Alan is coming to take us to see his log cabin, It's near to Bude and not far from this site. Having a look at another HH house was mentioned, Pencarrow House and Gardens near to Bodmin. Hope the weather is better than today, 

Two nostalgic episodes in one day

May 12th

 Anyone know anything about this cloud phenomena?

 

Staying up late, watching the Eurovision Song Contest and wishing we hadn't, the skies stayed clear and dark and our hopes of seeing the Aurora were raised. We watched through the window, played cards by torchlight to stop any light pollution and even staying up till well past midnight, but not an inkling of any light show at all. Disappointment all round, but there again, with the moon in its waxing crescent phase. the stars still looked pretty good.

It is so very peaceful here, just the odd bleat of a lamb and the sound of the wind through the skylight. A Cuckoo sounded its song in the trees yonder, and racking my brain trying to think the last time I heard that sound, As a child the cuckoo welcomed the coming of summer and was heard often. Nowadays, we hardly ever hear the distinctive cuckoo, cuckoo sound any more.

This is my photo of a Cuckoo from May 2015

 A Horse box turned up, gosh I went all nostalgic because inside were two beautiful greys. What a fabulous place to exercise the horses and had me reminiscing back to when I owned Hugo, a 16.2hh grey Hanoverian. We went everywhere together, including local shows where a friend rode him in the ring for me, I really wasn't brave enough to jump those high fences!. That horse could jump though and won many a rosette. He was a true gentleman and both the children would ride him. I retired him at 22 years old, and he died aged 32.

 

The day warmed, another good one we hoped. The ponies and foals put in an appearance, lovely to watch this foal frolicking about.

I wanted to go to Dartmeet, remembered years ago being with friends Pat and Keith with their three children and us with our two, the enjoyment of paddling in the cool waters of the River Dart and jumping across the big boulders. So we left late morning for Dartmoor, crossing the county line of Cornwell and into Devon again. 

Took a good hour to get there, hmm, hadn't realised it was quite so far. Anyway, into the National Park we went and, before we reached The Two Bridges Hotel, stopped at a viewing area. An ice cream van was parked up! Ian's eyes lit up, so did mine, even though I'm not an ice cream lover. But because it was real Devonshire clotted cream ice cream....well this really is the only ice cream I would go out of my way for. We stayed for a spot of lunch, went for a longish walk across the moors, took photos of a Skylark and Stonechat, tried taking photos of the views, (was much too misty for a good picture), before continuing on towards Dartmeet.

 

Somewhere parked over there was MB

Dartmoor ponies

Well, I don't remember back in the day of having any difficulty in parking, but today, with only a small car park which was already full, we had no option but to drive past. So, apart from a long nostalgic look, we turned around and headed back to the airbase in Cornwell.

Dartmeet where East Dart and West Dart meet.

 

It was a long drive back and one could say a wasted journey, but the scenery was lovely and well worth driving through, and we did have that yummy ice cream after all!

The weather is set to turn bad. I believe this was to be the final day of high temperatures and sunny conditions. We had hoped to sit outside and enjoy the last of the rays, except a very cold wind was blowing right across the airfield. Unanimous decision to stay in the warm!

And the wildlife today

Big bug that landed on MB

Skylark

Stonechat

A giant indeed

 May11th

 Aurora Borealis, lots of expletives because we missed them last night. A glance outside at 11 pm saw no sign and thinking ourselves to be too far south, went to bed!

Unbeknownst to us our Son in Law Kev, (lives in Derbyshire) WhatsApp'd us at 23.45 with the message 'Get outside people', Of course by then we were well in the land of nod so didn't here the phone bleep at all. The photos he sent this morning had us both green with envy....and they were all taken with his phone camera! 

Kev said that was a plane.

Castle Drogo was where we went to today. Both of us were up early, mainly to leave the lay-by and stop the locals of having any more distress.  One car beeped at 5 am, Ian heard it, I did not!

More of those narrow lanes to drive along before we reached Castle Drogo, appears that all these NT places around here are at in the back of beyond! Anyway, a huge car park with motorhome parking was present and with full sun on the solar panels to top up the batteries, we felt secure in the knowledge of a full charge in the batteries.  The walk from the entrance was down a lovely long sweeping drive, all downhill, so expected a bit of a climb on the way back! The most noticeable thing about this castle is how  modern looking it is. To read the history, click HERE

In short, The castle was commissioned by Julius Drewe, the retail entrepreneur who established ‘The Home and Colonial Stores’ which made him a millionaire by the age of 33.   Set within 600 acres of park and formal garden, Castle Drogo is a modern interpretation of medieval themes. The stark, block-shaped granite exterior with mullioned windows contains comfortable tapestry-hung rooms The outbreak of the First World War and the Great Depression delayed the project somewhat and the castle was not completed until 1930, a year before Drewe passed away. Drewe’s grandson and great-grandson gave the property to the National Trust in 1974. (Excerpt from the link above)

Our decision to do the castle first was a wise move, we beat the hordes and with this being another self-guided house, most of the rooms were free of people. 

jj

Before entering the gardens, a stop at the café for a cup of tea. The place was becoming packed, well it was after midday and lunch was being served. It was just a sausage roll and a packet of crisps each for us. Suitably replenished, we continued to the gardens. Again another two weeks and the colours would have been wonderful but even so, what plants did flower were very impressive and the lawns immaculately mown. With the glorious sunny weather we took our time admiring all aspects of the garden and continuing the walk through the woods, came across a sweet little house. I just had to get a photo of Ian next to it, a giant indeed among as he towered over the house. Ian tried the door, and it was open, With some encouragement from me, he entered and nearly got himself stuck inside. I laughed, two ladies next to me laughed and Ian...well his expression said it all!

The gardens were beautiful, especially the Wisteria. We, too, have Wisteria growing along a pergola at our bungalow but to date, it has only ever had one opened bud to show for it.. We moved in 2004, and it was our tenant that had the pleasure of that one and only flower.

I don't know why we do it to ourselves, but leaving it to the last minute to find somewhere to stop over for the night, is something we really should address. Ian's many apps showed a lovely place about an hour's drive away. It's a disused airfield at Davidstow in Cornwell and wow, if the skies are clear tonight we may just catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights and millions of stars. This time, we won't be going to bed early!

Plans went slightly awry

 May 10th

Just lately, the news has been all about Hepatitis C and the infected blood transfusions in the 70s and 80s. Didn't think any more about it until this morning when I suddenly remembered that Easter 1984, I was trodden on by a horse as it tried to jump a gate. My friend Pat and I were looking forward to going for a ride, and it was my job to get both horses out of the field. A third was left behind, and my closing the gate on him mad him very excitable. Not wanting to be left behind, it tried leaping over the gate. The gate collapsed, I went flying, had to let go of the two horse's lead ropes and that bloody horse's hoof landed right onto my abdomen. I got up straight away, called to my friend Pat to help me get all the horses back, and luckily saw them cantering along the road into an open field. That gate was slammed shut, and it was only then that I suddenly started to feel unwell. No mobile phones in those days, so all Pat could do was to drive the car back to the house, where Ian and Keith were keeping an eye on the children.

So the reason I'm telling you all this is I ended up being rushed to hospital with blues and twos blaring, ending up at The Leicester Royal. Unbeknown by me (I was pretty well out of it by now) I deteriorated rather rapidly and an emergency laparotomy was performed. Turned out the hoof had trapped my bowel on part of my spine and a big tear had appeared. I was in intensive care for quite a while, and it took a very long time before I was back to my usual self. So my worry was, did I get a blood transfusion during the op. Phoning the doctor this morning for access to my records, I was told the hospital where the operation was performed was the only place I could inquire but in those days, there were no digital records so quite likely after 10 years, the records may be gone. All I can do is to phone the Royal and find out. Once I know, I'll put my findings on the blog.

This morning then, best laid plans, well it went a bit wrong for us from the start. Ian had sat for over an hour last night, scrutinising the Historic Homes book, as well as NT and English Heritage. It was all planned, go to Cadhay today, stop overnight at a wild camping spot nearby and tomorrow do Downes House, both were in the direction of Exeter. First, though, we had to leave the farm. The road (or should I call it a dirt track with more potholes than smooth surface?) was quite long and as a corner was rounded, there in front of us was a front loader. It was obvious what he was doing, filling potholes and then smoothing them out. With no passing place, all we could do was wait until he had finished the task, that took quite a while!

 

Following the sat nav directions, we reached the A35. From there, it was about a 40-minute run to Cadhay House. Pulling up to the gates, a no entry, private road, made us wonder if the place was open. On the gate post was a sign. Oh, for heaven’s sake...it didn't open until 2.30 this afternoon! Well, we were not going to hang around for 3 hours, so plan B was put into action. Head for tomorrow's destination, today!

Lunch was had in a lay by on the A30, a phone call was made  to Downes House to see if we could get on the tour. We had a positive response and, on enquiry about motorhome parking, said the owner would have to be asked first. Within 10 minutes the owner of the property, Henry Parker, said he would personally make room. Wow, now that's what I call a result. 

So this place will probably not be a well known to some, but General Sir Redvers Buller, GCB, GCMG, VC,  was famous for winning a VC in the Zulu War of 1879 and relieving Ladysmith from the Boers in 1900. To read the history click HERE

When I saw these beasts arrive near the lovely manicured lawns, well, I did a double take. But worry not, as the lawn and field were divided by a ha-ha.

We arrived by 13.30, had a walk around the house and our guide met us outside the house at 14.15. Only us and one other couple were on the tour so we got to see much more than if there had been a crowd. An hour later and very impressed with the Bullar story and the house which was immaculately presented (which, by the way, is still home to Henry Parker, so no photography allowed) we left for Down St Mary where we hoped to stop overnight. The first place we tried was just a car park but judging by all the trees and those cars underneath covered in droppings, we decided against. The next stop was 5 minutes along a lane where a large lay-by was mentioned in the Park4Night App. Hmm, not ideal, so we tried to book into a CC site, the only one anywhere near this area. It was a no because their fields were still waterlogged, and we would be in danger of getting bogged. So the lay-by it was then.

 Lay bys have been used by us in the past and what we found was the local car drivers beeping at silly times in the morning in annoyance. I can't say I blame them, I expect some vans and motorhomers have left a mess.  Needs must, though, so it will be what it will be.

And wildlife