The Life and Times of this Old Git

Name:
Location: Teignmouth, Devon, United Kingdom

I'm married with two grown up children and four grandchildren, My wife of 47 years is Sue and we are the same age. My two children are Pamela (blogging occasionly under Pam-bigbustybikerbaby.blogspot.com and Roy,who was recently Paralysed from the waist down due to an Absys on his Spine. My 4 grandchildren are (oldest first) Gavin, Hayley, Thomas,and Zoe. Sue and I are both retired and we're disabled too, her with a badly Arthritic back and spine, me with lung (COPD) and Heart problems.I have always loved Fishing (all sorts) Sue started fishing with me about 8 years ago, now she really enjoys it too. We both love m'cycles and m'cycling, Sue owns and rides her own bike which is a Custom 1981 250 Honda.I own a 1979 Honda CX500. We are both members of this motorcycle club ( view or join our club on http://www.cx-gl.org.uk/) or see my blog post Dec 2007 blog "Getting old, never", of course we're badly resticted now due to our illness, only riding in really good weather.Just over three years ago we lost our best friend and Baby Mojo the border Collie, Gone but never forgotten. Please feel free to use any of our photo's but do let me know you have used them, thank you.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

UP IN THE VALLEY.

Today before i start this blog i would like to thank Sue (Vintage to Victorian) for the award she gave me, also to my patient readers who sometimes have to wait 2 weeks or more in between these blogs.My next trip home is going to be around the 12 or 13 of August so i will definately post then.
Now to todays blog, Up in the valley, last week we returned for a walk in the valley of the rocks, we did this last year but not right to the top, so this is what we set out to do.The Valley is in a beautiful part of N Devon, its part of Exmoor just outside of Lynton and is clearly signposted from the village centre. The walk we decided on was the one pictured below. In this picture it doesn't look half as steep as it really is. This shows the road down to where we parked the car, then we followed the zig zag path that starts at the right of the picture, bottom left of the road. This then goes on a real up hill jaunt, pictured below, eventually we reached the peak in the centre of the picture.
Click on any photo to enlarge it.
At the end of this blog I have just managed to add a short (not good quality) video,
This picture shows the the view from around half way up, notice the Cricket ground, where on our return the village team were playing.
This picture shows the view from just a little higher up, this valley really is a beautiful place.
Near the summit now and a welcome seat for Sue, note how small the cars are from up here, it gives you an idea of height.
Below I walked out on this little outcrop and took the next picture from there.
This is the picture just mentioned. You are very near the top now, we dropped a clanger here, I decided I wanted to go up to the very top 25 or 30 feet higher, so we scrambled up a little goat track to the top, only to find that there was a longer but much easier path up the other side (typical).
So here we are ( below) at the very top, was it worth it? what do you think?. While on the top we looked down the other side and saw a path leading away so we took this, after a few hundred yards we saw a signpost for Lynton it said three quarters of a mile. After a little deliberation we thought what the hell. go for it, so we did. It was a lovely walk past the remains of a stone age fort and also a burnt down 1920s mansion, ending in Lynton town. A quick cuppa then the return walk along the beautiful cliff edge coastal path, a really good but tiring three hour round trip.
Here in the valley are quite a lot of wild Goats, a lot of which are really tame and almost pose for the camera, I had a couple of photo's but they seem to have just dissapeared. To round off if your in North Devon this summer "The Valley of the Rocks" is a must place to visit.
Joke of the Day.

Three old Ladies.

Three old ladies were sitting side by side in their retirement home, reminiscing. The first lady recalled shopping at the green grocers and demonstrated with her hands, the length and thickness of a cucumber she could buy for a penny.

The second old lady nodded, adding that onions used to be much bigger and cheaper also, and demonstrated the size of two big onions she could buy for a penny a piece.

The third old lady remarked, "I can't hear a word you're saying, but I remember the guy you're talking about."
Below a short video taken from the very top of the valley.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

WATERSMEET REVISITED.

Last week our friends John and Pat from the midlands came back to stay at Mill park.During their last visit the weather was very poor so they were unable to visit lots of the places they had wanted to. The weather was fair for a couple of days during the week they stayed so Sue and I decided to do a couple of visits with them.The first place we decided to go to was "Watersmeet" on Exmoor, Sue and I have already done the walk here once, so we thought we would try the 2 mile walk along the river Lyn to Lynmouth. We have wanted to do this walk for a couple of years but had been concerned with my health about the distance involved.Two weeks ago I reached a loss of weight of 5 stones (7o lbs or 30+ kilos), with that and my Diabetes being under control also my breathing being fair we thought we would give it a go. Here I must also admit that I worked out that if i took my car to the bottom and dropped it there, then got John to pick me up in his car and take me to the start point of the walk it would be so much easier, we didn't have then to retrace our steps along the same path, or walk the nearly three miles back up the steep road (Cheat).
So here we are at (below) Watersmeet house, a National Trust managed shop and Tea room. This was originally built as a fishing/hunting lodge.We had walked down the path from the car park and decided to start the walk on the right bank looking down river which we did.
Below just a few hundred yards down the natural Gorge, this by the way is the deepest natural Gorge in Britain. Just a short while later we came to the first bridge and crossed to the opposite bank.
I should remember the name of these bridges (below) but I'm afraid I don't.
Below about half way now and parts of this walk are really stunning.
This was quite a suprise, set into the bank this old wooden plaque and to the right an old earthenware jar.Apparently here was the site of the Lynrock mineral water factory which although disused was completely destroyed in the tragic floods of 1952. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you can just about read it, and the writing on the jar (Ginger Beer).
Below another pretty view of the river, notice the path on the right.
Below, now we are getting close to Lynmouth and the end of the walk, which we all really enjoyed.
Below, the outskirts and the walk into the town and a welcome cuppa before we take the car back up.

That was the first of several walks we did with John and Pat, i'm sure one or two more will end up as blogs.
Joke of the day.
Last Name.
The manager of a large office noticed a new guy one day and told him to come into his office. "What's your name?" the manager asked.
"John," the new guy replied.
The manager scowled, "Look, I don't know what kind of a namby-pamby place you worked at before, but I don't call anyone by their first name. It breeds familiarity and that leads to a breakdown in authority. I refer to my employees by their last name only - Smith, Jones, Baker - that's all. I am to be referred to only as Mr. Robertson. Now that we got that straight, what is your last name?"
The new guy sighed and said, "Darling. My name is John Darling."
"Okay, John, the next thing I want to tell you is..."

Thursday, July 10, 2008

A RIGHT OLD MESS.

This blog is all about the state of our old house at the moment.The house itself was built around 1898 to 1903, 1898 was the time that the first house of our whole two Terraced rows (60 houses) was started and the last one completed in 1903.During the second war the middle of the terrace received direct bomb hits (trying to knock out the nearby rail line to Plymouth), these had to be rebuilt and quite a few others repaired.
During the last few years we have had for one reason or another, been having quite a problem with Damp. The local Council along with a couple of other bodies check out people with health problems and the very old or infirm people (Sue says I fit both !!, bloody cheek).They agreed to Double glaze my Lounge window and do Roof and wall insulation too. Sue and I decided that during this upheaval that they had better address the damp problem too.The builders asked us if we could move out for a couple of weeks during this work, this we have done.
Below,This is the Toilet/ utility room, this was originally two external area's, one a coal shed the other a toilet, long before we moved in the walls between each and the external wall joining them to the house was removed, making them a useful extension of the house. The problem was they are single brick, not cavity walled, so hence Damp.
Another picture of the Utility room, with all the plaster removed ready for renovation.
Below, the dining room where damp had spread to the bottom of the internal wall.
This picture is of the dining room, the whole external wall had to be stripped of plaster, sealed and replastered.Here they have stripped and damp proofed ready for replastering.
Below, The bottom of the lounge window, which is being replastered and replaced with a double glazed unit.
Below is a picture taken in the Lounge alongside the chimney breast, the crack here has been getting wider over the past few years.

We took these pictures a fortnight ago, the work is now nearly complete, the foreman says 4-5 more days ,then we have to start the job of decorating and I really hate and loathe that job.
Anybody fancy a free holiday in Devon for a few days Decorating (I wish).
Joke of the day.
Today I decided to do something a bit different, so please view this film clip and see what you think, personally I think you would have to be mad to film or even walk it, but WHO the bloody hell BUILT it!!!!.Sorry about being in a foreign language.

http://www.skoften.net/index/item/doodswens_3