An Afternoon in Town.

This is the entrance to Barnstaple Pannier Market. Today it was antiques day and the market is decked out with flags because it is the first day of The Fair. (I'll give The Fair its own post tomorrow). Friday is 'market day' with fresh produce being sold and there are farmers selling their own produce as well as plant stalls and bigger fruit and veg stalls. Saturdays is more of a general market and on other days there are crafts and I can't remember the rest. There used to be a proper cattle market on Fridays but that declined and shut before the F&M hit the area.

Looking down the High Street.

I was in town today after a visit to the dentist. I don't have a lot of confidence in that practice but I have no choice unless I want to go back to paying for private treatment. Today's visit was to tidy up a filling that he had repaired for me recently. The day had started badly with panic stations as Romas was not quite ready to go up to meet the 8.05 bus. 'It was only half past seven a minute ago'. he wailed as the tv announced it was 8.00. We threw everything in the car and discovered it had a flat battery. So we ran, (sort of) , 1/2 mile up the hill Romas carrying the heavy bags with the cymbal stands and foot pedal while I followed at a more sedate pace with the snare drum and cymbals. Luckily the bus was still there. Then I had a pleasant stroll back down the hill. It was all very peaceful with just the sound of the birds, a dog along in the valley and distant tractors cutting silage. Last year I had dreadful trouble with the landrover's batteries . There was always a battery on standby but they are massive things the size and weight of a concrete block and have to be lifted up into the passenger seat so it wasn't an easy job. I charged up a spare car battery we have only to find it was too big, the micra is such a tiny car. Gave the micra's battery 45 mins charge and luckily that was enough to get it going. Being a worrier I went straight to the parts shop and bought myself a new battery so of course the other one has continued to work perfectly. It may be a different story in the damp of the morning but it won't take long to put in the new one and I think I might 'encourage' Romas to get up a little earlier so we don't have all this stress. Lights and loud music at 6.00 perhaps?

Inside the Pannier Market.


For most of the year the doors on the sides are open.

This shop in the market makes the best fudge EVER. You see it boiling there in a big copper saucepan and the latest batch is usually cooling off on a big marble slab. They make different varieties but the nicest is the vanilla, or the maple and walnut, or the coffee or.... .

Out in the High Street is The Three Tuns Pub, one of many in Barnstaple. It dates back to the early 1400s and is the oldest pub in the oldest borough in England. Inside are original oak beams and floor, probably from the Armada. Records show it was sold in 1408 for £10. It was known as a smugglers' haunt and is famous for the fact that King Charles stayed there in the Civil War. Now look closely at the plaque on the wall, it's no longer a pub but a pizzeria!

I had a good old wander round in town but that will do me for quite a while. At least there weren't too many signs of Christmas. I hate it when Christmas decorations appear almost as soon as the summer holidays finish. At least wait until after Bonfire Night.

Back home I spotted this brightly coloured Great Tit on the bird feeder.

Birthday joined me for some bird watching.

(Don't look at the walls. They're horrible and we didn't do them).

Actually Birthday wasn't interested in the birds. He was just waiting for me to sit down so he could jump on my lap. He is a very cuddly cat especially when he has been away for a few weeks.

Blogging Encourages Housework!

It's true! Last week I kept discovering cats in the Rayburn warmer oven when I was drying out the work gloves and I took some cute pictures. But when I looked closely at the pictures no way was I going to publish them. I may have been successful in getting my sons to cook but cleaning up their spills obviously doesn't occur to them. So on one of those many rainy days I set to with sponges and soap. The Rayburn is awful to clean because it is always hot, every spill bakes on and the enamel surfaces will scratch if you are too vigorous with your cleaning. I can see I've missed some spots but it was much worse. Then I had to make sure the floor and mat were hoovered as well and of course the hoover just kept on going until most of the downstairs was done. ( Not being at work all day also helps with the housework).

Squeeky has spent most of the day 'cooking' herself in the warmer.

Going to work this morning it was grey and wet.

Coming home coincided with a sunny spell.

Then I had to take a few more gateway pictures.

All within 50m of each other.

I popped into town before work and it was packed. I couldn't find a parking space in 2 car parks so ended up parking further out in a residential street and walking in. That's what I normally do to save the car park fees but today I had some heavy bags with bits for the charity shop. I love getting rid of stuff. Friends who know me will probably be falling about laughing at this point but I am de-cluttering, honestly. What's that saying? "Keep only the things you know to be beautiful or useful." but of course you have to keep all the things that might be useful - one day.

School was fun, so much less stressful without having to worry about planning, or the curriculum, or assessment -that's for the class teachers to do.

My Gang of Thieves.

Rainclouds over Exmoor.

Yep, it's still raining. The wood across the road worked and even though we had 20mm of rain in the night the drive is still intact. They have been putting out weather warnings again on the radio saying we may get a month's worth of rain in the next 2 days. Radio4 announced the other day that we've had the gloomiest August since weather records began.

Let me introduce you to my gang of thieves.

They like boxes.

This is Birthday, the boss cat. About 4 years ago he left home to live in the fields and is away for weeks at a time. He is definitely not staying with any of the neighbours but comes home in excellent condition with rabbit shaped bulges. When he does come home he is the cuddliest of cats and likes to lie upside down in your lap or draped across your shoulder whilst purring very loudly.

Smudge is at the bottom of the pecking order but is very clever at opening cupboards to steal food. He was even able to open the last fridge we had.

These are the 'kittens', and yes Patch is twice the size of his sister Elwen. This is partly because he is a greedy guzzler but also their mother is a very tiny cat. Elwen looks sweet and gorgeous but swears mightily at the other cats and woe betide any dog that enters the house. She soon shows them who is boss.

The ginger cat is Squeeky aka Mrs Wrong Side of the Door, because that's where she always is. and yes, she does squeek, constantly.

And why are they featuring today? They've always been ready to steal any food left out but I thought I knew what my cats liked to eat, (Patch is very fond of cucumber and mushrooms and will steal them from the deepest cupboards) , but this morning I was flabbergasted. I left my bowl of cereal on the counter, without milk, and went out of the kitchen for a few moments. When I returned 2 guilty faces looked at me from the food counter, a forbidden place, and when I looked they had eaten most of the sultanas off my dry oats. How odd. Their normal food is dry cat food, which is pretty cheap when bought in bulk, and lots of the local rodents. That's what I say to Pete when he comments on the number of cats in the house.