Sharpe's update

I was telling my sister on the phone last night we had moved the awning round and I had started gardening. Well I brought three mauve pots so she said well you had better put the pictures on the blog so I have.

This is the view we get every day as we go about our daily jobs

This is the view of my garden (okay not quite RHS)

This is our kitchen in the awning

And this is the Warden watching live footie (i have been chucked out into the motor)

James Edward Sharpe

James belongs in our blog because he is our son and even though it is 11 years since he was killed in a road traffic accident there is not a day that goes by with-out Me, or his Dad, or his Sister,or his Grandparents or his Aunties and Uncles thinking about him. That's all i wanted to say.

The Olympic Torch

Today the Olympic torch came through Modbury (where we are living at the moment) so we went down to see the torch come through the town. The torch came through very quickly and surprise surprise they ran through the town with it so it was over very quickly. The police convoy though took ages to come through, just think of all that overtime!!!

Anyway here is Paul waiting

 And here is the torch

Toilets

Now dear reader a great deal of Wardens time is spent dealing with the toilets, cleaning, re-stocking, re-cleaning after the great British public have walked over the clean wet floors with their muddy boots, picking up the toilet roll after the same people have hurled it across the floor, shutting the doors to keep the heat in and of course opening the doors when...........!!!!!!! and I have to say I don't mind them at all
But today took the role to new heights, today I did the bin run. This involves driving the big tractor around the site and making sure all the service points are clean and emptying the bins. Also the same members of the public also throw away such amazing things. Today we collected an old fire, two deck chairs and a airer. What we are supposed to do with these items i do not know, but i do know we are not Bluntisham tip.
But the very worse thing i had to do was empty the dog bins, now i am not a dog person at all, but i managed to change the bag in each bin while holding my breath. Now that is a Nurse's training for you!!!!! Prepares you for anything

we are soggy

We are all a bit soggy at the moment with all the rain, well I am also a bit saggy but that is my age. However dear reader I am trying to do something about it I am attending a boot camp in the village and i can still do 2mins of star jumps with out any accidents so i am quite pleased.
We have had a great week my sister who is also my best friend came to stay on site and we had a couple of days off and went exploring. We went to the sea, and ate fish and chips from a fantastic fish and chip shop which is called 'The Codfather', slightly more exotic than Besters fish and chip shop in Willingham, where we used to buy 3d worth of chips with crispy bits when we were kids, but the chips were just as tasty.We also went to Looe and had a lovely day just wandering about and sitting by the water.Oh and eating pasties.
We then had a wonderful day yesterday, our Warden mates came to visit for the day and we went to the sea and i even managed to take of my jumper and bare my arms (nicely toned from boot camp, as long as i keep them by my side) Anyway me and my friend are going to learn to surf. This is no 1 on the 20 new things we are going to do this season, no 2 may be struggle into a wet suit but we're not sure until we book our first lesson.
The rain is relentless, and we cannot understand why people with large caravans have to drive over our grass on their way to their hard standing pitch but all part of the job i suppose. Good job we have plenty of grass seed and me and Paul have perfected the art of treading in the ruts ....similar to going onto the pitch after a polo match the only difference is i am wearing my steel capped trainers and not designer heels!!!!

The Sharpes take the plunge

We have taken the plunge and joined the National Trust. It did need some active discussion but once i argued the savings i recieved the go ahead. So we joined yesterday and then as it was our half day we went across Dartmoor to Lydford Gorge and had a wonderful walk to the gorge with the waterfalls which were spectactular after all the rain we have had here.

Paul at Lydford Gorge

Ang at the caldron !

Now there is a big development in the life of Sharpe and Sharpe Wardens, we have been left in charge while our Wardens have their days off. So far so good, it has done nothing but rain all day so we have had to sit in the office till 5pm then we have managed a walk round the site, me in my most fetching orange reflective waterproof coat.

Really looking forward to this week as my Sister comes this week and there is the promise of warmer weather ahead.

Turning the water into wine

Those of you who know me well will know i am not religious, (sorry Mrs Rock my Sunday school teacher) but events surrounding my James has played a huge part in my beliefs. However when the constant rain we have been experiencing causes me to get up in the night and pour myself a drink from the fridge of what i thought was water and turned out to be my favourite wine......well what is a girl to do.....slept divinely for the rest of the night though, well it was a tumbler full.
The wind and rain have really been dreadful, lucky the awning has survived so far which is down to Paul's skill in developing the most interesting 'trigs' to hold everything in place (younger members of the family will need to ask Granddad Curtis about 'trigs')
On our last day off we went along the coast line to Dartmouth, and it was delightful. The mediaeval buildings around the harbour are fantastic, and the many boats moving in and out of the harbour are wonderful. We spent a good hour sitting in the sun by the harbour just watching the boats go out to sea and treated ourselves to an ice-cream. There is also a steam train which we will explore when Liz and John come to say, and some interesting river and sea trips to try.
We also found a sleepy fishing village by the sea on our way to Dartmouth, and there was a shack by the sea selling Cornish pasty and fresh dressed crab. We brought some of each for our tea, guess who had the health fish and who had the pie!!!
Well back to work now, and we are working on our own for a few days while our Wardens go away for some well deserved R&R. Just as well really co's it gives me time to replace all the toffee's i stuffed today from the welcome dish we offer members when they arrive. Hey ho it could have been worse it could have been ginger nut biscuits.