Here comes the sun....Here comes the sun

Well as we tell people who phone our site it has in fact rained here since March. I have grown webbed feet and the Warden is only ever seen out with his Wellingtons he brought from Mr Rudd, which was fraught with difficulty as he only had two pairs he could choose from at the time and one of the pairs were in fact both left footed. Anyway he is getting he use out of them.
I am however just a little fed up with watch the BBC weather forecast and seeing rain over Plymouth and sun over Willingham. Anyway we only have another month to go then we have finished this contract. We have requested to work slightly closer to home so we should hear around the middle of September if we have our desired location.
Today we had a really lovely day out at Antony, which is a rather nice house just the other side of Plymouth. We really have made good use of the National Trust membership. I did have one slight mis-hap in the big house....as i tripped on the carpet the guide gently but firmly asked me to be careful because if i tripped i could damage some of the furniture. The Warden walked off at this point, while i explained very carefully and quietly that i was more important actually than any old furniture (i am directly descended from the Tolpuddle Marchers so i find inherited wealth and all that goes with it difficult at the best of times, mind you it is just as well i was not around in that era as i would have been burnt at the stake at the very least).
Anyway we did have a couple of lovely days away from site last week and came back to Cambridge. As usual we packed so much in. We got to see Amanda and Rich in their new home. We manage to scrounge dinner from Mum and Dad. Supper from Liz and John and i also managed to meet up with a friend for lunch as well as squeeze in supper with four dear friends in the evening. Phew!!!! well back on the diet today.

Hedge cutting and daily bread

Today me and the Warden have had a super day we have been hedge cutting, i of course am the assistant and have to rake all the cuttings as he moves forward cutting and them we get to scrape them all together and put them in the trailer. Just think this time last year i was working in a hot office wearing nice shoes, now we get to work outside and my safety shoes well... I just look fetching......but we are very happy so that's all that matters
We only got soaked twice so all in all a good day. I felt my stomach muscles tighten with every pull of the rake so i am sure i was a size 8 by the time we were called in for tea, just a shame i had a cream tea, anyway i am off to Zumba tonight so i am sure i will work it off.
We had a really good week with Mand and Rich and the weather was kind to us and we even managed to eat outside on a couple of nights. The Warden refused to give up his bed for them this time so they had to sleep in the awning but they didn't seem to mind!!!1
Oh and we are having great success with the bread making which has been taken over by the Warden who is making all sorts of fancy breads, i knew baking him only wholemeal bread would get him to take a keen interest and take over the responsibility of the daily baking (those of you who know me well know i don't cook and i even expect him to leave me all my meals in the freezer if he goes away at all)
We did have a really good day out last week doing the Devon 'round robin' which means visiting key places using the bus, steam train and a river trip. The best part was the river trip from Dartmouth to Totnes, it was really beautiful and well worth going.

Good things about today

1. Today is James Sharpe's birthday and we celebrate the fact that we love him and are very pleased to be his Mum and Dad even if we would have liked him around for longer than he was.
2. The sun came out today and it was very hot and i am told it is staying for at least a couple of weeks.
3. Mand and Rich are coming to stay for a few days next week
4. I am arranging a holiday with my best..ist sister for when we finish on site
5. My Mum has got an abundance of runner beans and that means we will get some next time we are home (even if i have to ask her to freeze some for me.........she will have to do it because i got none of the broad beans this year!!!!!)
6. It is the Wardens birthday tomorrow (he cannot make his mind up what he wants as a present so i may just go ahead and get something for me.....well shame to miss a buying opportunity.
7. One of our campers left us some wine and chocolates....we used to get pressies like that in the Health Service years ago!!!!!
Anyway all in all....a good day. With a tiny black cloud!!!!

School outing

Yesterday me and the Warden had our day off and we went to a lovely National Trust place called Landhydrock which was brilliant. The week before we went to the Eden project with our dear friends Ray and Barbara, which although we had a lovely day this was mainly due to the great company rather than what the Eden project had to offer. However it was interesting to note that Cornish Pasties in the restaurant at the Eden project was £6.00 yet in the cafe by the exit they were only £3.00. Guess where we had ours?. Anyway the Warden wanted pasties for his packed lunch yesterday so we stopped off at Looe first thing to stock up before hitting Landhydrock.
Well today we heard the weather is on the change so we are hoping for lots of sun which will be good as Mand and Rich are coming to stay next week. Oh and we have had our contract extended so we are now working till the 2nd week in October, so the Warden is pleased as we have five months with out pay while we are off travelling!!!!

The boys in the hood

We have a new addition to our family and before you all start sending us congratulations on being Grand-Parents i had better explain.
This is Trevor or Trevour to his friends. He is a travel bear and came to us from my Sister in Suffolk. He has already been to Saffron Walden, and to the Ladies tennis semi-final at Wimbledon and now he lives with us in Devon

Trevor (Trevour) on arrival

Trevor ready to welcome guests

Trevor learning to operate the Wardens tractor

Anyway Trevor has joined the gang so he is coming with us to the Eden Project tomorrow and who knows where else!!! He will need a passport to join us on our trip to Australia so its all go here on site now making the necessary arrangements. Also i am very glad to report no further toad incidents, oh and the sun came out today!!!!

Reptiles

I have reached crisis point and have told the Warden i am off. I found the biggest toad in our awning yesterday it was as big as a dinner plate. Now i do not do reptiles, i have had to work with them in the past, especially in my last job but i refuse point blank to living with them. The Warden took no notice of my plight and reminded me our site is famous for being a bio-diversity site and gently encouraged the creature into the hedge. Anyway i am on toad alert big time.

We are borrowing a snorkel

Well our fellow Warden friends are buying snorkels to help them on their site, so i have asked if i can borrow them, so that the Warden can continue to build his ark to rescue all the animals and campers we have on our site as well, now we are back to work after our days off. We have just returned from a visit to Sheffield to catch up with child no 2, and yes you guessed it it rained there as well, but it was lovely to see her and Rich.
The good news is that the Warden has agreed to complete a balloon ride over the rain forest (get the link!) when we are at the great barrier reef in Australia in December, so i have quickly booked this for Christmas Eve as well as another trip he doesn't know about yet which will take us into the rain forest on one of their famous railways.....getting a little excited now especially as some-one told me the sun shines in Australia at that time of the year.
So back to work and going to experiment with the bread maker this week so that is something to look forward to, also have our monthly assessment meeting this week, and i am hoping the recent praise about my tractor driving is going to work in my favour and the fact i lost a set of campers on the admission board is going to be over-looked!!!!. Anyway the Warden continues to shine, although he did get told off for not wearing his high' vis vest' on the tractor.....i did chuckle!!!.