Wet, Wet,Wet!

I do try to avoid the very British trait of constantly discussing the weather however, I can only describe our  October visit as Wet, Wet, Wet!  There were a few breaks in the rain and we only got completely drenched on one occasion.  However it was still good to be back in Parkham after the stress of putting our house on the market in the Midlands as we plan a move to be nearer to our children and grandchildren in the North-West.  We do however still plan to spend as much time in Parkham!

To get the most out of our visit we focused on meeting up with friends rather than visiting new places.  The first opportunity to meet up with friends was the village Barn Dance in the Allardice Hall.  No-one taking part in a barn dance can fail to get to know lots of people as the object of many dances is that you dance with every other person on the floor.  All in all, a great evening with excellent live music from a local band and ploughman's supper.

We met up with other friends for coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and supper, but not all on the same day. 

On what looked like being the sunniest morning we headed to Sandymouth, one of our favourite spots and indeed were able to have a breezy beach walk followed by coffee at the beach-side cafe.  There was a large sign saying no dogs in the cafe, which was empty, so we sat at an outside table in the blowy but warm weather.  We were told that in the colder months we would be able to take dogs inside, we shall visit again next month and see if this is the case.

Sandymouth Beach

Looking down on Sandymouth in sunshine!

The final renovation work on The Granary planned for this year was also completed during our stay.  Every year since we bought the cottage I have had to re-treat the wooden decking areas, a job which takes a couple of days.  It then looks great for about 3 months before the damp weather begins to make an  impact   This year we took the plunge and the decking has all been replaced with a composite material made from recycled wood and plastic.  It looks so much better and the only maintenance required is a quick hose down in the spring.

We headed back to the Midlands having very much enjoyed our break from house-selling but keen to find out what progress here had been in finding a buyer in our absence.