It was good to arrive back at The Granary and find that work on the bathroom had been completed and was a huge improvement. We currently do not have any other major work planned this year although next year we will be looking at new slates for the pitched roof and have already got plans in motion.
We enjoyed some lovely sunny but wintry days which are great for walking, as long as you keep moving. The coastal views on days like this in the winter are always fantastic as you will see below.
We were determined to fit in a visit to Rosemoor on this trip where we hoped to see the snowdrops in flower. We were perhaps slightly early but were rewarded with a few beautiful displays.
What we did notice this year, for the first time, was the fragrance from some of the winter flowering shrubs in the garden, in particular this Daphne bhuola 'Jacqueline Postill'. We specifically made a note as it is certainly a plant to consider when we have moved house and have a new garden to plan and develop.
Apparently the highly fragrant flowers will be followed by black berries.
On the days when the weather was less pleasant there were lots of friends to catch up with and we also enjoyed a coffee at our favourite,
Market Street Kitchen in Appledore where they always make us and the dog extremely welcome.
As usual we met up with Parkham friends in The Bell on several occasions, well at least those who had not adopted a 'Dry January'. We hope to see other friends in the pub in 'Wet February' as one of them has described it.
Once back in the Midlands, there was good news on the house sale, we are now sold (subject to contract) so we will be making further trips to Cheshire to try to find a new home, in between our visits to Parkham. Indeed, depending on the timing of the sale we could be spending longer in Parkham in a few months time!
