Garden progress

As you can see, the repair to the garden is taking shape and the new retaining wall is in an advanced stage of construction. This photo is a couple of days old and the good weather had enabled me to progress further. Lynn will be annoyed as she took the phots for her blog!

Paddleing my kayak (canoe)

Today Lydia returned home after a week in Portsmouth so it was up to Totnes to pick her up from the station. Up to Totnes did you say? Why, I could take the kayak and paddle back to Dartmouth - what a good idea!
It was lovely and sunny for the first half hour and then the cool breeze reminded me that it was still February. What a lovely river though and what a great way of appreciating God's wonderful creation.

Bovey Tracy for wool!

If I said we were going to Bovey Tracy to get some wool you could be forgiven for thinking that it involved wool from source - sheep. But no! With the demise of the wool shop in Dartmouth last year, thousands are making the pilgrimage to Bovey T to visit the wool shop where the 'ladies' are full of good advice, and will even offer you a cup of coffee - that is if they are not running a basket weaving craft day! Anyway, we enjoyed our visit and had the coffee in the visitors centre across the road. Finding ourselves childless for a morning we took the opportunity for Lynn to spend some birthday money that my Mum kindly gave - thanks mum. Result = green wool for a jumper for Lynn.

Valentines Day

Last night at our kids club at church Lynn had the youngsters decorating heart-shaped biscuits with coloured icing sugar. Tomorrow I will be leading a family service at church and will concentrate of the Love that God showed to each one of us by sending His son Jesus Christ, to take the punishment due to you and me. Jesus showed amazing love! There were a number of St Valentines, 11 celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church (according to Wikipedia). Three of these were connected to 14th February, but none had romantic connections! It seems that the romantic 'story' was made that a priest called Valentine would perform secret marriages for young men when the Roman Emperor Claudius II decreed that young men should not marry. This law was made to help boost his army! Valentine was arrested for his actions and made a friendship with the jailer's daughter. He wrote to her signing his letter "from your Valentine".

Dan has started course

Dan has commenced his course at Haven Banks in Exeter to become an outdoors activities instructor. Day one on Monday was to be a 'team building' day, but as the weather was so atrocious,the instructors said "if we are going to get wet we may as well get very wet" and so they went canoeing! Today they spent 5 hours on the water canoeing and kayaking (there is a difference) and tomorrow they are going caving. What a great time he is having!

More snow in Dartmouth!

More snow in Dartmouth - we must be moving into the next ice age! The girls managed a bigger snowperson (PC) this time.

Snow - in Dartmouth!

As we listened to reports of travel problems all over the country due to heavy snow falls, and watching the midday news where the first 15 minutes were dedicated to this elemental phenomenon, my daughters complained bitterly that Dartmouth was basking in sunshine - albeit with a temperature of -2 degrees! Well, their prayers were answered, and at 4.35 pm we had a few flurries of snow; and I have pictures to prove it! If you have a good imagination!!