Lock Down in Devon

Mike went back to London for a week while the back of the house was painted - and had a nice shower at last.  Cantanti Camerati put on a Christmas Concert, with only one rehearsal, and luckily it was that week so Mike was able to participate.  (Video below is 52 mins long) He came back to Devon the next day - just before London went into Tier 4 and the new restrictions came into place.  Devon stayed in Tier 2 so luckily it didn't affect our plans too much.   Jayne decorated the house much more than I usually do - and it really did look very pretty.  We even got Mary and Jack's Christmas tree from the loft and decorated it. We went out for a Christmas meal with Peter at The Star Inn - mainly to support the pub!  We had a lovely evening although we were sad to see the pub so empty as it would normally be heaving at this time of year.  The boys got into the spirit of it all and wore their Christmas jumpers. The model maker (Jolly Roger!) up the road had his usual imp

 Once it became clear we were both going to be spending more time here in future we decided to convert the bathroom into a wet room.  The current shower arrangement for Mike was for me to place a kitchen chair with a folded towel on it in the bath and Mike would transfer over from his wheelchair on to it.  I then moved the wheelchair away and held the shower head over him while he showered.  Then we reversed the process.  Not exactly ideal.  The bathroom needed refurbishment anyway - it was cold and damp and I had to regularly clean black mould from the walls and ceiling. In the winter the condensation on the cistern caused puddles on the floor.  The shower tiling left a lot to be desired and we suspected the bath leaked.   The old bathroom They started work on 26th November - and it seemed we were right in thinking the bathroom needed attention.  The shower tiles fell off the wall as soon as they were touched, and when they took the frame away from the bath it fell through the rott

Christmas is coming!  And we are still here!  In fact we've been here so long now we are thinking of making it a permanent move.  Watch this space! We have passed the time during the various stages of Lock Down, relaxation of Lock Down, and Lock Down 2, in much the same way. It has been delightful and has felt reasonably safe from Covid.  Mike has put a huge number of Middlesex peals on to Bell Board, starting with the formation of the Association.  I have been working backwards through the reports from the present day doing the same, and we are currently only about 30 years apart.  He has also written some interesting articles for Bell News on the peal ringers of those early days.   When we were allowed to do so, we rang several handbell quarter peals with Tim - first in his garden, then in his garage and latterly (until the second Lock Down followed by Tier 2 restrictions) in the Church Hall next to his house. Having formed a bubble with Peter, we continued to ring handbells wit